B1G to 9 conference games: keeps two permanent opponents.

Continuing discussions we've had on this very subject with the SEC in mind, I found this to be an interesting move by the B1G.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As expected, the Legends and Leaders are no more.

The Big Ten officially announced a thorough overhaul of the league's divisions on Sunday, splitting the conference along geographic lines into brand-new East and West divisions in the wake of its 2012 expansion with Maryland and Rutgers.

In another expected move, the league also announced it would be moving to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016.

As previously reported, the East will be made up of traditional Big Ten powers Ohio State and Michigan -- now in the same division after a separation in the Legends/Leaders format -- along with the Scarlet Knights and Terrapins, Penn State, Michigan State and Indiana. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Northwestern and Purdue make up the Big Ten West.

“Big Ten directors of athletics concluded four months of study and deliberation with unanimous approval of a future football structure that preserved rivalries and created divisions based on their primary principle of East/West geography,” commissioner Jim Delany in a statement released by the league. “The directors of athletics also relied on the results of a fan survey commissioned by BTN last December to arrive at their recommendation, which is consistent with the public sentiment expressed in the poll.”
(So, fans, all that online voting you did really mattered after all, apparently.)

The Big Ten schedule will consist of an intra-division round-robin with two temporary cross-divisional matchups per team in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, the league will increase that number to three rotating cross-division matchups, with one notable expection -- Indiana and Purdue, who will play a protected, annual cross-divisional game to preserve the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry.

The Legends and Leaders divisions were announced in December 2010 and immediately drew calls for a do-over from fans and pundits alike, thanks to both the abstract, corporate-sounding aspect of their names and the seemingly arbitrary team assignments, some of which disrupted some of the Big Ten's oldest rivalries.

After an initial burst of insisting the names weren't as disliked as widely believed and that the Big Ten would not be changing either the divisional assignments or the names, Delany slowly distanced the league from the names -- after the additions of Maryland and Rutgers, the changes became all but a foregone conclusion, with none other than Delany himself joking about the names at the recent BCS playoff meetings.

The complete announcement from Delany and the Big Ten:

​

​

​

​

​

The Big Ten Conference office announced football division alignments set to begin in 2014 and nine-game conference schedules set to start in 2016. The changes were unanimously recommended by conference directors of athletics and supported by the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors.​

​

“Big Ten directors of athletics concluded four months of study and deliberation with unanimous approval of a future football structure that preserved rivalries and created divisions based on their primary principle of East/West geography,” said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany. “The directors of athletics also relied on the results of a fan survey commissioned by BTN last December to arrive at their recommendation, which is consistent with the public sentiment expressed in the poll.”​

​

The new division alignments will feature Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers in the East Division and Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin in the West Division. All schools in the East Division are in the eastern time zone and all schools in the West Division are in the central time zone with the exception of Purdue. Each school will play the other six schools in its division plus two teams from the other division in 2014 and 2015, which will serve as transitional years in which the schools will still be playing eight-game schedules. Beginning in 2016, each school will play three teams from the other division as part of its nine-game schedule. The cross-division games will include one protected matchup on an annual basis between Indiana and Purdue.​

​

With the start of the nine-game conference schedule in 2016, teams from the East Division will host five conference home games during even-numbered years, while teams from the West Division will host five conference home games during odd-numbered years. As a result of the nine-game conference schedule and the Big Ten's schedule rotation, every student-athlete will have the opportunity to play against every other team in the conference at least once during a four-year period. The Big Ten is returning to a nine-game conference schedule for all teams for the first time since the 1983 and 1984 seasons.​

​

“Big Ten directors of athletics met in person or by conference call six times from December to March to discuss a new Big Ten football model,” Delany said. “The level of cooperation and collaboration was reflective of what we've come to expect from this group of administrators who have worked extremely well together on a number of complex matters over the past several years. We are all looking forward to ushering in this new era of Big Ten football.”​

​

The Big Ten will hold the 2013 Football Media Days and 42nd annual Kickoff Luncheon on Wednesday and Thursday, July 24 and 25, at the Hilton Chicago, featuring all 12 head coaches and some of the nation's top returning players. The 118th season of Big Ten football kicks off Thursday, August 29, and culminates with the third annual Big Ten Football Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 7, to be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and televised by FOX. The winner of the title game will earn the Big Ten Championship and a chance to play in either the Rose Bowl Game or Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game.​

​

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...announces-east-west-divisions-9-game-schedule​

 

Given their recent history of bad decisions, I guess that we should not pursue this method.

 

Good stuff, not sure why we should care. Did somebody lose a bet?

 

So basically they had to run an internet poll to sort out their divisions because their boardrooms couldn't handle it without appearing daft.

The one single protected cross division rivalry is weird. I'm unwise in the ways of Big 10 football history, but it seems like this is probably easier for them to do up there then it would be down here. Purdue had that Rose Bowl under Drew Brees in 2000, but I had to look up the next most recent championships. They shared it in 67. I imagine they can play this game and it only really impacts anyone else once every 30 years or so. Any such protected cross division rivalry in the SEC would have much more relevance and cause much more gnashing of teeth.

 

Well, with the conferences getting bigger and bigger, more conference games are inevitable. This is just one way to do it. I am in favor.

 

No lost bets recently.

If you think about it you'll recall conferences making changes and other conferences following suit. Sometimes changes are successful, sometimes they aren't.

Consider the PAC for a minute. They went to a round-robin schedule and proclaimed it to be the way all of college football should go. It was the assertion of many PAC fans that it was the toughest schedule for a team to make it through and the best way to determine the conference champions. Yet, here we are less than a decade away from all those proclamations and what do we see? Two divisions and a championship game. That, a move started by the SEC.

With the B1G making the move I think it'll be something to watch even if you do so casually. I firmly believe moving to a nine game schedule is the way to go for the SEC now, and even more so when we see the conference move to 16 teams.

Seeing how they are planning on keeping one permanent opponent is the primary reason I posted this news here. If it works for two teams, is the SEC going to see this as a reason to allow it for four teams: UA, UT, AU, and UGA?

At first glance and a cursory examination it seems, well, weird.

 

Still not caring. What B1G does and $2, buys you a cup of coffee.

 

If you don't care then why click on the thread and read the posts? Just wondering.

The other conferences will all be discussing these items, our AD said he will only vote for the 9 games if they get rid of the permanent hook up with UF.

 

Theyre called alerts. Nothing in his post indicates what you just mentioned about the SEC. And then?

 

Furduk, dude...I'M interested in the conversation, as apparently are a couple of others. It's the offseason, and this topic is as interesting as any other right now. Let it rest, man.