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Readjusting 2011 Big Ten football schedule won’t create many problems
Nebraska’s Big Ten arrival in 2011 means the Big Ten will have to shelve the eight-year scheduling pattern it adopted in 2007.
Iowa skipped out on playing Michigan and Ohio State in 2007 and 2008. The Hawkeyes are in their second year of not playing Illinois and Purdue before those two are due to rotate back on the Hawkeyes’ schedule.
In readjusting the Big Ten’s future football schedule, it’s obvious the key requirement is determining divisions. One lower-level — but important — consideration will be non-conference games contracted by league schools. Some of these have expensive buyouts that could cost a school an easy six figures plus put it in scramble mode to fill the schedule, which also can be costly.
Luckily for Big Ten schools, there are only a few minor speed bumps to iron out when revamping the 2011 conference schedule, should it remain eight games. Only three schools have scheduled non-conference games over the final nine weeks of the regular season. Purdue plays annual rival Notre Dame on Oct. 1, Michigan State has scheduled a non-conference game Oct. 8 against Central Michigan, while Northwestern is slated to host Rice on Nov. 26. The only other conference workaround involves Wisconsin and Illinois, which moved their Big Ten game from Nov. 26 to Dec. 3, the likely date for a Big Ten championship game.
It seems that all scenarios except the Northwestern-Rice game provide an easy workaround for the Big Ten. Rice doesn’t even list the game date on its Website so on the surface it appears that game can be shifted around as well.
As for developing divisions, that’s a different discussion altogether. I’ve written that five western schools — Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and either Northwestern or Illinois — should join Penn State in one division with Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Indiana and either Northwestern or Illinois in the other. That could affect scheduling, as could potential annual cross-over opponents in opposite divisions.
Should the league adopt one cross-over divisional opponent and turn the regular season’s final weekend into a rivalry weekend, here are the match-ups that make sense:
- Michigan-Ohio State
- Wisconsin-Minnesota
- Purdue-Indiana
- Iowa-Nebraska
- Northwestern-Illinois (cross-over opponents)
- Michigan State-Penn State (cross-over opponents)
Iowa players hoist the Heartland Trophy into the air as they celebrate their 20-10 win over Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009, in Madison, Wis. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
In 2008, I wrote about how the Big Ten scheduling pattern was adopted in the mid-1990s. When Penn State joined the league, Iowa-Wisconsin fell off the schedule for two years, sending the league to scramble and develop two rivalry opponents for each school.
Here’s an excerpt from that story:
Mark Rudner, a Big Ten associate commissioner who handles football and basketball scheduling, said the league never defined traditional rivalries before Penn State. But, he said, the league understood which rivalries “made sense.” For instance, Iowa didn’t play Indiana in 1985-86 and 1989-90, or Illinois in 1987-88, but it had played Minnesota since 1930.
Each school tabbed two others as permanent. A few rivalries were automatic: Michigan-Ohio State, Indiana-Purdue, Wisconsin-Minnesota. Some grew in intensity, such as Illinois-Northwestern. Others, like Penn State-Michigan State, began with friendly college presidents and escalated into season-ending trophy games.
“If you take the the 11 schools and multiply it by two for rivalry games, 21 of the 22 are pretty good rivalries now,” Rudner said. “The one that you could argue isn’t really a rivalry is Northwestern-Purdue.”
Since the mid-1990s, when permanent opponents took effect, no school has asked to change.
“It all sort of fell into place,” Rudner said. “During that time there’s been no request from athletic directors to reexamine the rivalries. It’s been constant since it was first adopted.”
Here is some of the background from that story:
Games considered “rivalry games” by the Big Ten Conference and played annually:
- Iowa vs. Minnesota
- Iowa vs. Wisconsin
- Minnesota vs. Wisconsin
- Illinois vs. Northwestern
- Illinois vs. Indiana
- Indiana vs. Purdue
- Purdue vs. Northwestern
- Ohio State vs. Michigan
- Ohio State vs. Penn State
- Michigan vs. Michigan State
- Michigan State vs. Penn State
How Big Ten does it
The Big Ten’s annual football scheduling begins with permanent opponents. Iowa’s permanent opponents are Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The next step is determining the league’s eight-season rotation. Outside of its permanent opponents, Iowa will play each Big Ten school six times over eight years. Opponents shifting off Iowa’s schedule during the current rotation (circa 2008) are:
- 2007-08 — Michigan, Ohio State
- 2009-2010 — Purdue, Illinois
- 2011-2012 — Michigan State, Northwestern
- 2013-2014 — Penn State, Indiana
Once a Big Ten school’s permanent opponents and league rotation is set:
- Computers determine the annual league schedule
- The final week is saved for at least one round of rivalries
- Each school must get two home games in the first four weeks and final four weeks
- Athletics directors approve the schedule
How others do it (based in 2008)
- ACC
The 12 teams split into Atlantic and Coastal divisions and play eight conference games. All division schools play one another, totaling five games. Each school has a rivalry opponent in the opposite division to play annually. - Big East
Every school in the eight-team league plays each other annually for seven conference games. - Big 12
The 12-team conference has North and South divisions and plays eight conference games. All division schools play one another, totaling five games. The other three games against non-division opponents rotate after two seasons. - Pac-10
The 10-team league plays every conference school annually for a nine-game league slate. - SEC
The 12-team conference has East and West divisions and plays eight conference games. All division schools play one another, totaling five games. Each school has a “rivalry” opponent in the opposite division to play each year. The other two SEC games stagger annually (one school on, one school off) with non-division, non-rivalry opponents meeting four times every 10 years.
