FInal Shake Out

[blackshirts5115]

no chance OSU and Michigan are split up. also unlikely Michigan and Michigan State are split up. Northwestern is further west than Indiana, so that wouldn't make much sense either. anyways i like the idea of 4 groups of 4 teams in the Big Ten. then there is a 4 team 'miniature playoff' for the conference title.

From the Big Ten Blog write on ESPN.

"Division alignment: The Big Ten also must figure out divisions in the coming months. Delany listed three main criteria for sorting them out: competitive fairness, maintenance of rivalries and geography. He stressed that competitive fairness is the No. 1 priority, which I believe to be the correct approach. Geography shouldn't determine divisions. You don't want another Big 12 South scenario. "

Not saying they will split OSU/UM but what other options? Sending PSU to the "west" doesn't make sense but perhaps that is the only option. Personally I don't see why they can't be in separate divisions and still play yearly. If its 12 or 16 teams you still only play 5 or 7 division games which leaves at least 2 (as many as 5) out of division conference games where UM and OSU can still play.

That would completely screw up the scheduling for the entire conference. What if Nebraska played Oklahoma every year? Then we'd only be able to play 2 South games each year (plus OU). that would have butchered the Big XII schedule.

 

[blackshirts5115]

no chance OSU and Michigan are split up. also unlikely Michigan and Michigan State are split up. Northwestern is further west than Indiana, so that wouldn't make much sense either. anyways i like the idea of 4 groups of 4 teams in the Big Ten. then there is a 4 team 'miniature playoff' for the conference title.

this would be different and could be very interesting. but how would this mini play off go? 1vs4,2vs3 on friday night then the winners on saturday night?

Obviously you can't play football games two nights in a row. For this to happen I would think you'd have to cut a game from the regular season. But then the teams that don't make the 'playoff' would be stuck playing 11 games per year rather than 12, which would be weird. I don't see how it could work other than just having to play 14 games, not including the bowl.

 

[VA Husker Fan]

Any analysis of the east/west past results in the Big 10 for balance that doesn't include how the west would've improved with Nebraska is flawed. Our downturn under Callahan was no worse than Ohio States low, and better than Michigan's. I, too, am not saying that we'll come in and steamroll the west every year, but if we're not going to win it, the team that beats us out is going to be pretty darned good.