Divisions debate down to Indiana, Purdue

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March 19th, 2013 at 9:24 AM
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Cold War
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Divisions debate down to Indiana, Purdue

The Big Ten's future division alignment is taking shape. Barring a late shift in the discussions between athletic directors and league officials, the only question to sort out is: Will Indiana or Purdue move West?

League sources have told ESPN.com that the Big Ten, as expected, will go with a geographic split for its divisions in 2014. As we first reported last month, time zones are expected to divide the divisions. The only problem: eight Big Ten schools are located in the Eastern time zone, including future members Maryland and Rutgers, while just six are located in the Central time zone.

"East" division

Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Rutgers
Purdue or Indiana

"West" division

Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Purdue or Indiana

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/77632/divisions-debate-down-to-indiana-purdue
 

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March 19th, 2013 at 9:27 AM | The "East" division (Score:5 Normal)
Daniel
Daniel's picture
Joined: 11/26/2011
MGoPoints: 507

should win every B1G championship game.

Formerly 'mgoblaniel.'

March 19th, 2013 at 11:13 AM | But it won't (Score:4 Normal)
Wolverine 73
Joined: 08/03/2009
MGoPoints: 601

Wisconsin seems to have done pretty well the last few years.

wolverine 73

March 19th, 2013 at 1:25 PM | Wisconsin's time is over. (Score:5 Normal)
Gobgoblue
Joined: 07/07/2012
MGoPoints: 794

Wisconsin's time is over.  

I love Greg Mattison

March 19th, 2013 at 6:18 PM | Not sure about that.  They (Score:1 Overrated)
snarling wolverine
Joined: 12/14/2011
MGoPoints: 4829

Not sure about that.  They hired an excellent coach.

 

March 19th, 2013 at 11:29 AM | The teams in the new "East" (Score:2 Normal)
M-Dog
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MGoPoints: 6534

The teams in the new "East" have not won one yet.

M'Dog

March 19th, 2013 at 11:37 AM | Well, sure, in two years. (Score:4 Normal)
M-Wolverine
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Joined: 10/04/2009
MGoPoints: 39221

But last year's Big Ten Champ didn't even win their division. So strange times.

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

March 19th, 2013 at 11:49 AM | Similar to the SEC West (Score:5 Normal)
Balrog_of_Morgoth
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Joined: 11/12/2011
MGoPoints: 338

I think the Big Ten East will be similar to how the SEC West has been the last few years. It will be stacked compared to the other division and will win the championship game most years. Moreover, with the way Michigan and Ohio State have been recruiting, I could see The Game having national championship implications many years similar to Alabama and LSU the last few years.

March 19th, 2013 at 9:28 AM | Well, I think we should keep (Score:5 Normal)
saveferris
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MGoPoints: 3219

Well, I think we should keep Indiana.  Don't want to deprive Sparty of their biggest rival.

 

"...what do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"

"Fix the cigarette lighter."

March 19th, 2013 at 11:31 AM | Agree, IU stays, (Score:1)
champswest
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MGoPoints: 2017

But it is for competitive balance.

"I hate losing more than I like winning." - Zack

March 19th, 2013 at 9:30 AM | The East is brutal compared (Score:5 Normal)
swalburn
Joined: 11/24/2011
MGoPoints: 62

The East is brutal compared to the West.  That being said, we were going to be playing OSU and MSU every year anyway.  I personally don't think Penn State is going to be as down as long as everyone thinks.  They held on to some nice pieces of a recruiting class that can get them through the NCAA santions.  There coach is doing a pretty nice job over there.

Get busy living or get busy dying.

March 19th, 2013 at 9:35 AM | If we've learned anything (Score:5 Normal)
saveferris
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MGoPoints: 3219

If we've learned anything from the past 5 years, it's that when your two-deep is not made up primarily of scholarship players, you're bound to struggle regardless how talented your starters.  Penn State is in for some lean years, bank on it.

 

"...what do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"

"Fix the cigarette lighter."