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There's all this talk of Penn State needing to be in the "West." Why not keep them in the East with others powers Michigan and OSU, and have three powers of Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska in the West? You wouldn't have a need for 'cross-over' opponents and could play your entire division each year and rotate three of the other six, like the Big 12. That's fair.
I know the East is historically a better collective group, but who's to say Michigan is that great right now? What happens to PSU when (or, if) JoePa retires? Since 99, each straight east-west side has had four teams win the conference. That seems pretty fair. Now add Nebraska, that could easily be a fifth in a few years, for the weaker 'West' side.
When they talk historical competitiveness, they are also talking about national draw.
Let's be realistic for a moment.
Which would be a bigger game nationally? Iowa vs. Wisconsin or Iowa vs. Penn State? How about Iowa vs. Minnesota or Iowa vs. Michigan?
Those groupings are, in my opinion, more or less equal in strength currently. Wisconsin and Penn State were nearly identical last year, as were Minnesota and Michigan.
The fact remains, however, that Penn State and Michigan are national brands. It doesn't matter how good they are in any given year, they will get attention nationally simply because of *who* they are.
Our Iowa Hawkeyes are good, very good. But they are not a national team (yet). They are not a national power (yet).
The purpose of having a Penn State in our division is so that we play them every year and get the national exposure. The only way our program will be ranked high, and have a shot at bigger things such as national championships, is if the nations coaches and sports media see them play over and over again. That won't happen if we're only playing Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois every year. No one outside of the Big Ten is going to turn on the TV to watch those games, which means less exposure which means less votes in the national polls.
And the above isn't a knock on Wisconsin. You can interchange Wisconsin and Iowa in this post and it will still be accurate. We're both "contending teams," ie., teams that have had recent success and threaten to knock the "big boys" off their perches. But we have not achieved national recognition yet. That comes with time and, ultimately, by winning championships.
So I'm all for having PSU in our division. It's a game that I think, historically, we've shown that we can win more times than not. And by playing PSU we will have a national platform to display our brand of football. That is something that needs to be encouraged.
Very well put. I have been iffy on whether they should push Penn St. west, but I think I am coming around. Your points are helping convince me that is the way to go. But I wonder how PSU feels about that?
Well, one thing that should make them feel better about it is, do they think they are better than Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska? If so, then they ought to believe that they will go to the conference championship game quite often, which would happen less often if they had to play OSU every year in the same division.
The other way to look at it, from PSU's perspective, is that they are one of the four traditional powers. That's a nice ego stroke for the program regardless of where they end up. The Big Ten obviously has a lot of respect for them, which may in the end mean more than geography. Ie., "You're too good to put you in the same division as OSU, so we're putting you in the other division to provide balance to OSU." That's a pretty big affirmation.
I still prefer the Big 12 format, because I don't want any conference opponent to be too sparse on the schedule. I'd hate to have any conference opponent coming to Kinnick only two times a decade.
Unless it's Northwestern. They could come once per decade and that would be one time too many. They've got our number, and I'd just prefer that they misplace it over time.
You mean you like the way the Big Implosion Conference does things? Expansion isn't over, and if we add any more teams (or another conference gets to 16 teams) we ARE going to be playing more games per season. Don't worry about how often we see the other division, because this will all get shaken up in the next year or two.
As far as how PSU feels (Jim) I've discussed it with many on Black Shoe Diary and no one seems to mind the thought. However, to make it more fair we could trade Indiana/Purdue for Illinois(I know–rivalries… whatever), or similarly matched up teams, so PSU gets a couple closer to home.
If they say that they are preserving competitive balance, but they are really just talking about brands, then they are lying. It is fundamentally dishonest to pretend that competitive balance is what you are after when all you really want is to please the marketers.
Competitive balance is as different from brand name as chalk and cheese.
I am no fan of either Iowa or Wisconsin, but over the last 10 years, Nebraska/Iowa/Wisconsin are quite balanced with OSU/Michigan/PSU. 10 years is a long time. We needed look at just the last couple years, but it also is not of value to look back 50 years either.
Any difference in competive balance is, if it exists at all, so slight that it doesn’t make up for the disruption of giving up an east-west split.
If it is really about brand names, then at least be honest and say so.
