joeyb

June 22nd, 2010 at 3:54 PM ^

Ohio State (1) Nebraska (3)
Michigan (2) Penn State (4)
Purdue (7) Wisconsin (5)
Michigan State (8) Iowa (6)
Northwestern (9) Illinois (10)
Indiana (12) Minnesota (11)

markusr2007

June 22nd, 2010 at 6:08 PM ^

NORTH DIVISION (3 to 4 Good teams, 2 to 3 weak sisters)

1. Wisconsin

2. Michigan

3. Illinois

4. Ohio State

5. Northwestern

6. Minnesota

SOUTH DIVISION (4 Good Teams, 2 weak sisters)

1. Purdue

2. Michigan State

3. Penn State

4. Iowa

5. Nebraska

6. Indiana

SpartanDan

June 22nd, 2010 at 11:30 PM ^

Have to have the top six split 3-3, otherwise one division is a relative cakewalk. Also, I'm opposed to any crossover rivalry games being locked in; it means you play 5 teams in the conference only twice every five years.

psychomatt

June 23rd, 2010 at 11:42 PM ^

Without the fixed crossover game, it is much cleaner and simpler. And, as you point out, you go no more than 2 years without playing everyone. They stick with 8 conference and 4 non-conference games, with 5 in division and 3 against teams in the other division. After two years (home and away), the games against the other division switch. Done.

Also, the fixed crossover game guarantees a more difficult schedule for certain teams (i.e. Michigan always plays Nebraska, OSU always plays PSU). On the margin, the more difficult a team's conference schedule is, the less likely that team is going to schedule top tier teams for its non-conference games. So, while it might be great to have Michigan play OSU and PSU and Nebraska every year, Michigan is more likely to schedule Alabama or Texas or Georgia if there are some years it does not play all the best B10 teams. And I would like to see some better non-conference teams on Michigan's schedule.