"The Roommate switch" A scheduling solution for large conferences.
The basic gist of this system is that the divisions shuffle in even and odd years, ensuring that teams play each other more frequently, instead of not seeing teams for 6 year stretches. It's a little odd, but I think I really like the idea.This guy designed it for the SEC, but it seems translatable to the B1G.
August 21st, 2013 at 8:50 PM ^
Prefer ejecting the four new members and playing a round robin.
Never again should Michigan and Ohio State not be in the same division.
August 21st, 2013 at 8:58 PM ^
Can we keep Nebraska and get rid of Purdue?
August 21st, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
At least for the time being, you want Ohio State to have to play Purdue every year.
August 21st, 2013 at 9:39 PM ^
I think Brian took care of this a while back when discussing division alignment.
August 21st, 2013 at 9:06 PM ^
I agree. Even if it meant getting rid of Nebraska, I'd love to see a round robin. Never again would we see teams getting huge breaks in their schedule like MSU this year, who will dodge playing the Bucks for the 11th time in the last 25 years.
August 21st, 2013 at 9:19 PM ^
Their ducking ends after 2013. Mandatory that they play ohio every year from 2014 and onward (or until the B1G expans again and realigns).
August 21st, 2013 at 9:45 PM ^
I know. But this was an issue many times in the past, not just with Sparty. For instance, all of Wisconsin's Rose Bowl squads in the 90's missed playing one of the top two teams in conference play every time (and they would lose to the other top team.)
When Biakabutuka ran wild over OSU in 95 and the camera kept flashing over to Evanston a hundred times to show the players celebrating their first Rose Bowl birth in 50 something years, all I kept thinking was they didn't have to play OSU.
Now we're in divisions but the problems remain, only now teams miss 4 opponents in conference instead of two. Looking in our own division, Nebraska and MSU have considerably easier schedules than us. It gets old.
August 21st, 2013 at 10:34 PM ^
Yeah but the problems are theoretically mitigated by having to play the strongest (non-banned) team from the other division to make the Rose Bowl in the championship game.
August 21st, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^
I would love to play Nebraska. They have great fans and tradition.
I would love to play them instead of Notre Dame.
August 21st, 2013 at 10:15 PM ^
Wow. 11 times in 25 years? That's absurd.
August 22nd, 2013 at 8:30 PM ^
Eject the adopted stepchildren from NJ and MD. Penn State and Nebraska were good additions. 12 is the ideal number.
August 21st, 2013 at 9:11 PM ^
A cool idea that would solve a lot of problems. So in other words, it will never actually be considered.
August 21st, 2013 at 10:04 PM ^
I'm just curious how badly Michigan will get screwed by the new alignment after we take UConn and Grand Valley State in the next round of expansion.
August 22nd, 2013 at 12:07 AM ^
This is why pods rule. My friends and I had been devising a four pod system for when we inevitably add a 15th and 16th team, but that same plan can be modified slightly to accomodate our current setup:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pods with 14 teams:
Minnesota/Nebraska/Wisconsin/Iowa=Pod A
Northwestern/Illinois/Indiana/Purdue=Pod B
Michigan/Ohio State/Michigan State=Pod X
Penn State/Maryland/Rutgers=Pod Y
8 game conference schedule format:
Pod A would form a division with X on even years and Y on odd years, and cycle through B teams two at a time.
Pod B would form a division with Y on even years and X on odd years, and cycle through A two at a time.
Pod X would form a division with A on even years and B on odd years, and would cycle through Y two teams at a time.
Pod Y would form a division with A on odd years and B on even years, and would cycle through X two teams at a time.
*************************************************************************************************
This isn't every permutation, of course, but it shows how we systematically cycle through the conference with inherent variation:
1 @OSU, MSU, @MInnesota, @Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, @Penn State, Maryland
2 OSU, @MSU, @Northwestern, @Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, @Maryland, Rutgers
3 @OSU, MSU, Minnesota, @Nebraska, @Wisconsin, Iowa, @Rutgers, Penn State
4 OSU, @MSU, Northwestern, @Illinois, @Indiana, Purdue, @Penn State, Maryland
5 @OSU, MSU, Minnesota, Nebraska, @Wisconsin, @Iowa, @Maryland, Rutgers
Every team gets four home games and four away games. Every team plays every other team in the conference at least once every two years. Every team has a home and home with every other team in the conference at least once every five years...WITHOUT going to a 9 game schedule!
August 22nd, 2013 at 3:37 AM ^
TL;DR. No pods. Just shuffle the conferences every couple years and have a protected rivalry game or two.
August 22nd, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^
Much less complicated and lengthy than the OPs article, but thanks for the insightful criticism.
August 22nd, 2013 at 9:43 AM ^
Roomate switch must mean something different than it used to back in the day...