B1G recruiting: The East/West divide
December 15th, 2021 at 2:20 PM ^
Get rid of divisions in football!
December 15th, 2021 at 2:25 PM ^
I completely agree. I see very little value in actual divisions. The only issue is bloated conferences almost make them "required" to compensate for who has played who. But there has to be a more creative way to structure schedules and decide a champion.
One wacky way to do it is to create "tiers" of teams based on their previous two years of performance and everyone has to play the same number of opponents in each tier. It risks giving up some rivalries here and there, but think outside the box!
December 15th, 2021 at 2:35 PM ^
just leave it as is
I don't really care about any west division teams and no one else does either it appears.
win the east and you are almost assured of winning the B1G
either way we play Osu, Msu every year so no changes made helps Michigan so why care about the other programs.
December 15th, 2021 at 3:18 PM ^
I hear you. But also I'd like to see less Rutgers/Maryland and more Minnesota/Iowa/Illinois/NW
December 15th, 2021 at 2:51 PM ^
It wouldn't even be that difficult. The toughest part would be to add 2 more teams for 16.
4 "Pods" based on the previous year's results (#1-#4, #5-#8, etc)
Play 3 games against your own pod (3 games)
Play 2 games against each of the other pods (6 games)
9 games total with a conference championship game between 1 and 2 at the end of the season.
Each school could have up to 2 "protected" matchups (like M-OSU and M-MSU) that would go to the top of the scheduling list if they are different pods.
December 15th, 2021 at 8:23 PM ^
Anytime you have Michigan playing Ohio State as a protected game you are putting Michigan at a disadvantage compared to everyone else in the 'division' or whatever you want to call it. MSU had a great run playing 8 conference games and skipping out on Ohio State until the Big Ten finals. If you want a protected game, make the Little Brown Jug your protected game.
December 15th, 2021 at 3:14 PM ^
i think you can do something where you "pod" teams and match up the 2 best that haven't yet played in the BTCG - seth had an idea like this he called the big ten showcase that i quite liked.
December 15th, 2021 at 3:38 PM ^
Well, I am "outsidethbox" and I'm here to tell you that there are good solutions to this matter but there seems to be a general lack of ability and/or interest in putting aside preferences and differences that are otherwise worthless. As my father liked to instruct, "Doing something well and doing something poorly take about the same amount of time-so do it well." To many people just don't have enough character to commit to doing things well.
December 15th, 2021 at 4:13 PM ^
That’s been my thought too but I was thinking a 3 year rolling average to mitigate outlier years (abnormal # of injuries, critical staff change etc)
December 15th, 2021 at 4:34 PM ^
Yeah, it used to be the case that a conference had to have divisions in order to have a conf title game right? And then the big12 got an exemption or the rule changed or something?
Does that mean the B1G wouldn't need the divisions to still have a conference title game?
December 15th, 2021 at 2:50 PM ^
If you got rid of divisions, I could see the BigTen making us play Ohio State in the championship game this year.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:57 PM ^
If you got rid of divisions you'd have to be ok with frequent late-season matchups between UM and OSU being repeats in the conference championship game
OR, you'd have to move that matchup earlier in the year
I'm not sure I like either one of those options, really
December 15th, 2021 at 3:10 PM ^
I agree. But we just have to make sure MSU, OSU, PSU, Wisconsin and Iowa does not have an easy road to B1G as Michigan would not have one because of two rivalry game. This will be a tough task but I have the same mindset as you.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:22 PM ^
They either need to realign or just do away with two divisions as a whole, which is easily the better of the two ideas.
Non-related... Frosty, woof!
December 15th, 2021 at 2:33 PM ^
What if we just switched everything around and renamed the divisions something catchy... Idk like maybe Legends and Leaders or something fun, you know? It's just a jumping off point. It's actually my friend Jim's idea but it could work. I'm surprised it hasn't been done before quite honestly.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:45 PM ^
This reminds me of the gap between least- and most-developed national economies within the international market ecosystem. As such, I think we should create within the B1G some kind of analogous institution to the International Monetary Fund and/or the World Bank, where the teams from the East "loan" the teams from the West money, recruits, facilities, etc, towards greater equality. It won't work any better, and the West will in fact probably fall even further behind the East thereafter, but at least we in the East will feel better about ourselves?
December 15th, 2021 at 4:57 PM ^
German auto manufacturers vs. Soviet-era East Bloc auto manufacturers
December 15th, 2021 at 5:27 PM ^
Yes--and we could then, under the terms of the 'loans,' force the B1G West to sell us their natural resources and public utilities for pennies on the dollar. Think of the NIL $$ we could generate from that!