March 19th, 2013 at 10:10 AM | Their coach. (Score:2 Normal)
TIMMMAAY
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Their coach.

not just "douchey" MGoBlog user, but now TRUSTED MGoBlog user

March 19th, 2013 at 12:21 PM | Congratulations, YOUR (Score:2 Normal)
winterblue75
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Congratulations, YOUR spelling and grammar is better than a fellow poster.  I'm not sure if there is a bigger douche on the internet than a fucking spelling/grammar nazi

Sincerely,

Cpt. Ass-Hat

March 19th, 2013 at 12:30 PM | poster's (Score:5 Normal)
drewz05
Joined: 06/01/2011
MGoPoints: 146

poster's

March 19th, 2013 at 1:21 PM | Hey (Score:1 Normal)
TIMMMAAY
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Joined: 09/08/2008
MGoPoints: 6019

I wasn't a dick about it. It's not a hard thing to take a few minutes of your (not your life, but you know) life and learn the proper usage of a few of the most commonly used words in our language. It's how we communicate, it's kind of a big deal.

Again, I wasn't dickish at all and I usually am not. I will continue to address the most egregious mis-spelled words and poor grammar, as I always have. In a non asshole/douchebag way, though my sig would say otherwise.

Have a nice day.

not just "douchey" MGoBlog user, but now TRUSTED MGoBlog user

March 19th, 2013 at 1:55 PM | But by your own admission, (Score:2 Normal)
Gobgoblue
Joined: 07/07/2012
MGoPoints: 794

you are a trusted douche!

I love Greg Mattison

March 19th, 2013 at 2:00 PM | I approve this sig (Score:1)
white_pony_rocks
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I approve this sig

Soon to be the #1 fitness and training center in AA

http://www.annarbortrainer.com

March 19th, 2013 at 2:46 PM | :) (Score:0 Overrated)
March 19th, 2013 at 3:07 PM |  I'm certain that swalburn (Score:4 Normal)
MGoAlexander
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MGoPoints: 361

 I'm certain that swalburn knows the difference between "their" and "there".

We subvocalize when we read and write.  You're hardly doing anybody a favor by correcting them from writing the homonym of a word they had said aloud in their mind while typing.  

Correcting somebody that clearly doesn't know how a word is spelled or used is a completely different story, and I'd support and join you on such endeavors.

March 19th, 2013 at 5:53 PM | It's hardly hurtful to have (Score:0 Normal)
March 19th, 2013 at 10:37 AM | I agree with all this.  Plus, (Score:5 Normal)
SC Wolverine
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MGoPoints: 1521

I agree with all this.  Plus, Penn State has a recruiting situation in PA much like OSU's situation in OH.  Only big time program in a football rich state.  Then throw in New Jersey, which also belongs to them.  Then throw in massive regional sympathy.  Penn State will be back sooner than people think.  That  will be good for the Big Ten.  And we will still beat them virtualy every year.  So that will be fun.

 

I also agree that the brutal portion of our conference is mainly composed of teams we were playing anyway.  This is good stuff.

 

"Football is happening at Michigan... we have that savoir faire."  Dhani Jones

March 19th, 2013 at 11:24 AM | Pennsylvania is hardly the (Score:2 Normal)
AnthonyThomas
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Pennsylvania is hardly the talent rich state that Ohio is. And according to Rivals, in the three years leading up to PSU's sanctions, they signed six of New Jersey's top 60 players. So how do they own New Jersey?

March 19th, 2013 at 12:07 PM | Misleading timeframe (Score:0 Overrated)
March 19th, 2013 at 12:26 PM | So they used to own NJ and no (Score:2)
AnthonyThomas
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MGoPoints: 4215

So they used to own NJ and no longer do? So how is that relevant to future success?

A one year sample of them getting two players from New Jersey does not mean they own New Jersey. Not to mention it's hardly that talent-rich of a state.

March 19th, 2013 at 12:40 PM | These are fair criticisms, so (Score:3 Normal)
SC Wolverine
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These are fair criticisms, so let me adjust.  Historically, New Jersey has been PSU country.  Not the best state for recruits, but not terrible either.  And while Pennsylvania is not Ohio, it's pretty good, too.  I was not predicting that PSU would be at OSU's level, but that they will bounce back better and quicker than people think.

 

"Football is happening at Michigan... we have that savoir faire."  Dhani Jones

March 19th, 2013 at 1:29 PM | My point is that Penn State (Score:1)
whitedawg
Joined: 07/08/2008
MGoPoints: 772

My point is that Penn State is still seen as a "power program," just one going through a down cycle.  If Bill O'Brien turns out to be a good long-term coach, it's likely that PSU will once again "own" NJ, since they are the premier program in that area.

March 19th, 2013 at 11:41 AM | Penn State is a sleeping (Score:3 Normal)
M-Dog
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Penn State is a sleeping giant.  They are the headline program in the talent rich area of PA, NJ, and DC/Baltimore.