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I totally see what you're saying and agree with your points. Still not sold though. I think it's a tough question. Sucks to be PSU and force your fans to travel to all the "West" places. It definitely boosts the cred of the west, but what if they do fall flat? For a long time? Now we're making a mediocre team travel far, combined with a goofy alignment.
Yes. That is why I am hoping that the Big Ten uses some foresight and commits to re-evaluate the divisions every 5 or 10 years. If a division becomes unbalanced, there should be a mechanism in place to shift teams around. You don't want it happening too often because that destroys stability (fans typically like playing the same teams every year) and puts rivalries at risk. As well, you can have a short stretch of imbalance if those imbalances correct themselves "naturally" through time.
But a 5-10 year span is good, in my opinion. If a division is dominating for a long stretch then the conference should be redivided to keep that competitive balance in place.
I hope we don't do it like the SEC. I want to play OSU and Michigan more than 40% of the time. I guess if we make CCG we'll play one of them every year
But I still think I want the Buckeyes in IC more than two times every 10 years
However the decision is declared. I’m sure all Huskers would say, absolutely do not breakup any traditional rival games that are mutually important.
I don’t think anyone from Nebraska wants that to happen like it did to the Huskers when Oklahoma was forced to choose.
We appreciate your acceptance into the Big 10 and don’t want a token media declared rivalery game if breaks up a true rivalery.
GBR
interesting post, pretty much covered it all for me, thanks. poker
As a PSU alum I would prefer to stay in the East with UM and OSU but that will not happen in the name of "competitive balance". We all know the Nebraska brand and having Iowa and Wisconsin in the same division with PSU makes the west much more competitive than the east, or at least until UM finds its football sense and gets rid of that fraud of a coach. OSU will pillage and plunder year in and year out in a walk to the championship game against the survivor of the walk of death b/t Wisky, PSU, Neb and Iowa. The big ten will not pass up a final weekend paring of OSU vs. UM and Neb vs. PSU. No offense to either Iowa or Wisconsin but the four brands will turn on the most TV sets during turkey turkey weekend when the two games should be played. If the Big ten really would want it to be fair and just then they should move Wisconsin to the East to balance things out a bit
East
UM-NUTS-Wisky
West
Nits-Hawks-Huskers
Put Minnesota in the west with their one protected game with Wisc. Add NU and ILL and you have a fair and balanced division.
Thoughts
I agree. As much as I like beating the badgers, Iowa and Wisconsin are more or less programs on an equal level (that really pains me to say, btw). They should be in separate divisions. Wisconsin can give OSU a run for its money and, at worst, can keep them honest.
That would give OSU a tough game against Wisconsin, and possibly in the future a tough game against Michigan. Purdue and Michigan St. have had limited success in the not too distant past, so it's not a stretch to say that they will be competitive at times. And all these teams get a gimme-game against Indiana.
In the West division, UN and PSU are the traditional powers and, in theory, will battle it out most years. Iowa will keep them honest and, I hope, will replace one of them as a Western power by consistently winning the division. Illinois has had some success recently and, if the Zooker can figure out his head from his backside, they may contend for the division title some years. NU has Iowa's number, and if we could swap them for Indiana I would be very relieved. But I suppose we all must make sacrifices… And this format gives the Western division its gimme game against the goofers.
The obvious problem with Penn State in the West is travel cost. We need to remember that football is only one of the many sports in the Big Ten that will be affected by a conference re allignment.
No it won't.
Divisions will only affect football. The other sports will play a conference schedule and will be unaffected (with the exception of adding games with Nebraska). Ie., there won't be a basketball division as they already play a Big Ten tournament. There won't be a baseball division because they already play a Big Ten tournament. Etc. A tournament removes the need for a division in a sport. Football won't have a tournament (it's impractical) so the division format is the best when trying to put together a championship game.
Plus the other sports round robin the season, but when you only play 12 games (8/9 in conference) that isn't possible.
let's hope the big ten will reduce the number of non-cons it plays to accommodate a home and away series with Nebraska and the other teams in the conference, and play a round-robin basketball schedule. god i hate the basketball tournament. it truly negates the regular season as being completely worthless. a team could play like lick or al-fraud, win their last 3 games of the season (the tourney) and get the auto-invite to march madness. what's the point of even playing the regular season?
neglect about this the following is one thing intriguing
why is penn state in the big ten in the first place
because they bring money to the conference when they couldn't get ND. why this conference would want notre lame is beyond me. they are a 7-5, 8-4 team at BEST in the big ten, and that won't play in south bend.
My point in saying why is Penn st in the big ten in the first place is that Penn st would be a better fit in the Big East. They played these schools for about 100 yrs and had rivalrys with many of them especially Pitt. They never had rivals with Big Ten schools. The only natural rival would be Ohio St but they and Michigan are one of the top rivals in college football. Also if you live in Michigan, the biggest rivalry is with Michigan and Michigan St.The other conference that Penn St would be a better fit is the ACC. Penn St is an Eastern team and would fit better in an Eastern conference.
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