Why do we play Wisconsin for at least 6 years straight?
Something odd about the football schedule. Wisconsin is in the other division; our Big 10 West opponents each year, in theory, should rotate through. But we play Wisconsin for at least six years straight. As far as I know, the only "protected rivalry" is Indiana vs. Purdue.
Here are the dates we play Wisconsin, with our other Big 10 West opponents in parentheses. You'll notice that over this six-year period, we play Illinois twice; Iowa twice; Purdue twice; Minnesota twice; Nebraska twice; Northwestern twice; and Wisconsin 6 times:
Oct 1, 2016: @Michigan 14, Wisconsin 7 (Illinois, @Iowa)
Nov 18, 2017: @Wisconsin 24, Michigan 10 (@Purdue, Minnesota)
Oct 13, 2018: Wisconsin @Michigan (Nebraska, @Northwestern)
Sep 21, 2019: Michigan @Wisconsin (Iowa, @Illinois)
Sep 26, 2020: Wisconsin @Michigan (@Minnesota, Purdue)
Oct 2, 2021: Michigan @Wisconsin (@Nebraska, Northwestern)
Given that there are 18 games and 7 Big 10 West opponents, I'd expect there to be more of a 2-2-2-3-3-3-3 split.
Does anyone have the answer?
UPDATE: Here is Wisconsin's non-Michigan Big 10 East schedule over the same period. MSU twice, OSU twice, Maryland twice, Indiana twice, Rutgers twice, PSU twice, Michigan 6 times:
2016: @MSU, OSU (played PSU in championship)
2017: Maryland, @Indiana (played OSU in championship)
2018: Rutgers, @PSU
2019: MSU, @OSU
2020: Indiana, @Maryland (also plays Notre Dame)
2021: PSU, @Rutgers
December 5th, 2017 at 12:07 PM ^
@Michigan, @OSU, vs MSU, for crossover games. In division goes: @Wisconsin, @Northwestern, @Iowa; but thanks for Illinois, Minnesota, and Purdue at home...
They basically are facing for sure three of the top four teams from the East (two on the road), and playing at three of the top four West teams.
December 5th, 2017 at 1:58 PM ^
all those games because they'll be tougher than their opponents.
December 5th, 2017 at 2:34 PM ^
Wow, it's crazy that could even happen. I guess that's what they get for getting their AAU membership dropped.
December 5th, 2017 at 12:09 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^
A: Because playing Wisconsin is an awesome rivalry and a great place to see a game.
Q: Why are you scared to play Wisconsin so often?
December 5th, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^
Like many ills that plague us today, there are two reasons why:
David Brandon as AD and Jim Delaney as Commissioner.
December 5th, 2017 at 12:38 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
Funny I just had this argument with a Buckeye fan. I called Delany dirty and he called me a angry UM fan. I simply pointed out how screwed and uneven the divisions were and then the fact we play Wisconsin every year and OSU plays them 1 time during the same span.
Michigan gets OSU, PSU, MSU and Wisconsin every year.
I also pointed out that when he switched the conferences magically we had to take on MSU on the road 2 straight years and that we play our biggest rivals away every other year.
2 times in the 6 years we run a gauntlet of PSU, MSU and Wisconsin 3 straight weeks. 1 time we get a bye in between one of the 3 games.
Delany knew at the time OSU was his golden goose because they cheated...got caught...got away with it...replaced one HofF coach with a better one and never missed a beat. We are screwed in The Game unless we are undefeated and OSU isn't or if OSU has a horrible year where they come into the game with 3 loses.
Delany chases the money and doesn't care about 90% of the teams in the league. He may be the Dave Brandon of League Commisoners.
December 5th, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^
We got paired with them for the first cycle of the new 9 game conference slate.
December 5th, 2017 at 12:59 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 1:05 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 1:05 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 3:23 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 1:27 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 6:28 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 1:45 PM ^
Wow. We've gotten this far into this thread without anyone saying "because you touch yourself at night". I am kind of disappointed actually.
I remember someone did the generic breakdown of how the interdivision play would work when we went to East and West and I think the first thing that boggled the mind was watching how teams would randomly fall in and out of rotation. Welcome to the Bigger Than Ten Big Ten.
December 5th, 2017 at 2:37 PM ^
well, if everyone is doing it...
December 5th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 3:01 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 3:33 PM ^
So we can beat them.