December 15th, 2021 at 5:41 PM ^
And if they don't give us what we demand, we will violently overthrow their Boards of Trustees, Presidents, and ADs, deploying...extreme prejudice.
December 15th, 2021 at 5:43 PM ^
That's basically the conference now FauxMo. Some dead weight on the right side of the graph.
If that was your point already, it certainly went over my head.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:23 PM ^
It's getting pathetic.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:24 PM ^
geographically it doesn't fit well, but i've been saying since day 1 that penn state should switch divisions with purdue.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:27 PM ^
I'd rather PSU leave the B1G and I wouldn't care where they went.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:29 PM ^
Right idea, wrong team.
If anyone flipped East to West it should be Sparty.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:34 PM ^
Nah, that would screw us because we would still have to play them every year. Would just make Penn State's and Ohio State's schedule easier and by extension make it harder for us to win the East
December 15th, 2021 at 3:02 PM ^
Where is it written in stone we would play them every year?
I say we rotate them on and off the schedule like anyone else.
December 15th, 2021 at 4:06 PM ^
Oh, it’s written
December 15th, 2021 at 2:36 PM ^
that is what they wanted in the first place and why not?
easy ass division to win every year.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:43 PM ^
moving purdue preserves their IU rivalry and eliminates another "must have" cross division game.
December 15th, 2021 at 4:37 PM ^
Purdue beat Sparty this year. In that sense, flipping them would actually make the East tougher.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:25 PM ^
Im not sure I see the problem. One division is better? So what.
Edit: I'm of the belief that the purpose of the big ten championship game is to determine the best team, not match up the best two teams. As the conference got bloated, schedule just isn't big enough to accommodate a division less conference. Divisions shrinks the schedule and gives you a definitive champ for each division.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:28 PM ^
In a 4-team playoff, only the East Division winner will ever get selected to play. Which means that the B1G will ever, only, get one team in. And that leaves the SEC as the only conference that ever has a shot at two teams, regardless of how good anyone else in the B1G may be.
That's why it matters... It's not a fair setup for out of conference success, and it's 100% wholly self-inflicted.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:31 PM ^
Sounds like the problem lies in the 4 team playoff. I'm all for changing that
December 15th, 2021 at 4:15 PM ^
Pretty confident that if OSU had beaten Oregon, but lost to Michigan, we might have both been in the four team playoff.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:30 PM ^
Divisions were set to supposedly create a competitive balance between the two. Does that look balanced?
December 15th, 2021 at 2:33 PM ^
You sure that's why they were created? I was of the impression that they were created to help schedule inequities.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:37 PM ^
How does having pretty much all of the best teams playing the same division help with schedule inequities?
December 15th, 2021 at 2:47 PM ^
Because you can guarantee every team in the division had to play each other. Not like sharing a big ten championship back in the day with Iowa who didn't have to play OSU.
December 15th, 2021 at 3:04 PM ^
That just gives anyone in the West an easier path to the championship game. That's not competitive balance.
December 15th, 2021 at 3:21 PM ^
So? Do I care who the loser of the championship game is? I'd rather have a definitive division champ and then a finals game to determine which division is stronger.
December 15th, 2021 at 7:35 PM ^
No divisions were done to have a championship. I say leave as is. This isn’t pro sports w owners, it’s college fergoshsakes. You can’t do dynamic pods or relegations. You have to maintain the illusion that all B1G schools are equal. And further football is not the only sport using the divisions.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:25 PM ^
Extend Frost
December 15th, 2021 at 2:26 PM ^
Rutgers out recruiting every team in B1G West is a big surprise. Wow. Yeah. Division needs to go away.
December 15th, 2021 at 2:29 PM ^
Higher talent density and Schiano can recruit
December 15th, 2021 at 4:29 PM ^
Exactly. Rutgers is right in the middle of a recruiting hot bed. Look at the HS football in Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.......nowhere near the NJ-Maryland-D.C area. Hell. the whole state of Nebraska has only 1.9 million people
December 15th, 2021 at 2:26 PM ^
it is fine. the west is just down.no need to upset the cart
December 15th, 2021 at 2:26 PM ^
Wow - even Maryland and Rutger are head and shoulders above everyone in the West! And Frost? What the living hell??? Also, I don't get Wisconsin being that low, considering they are a perennial division champion...
December 15th, 2021 at 3:56 PM ^
Small number of commits, if it went by avg they would bump up a bit
December 15th, 2021 at 2:26 PM ^
How the fuck are we behind this dick-pic'er....