He was a legend, but people do not realize how much JoePa held that program back his last decade or so.  Unshackled, they will become a national power again with a top-level coaching staff and aggressive recruiting.  We have seen the last of 9 straight wins over them.

What does help mitigate this in our favor is the sanctions and Michigan and Ohio State now being in the East.  It buys us just enough time to get ourselves positioned as an "Eastern" program in the minds of PA, NJ, and DC/Baltimore recruits.

 

  

M'Dog

March 19th, 2013 at 12:04 PM | This. Penn State is, by far, (Score:4 Normal)
Hannibal.
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MGoPoints: 2504

This.

Penn State is, by far, the biggest program east of Columbus and north of the SEC.  Paterno wasn't coaching, recruiting, or doing home visits anymore.  He was a massive boat anchor for that program.  Larry Johnson Jr, Rod Vanderlinden, and Tom Bradley basically dragged it as far as it could go.

March 19th, 2013 at 12:29 PM | Double agreed (Score:2)
Gordon Berenson
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Having lived on the east coast (near Penn State territory), I can tell you that they are just about the only major college football program with any semblence of winning tradition in the whole northeast section of the country. They pretty much have PA, NJ, NY, New England, and a good stake in Maryland all to themselves.

They're also really the only school with a devoted following / a following that actually cares. No one cares about Rutgers, no one cares about Syracuse or UConn football, and Maryland football sucks. And that's the entire story of college football over there

March 19th, 2013 at 12:57 PM | I think people cared about (Score:2)
Needs
Joined: 08/05/2008
MGoPoints: 4184

I think people cared about Syracuse when they were good, but they're dropping into the "haven't been good for so long they might as well never have been good in the first place" category that Washington is occupying, that Pitt is close to, and that Tennessee is getting nervous about.

For Penn State, its biggest drawback is that it's a total PITA to get to and relatively "country" as Terrelle Prior said in, perhaps, his most lucid statement. It doesn't hurt them much in football recruiting because of the lack of competition in the Northeast, but it kills them in basketball.

March 19th, 2013 at 2:38 PM | He wasn't running the program (Score:1 Normal)
AtkinsDiet
Joined: 01/28/2013
MGoPoints: 97

He wasn't running the program in the last decade as much as Tom Bradley was.

And if Penn State was being "held back" from 2005-2009 (58-13, two Big Ten titles, 4-1 in bowls), I'd hate to see them unfettered. But they were obviously maxing their potential.

March 19th, 2013 at 11:33 AM | This helps us.  We are no (Score:4 Normal)
M-Dog
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MGoPoints: 6534

This helps us.  We are no longer the team playing the toughest schedule in our Division every single year while our Divisional competition skates by 4 out of 6 years.  If Penn State gets good soon, OSU and MSU will have to deal with it the same as we will.

 

M'Dog

March 19th, 2013 at 9:31 AM | Easy. Purdue has a rivalry (Score:5 Normal)
Seth
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Easy. Purdue has a rivalry with Iowa, Indiana has a rivlary with MSU. Plus these divisions are already competitively skewed eastward (especially if MSU stays decent). The only reason not to put Indiana in the east is they'll never win another conference game.

(Blogger alias: "Misopogon") This team is under construction. We thank you for your patience.

March 19th, 2013 at 3:54 PM | Er, I think Maryland will be (Score:1)
Tha Stunna
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MGoPoints: 963

Er, I think Maryland will be fighting them for being the punchline of the division.  Your comment works for the Big Ten but not the B1G Ten.

March 19th, 2013 at 6:47 PM | Disagree (Score:1 Normal)
MinWhisky
Joined: 10/17/2011
MGoPoints: 33

In the the 50s and 60s, Purdue/MSU, not Indiana/MSU, was the big rivalry.  I don't believe that has really changed through the years.  Purdue would regularly beat a much better MSU and/or Notre Dame team.  Hence the moniker, the Purdue "Spoilermakers".    If you ask  II I The

March 19th, 2013 at 9:35 AM | Giving us both Purdue and (Score:2 Normal)
michigan24
Joined: 06/29/2011
MGoPoints: 121

Giving us both Purdue and Indiana and giving back PSU would make the best of the situation.

March 19th, 2013 at 9:36 AM | northwestern (Score:3 Normal)
missoulawolverine
Joined: 08/12/2012
MGoPoints: 22

Why not give us northwestern...and then the west get both of them...travel distance for us to the three?

March 19th, 2013 at 10:51 AM | I think they want (Score:3 Normal)
Needs
Joined: 08/05/2008
MGoPoints: 4184

I think they want Northwestern in the west for media reasons, ie, the east has teams in both the New York and Chicago media markets, they fear the west will receive even less coverage than it already will with the league's three biggest brands in the east. 

 

After all, Chicago's Big Ten team and everything.

March 19th, 2013 at 9:37 AM | This is the best... (Score:4 Normal)
MGoShoe
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Joined: 04/23/2009
MGoPoints: 19325

...outcome, IME. Keeps things geographically simple. Preserves Michigan's rivalry with State without use of a protected crossover game. Purdue should go west due to rivalry and competitive balance considerations.

As an East Coaster, still looking forward to one or two games per year in College Park, Piscataway and State College.

LSA '89 - MBB Natl Champions, Big 10/Rose Bowl Champions | @MGoShoe

March 19th, 2013 at 9:51 AM | Same here, Shoe (Score:2)
pkatz
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I'll look for you there, starting with PSU in 2013

March 19th, 2013 at 10:24 AM | I'm going to that game as (Score:2)
triangle_M
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Joined: 03/09/2011
MGoPoints: 1685

I'm going to that game as well.  Got invited by a few co-workers who are PSU alumni. 

 


 
March 19th, 2013 at 11:12 AM | Is that photo accurate, Triangle? (Score:2)
pkatz
pkatz's picture
Joined: 01/22/2010
MGoPoints: 1356

I'll look for you, as well

March 19th, 2013 at 9:37 AM | Geez.....Just glad we're in (Score:1)
cali4444
Joined: 05/08/2009
MGoPoints: 66

Geez.....Just glad we're in the East.  Teams in the West will only get regular exposure in Chicago, as far as dense recruiting hotbeds go.  Seems like the alignment heavily favors East teams from a recruiting standpoint...which....Yea for us!!!   Wonder if Nebraska is pissed?

March 19th, 2013 at 11:09 AM | Why?  If Wisconsin reverts (Score:2)
Elmer
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MGoPoints: 2178

Why?  If Wisconsin reverts back to their old ways, then Nebraska will play in the B1G championship game almost every year.  If they need more spice to their schedule in years they don't play UM, Ohio and/or PSU in crossover games, they can schedule an SEC team or another football power in a non-conference game.

March 19th, 2013 at 11:39 AM | I'm just saying, if I'm a (Score:2 Normal)
cali4444
Joined: 05/08/2009
MGoPoints: 66

I'm just saying, if I'm a traditional power like Nebraska, I'd be a little upset that UofM and OSU get a whole bunch of extra exposure in large east coast markets due to Big Ten scheduling.

March 19th, 2013 at 11:54 AM | A major college football (Score:5 Normal)
Asgardian
Joined: 12/08/2010
MGoPoints: 588

A major college football rivalry in the other division of its conference commanding all of the attention?  Nebraska has never heard of such a thing.

"I have a dream that someday Michigan will not have freshmen on the field. That day is 2013 at the earliest." - Brian, Defense vs MSU UFR 2011

March 19th, 2013 at 9:42 AM | None of this really matters, (Score:5 Normal)
saveferris
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Joined: 07/02/2009
MGoPoints: 3219

None of this really matters, since it seems almost inevitable that we're expanding by at least another 2 teams and those teams are in all likelihood coming from the East.  The time zone split isn't going to hold up long term.

A year from now, we'll be back here debating this all over again.

 

"...what do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"

"Fix the cigarette lighter."

March 19th, 2013 at 10:10 AM | Exactly (Score:3 Normal)
James Burrill Angell
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MGoPoints: 3398

+1 for you sir.

The truth is that we'll add two east coast schools (UVA and maybe UNC) and those will have to stay east and then Purdue and Indiana will both go west and the new schools will have to stay east to creat east coast rivalries

March 19th, 2013 at 12:24 PM | I don't think we get UNC (Score:2)
M-Dog
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MGoPoints: 6534

I don't think we get UNC without Duke.  Those two schools define each other in athletics the way Michigan and Ohio State do.

If we only go to 16, I think it will be VA and Ga Tech.  If we get UNC, it will be because we addeed Duke and probably some other schools to go to 18 or 20.

 

M'Dog

March 19th, 2013 at 10:22 AM | 16 Teams: (Score:4 Normal)
w2j2
Joined: 11/23/2008
MGoPoints: 413

When the B1G adds teams 15 & 16 on the East coast, then they simply move THE OTHER Indiana team to the West.

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