The future has been created, today we find out: Open Thread
The current rumor is Ohio game moved to October, MSU game moved to last Saturday in November thus destroying the MSU - Indiana protected rivalry. Other rumors include to hell with Notre Dame, and Michigan to the Big East (OK, I made that one up). What say you?
UPDATE: Kelvin Grady, en route to New Orleans, doesn't seem too bothered.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
You could really argue how big of a marquee program PSU really is, especially now with the mess their in. I think we can say that Wisconsin has passed them by. PSU has two Rose Bowl appearances since they joined the league, compared to 5 for Wisconsin in the same time frame (best in BIG)...two programs going in the opposite direction.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
In that list Forbes just put out Penn St. was the third most valuable college football program, top in the B1G. That's what I mean by marquee.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^
tell me that the Ohio game should always be at the end of the season. I want that game when it counts, when national championships hang in the balance. I want the end of the game to mean tears for someone. Still, I could imagine a future where playing it the second to last week of November could be exciting. Especially if there is a rematch in the BIG/Championship game. The week inbetween could be filled with must-win situations to set up a re-match. Plus, I'm just not sure how I feel about playing the same team two weeks in a row.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^
Just a guess.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^
I would like that one
December 28th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^
The rumors I've read on a couple of scout boards have to do with pausing the series with Notre Dame. This might coincide with the 9 game B1G schedule.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
this too but why would this be a conference announcement?
December 28th, 2011 at 11:20 AM ^
December 28th, 2011 at 11:31 AM ^
"I say make it the season opener for ALL of college football"
Worst. Idea. Ever.
The Game needs to be as late in the season as possible, so that it has maximum meaning.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^
Yeah, the third Saturday in November. Cold and dark. The game, forever in our hearts.
<br>
<br>Don't fuck this up.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:28 AM ^
Why do the presidents of the conferences and schools have to mess with all these great rivalries? Seriously just leave the rivalries be, moving them around kills them.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:48 AM ^
No way. Nothing will ever replace the Chicago Ohio game.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:33 PM ^
Nebraska can barely get through a down year for the big ten.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:27 AM ^
finally told Indiana that they must field a varsity football team or else you are out of the conference...........I mean who would miss them ?
December 28th, 2011 at 11:33 AM ^
following:
1. 9 game schedule
2. No cross-divisional games in last two weeks, meaning oops The Game has to move
3. They're going to allow SEC-style oversigning now!?
I doubt they'd be able to spring the following on us with not so much more than a little buzz and a few rumors:
1. Big Ten expansion including Notre Dame
2. Championship game sites
I'd personally love to see Kansas and ND added, and the B1GCG played at Lambeau but that's just me. Kansas/Weiss would be a football dud but it would be fun to have the Jayhawks join us for basketball. They'd make an awesome new rival to a lot of schools, us and Indiana especially.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
salivating for the BIG/Champ game always being played at an outdoor site. Lambeau would be nice, but maybe just rotating through northern outdoor sites. (Soldier Field, maybe Heinz Field)
All I am trying to say is--outdoor football in December rules.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:33 AM ^
ARGH. CANT. MOVE. THE. GAME.
Getting rid of Notre Dame would be okay though, as long as they get replaced with a credible opponent. SEC home-and-homes would be nice. Just saying.....
December 28th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
Death to the B1G if they move the Game. Death. That is all.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
Everyone is talking about this announcement...but where did moving "The Game" come from? Is that the speculated rumor? Why would it be that and not some other "huge" news?
December 28th, 2011 at 1:12 PM ^
It's pretty rare that "big news" comes out that hasn't already been leaked or otherwise hinted at. Huge surprise announcements have gone the way of the dodo.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
Keep Ohio game as season finale, but have both in same division (swap them with MSU). Winner goes to B1G championship - kind of like USA/Russia in '80.
You'll always have a marque name in the championship game, and loser (also marque name with fan following) will typically get BCS or Capital One bowl.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:08 PM ^
Remember everyone, those great moments where Charles Woodson holds the rose in his teeth after beating Ohio, in Michigan Stadium (or at their place) are over. The only way that can now happen is if it's in Indianapolis, and if The Game remains where it is on the schedule then that would mean they've just played back-to-back games. Seems fine, but that means the regular season game may have been meaningless if both were already "in." They only way any of this would be dramatic any more is if, say, Michigan had to beat Ohio in the regular season finale to with the Legends and earn the right to play them again. VERY unlikely scenario that we'd see once every twenty years if we're lucky.
I think there'd be a lot of support for switching Wisconsin and Michigan. State could become one of our protected rivalries, and The Game would be at the end of the year with the Leaders division usually on the line. There simply will be no "roses in the teeth" after a victory over the Buckeyes because we'd still have to go to Indy, but The Game would still be the season-ender and would still have a lot of meaning.
While they're at it they might as well swap MSU and Illinois, too, and make the divisions truly east-west. Then ND can join the Leaders and Kansas the Legends. ND would be in a division with UM, MSU and Purdue, as well as Indiana, and also play Penn State and Ohio State every year. I can't possibly imagine why ND would see this as a negative.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:15 PM ^
In the history of the Big 12, ACC, and SEC CG's, it's been exceedingly rare that both participants locked up their slots before the final week of the regular season. I haven't looked it up but it wouldn't surprise me if it's never happened, or happened less than three times total, or something.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:16 PM ^
I expect it address the problem of the path into the stadium making it hard to fit in large equipment into the Big House rather than just increasing the size.
Brandon was complaining how the old design makes it hard to reuse the stadium for other events without having assemble everything piece by piece due to the way its currently setup in a recent talk he gave
December 28th, 2011 at 12:33 PM ^
I fit my 'large equipment' into the big house three times a year ...
December 28th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^
Like Delaney announcing he's stepping down, or a re-calculation of the revenues from the 2010 bowl season. ZZZZZZZ.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^
isn't going anywhere. Calm down children.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:31 PM ^
I am going to be in charge of all schedules for the big ten and beer concessions. Ohio will play at Hawaii every other week and at Michigan the last game of the year (you're welcome). Beer will be free at all big ten schools for people that can sing hail to the victors. Gotta go, I am busy singing hail to the victors at a tutoring class in ohio.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
I really don't want the ohio game moved and if it is moved. Don't put msu there, thats just dumb. Ohio is our #1 rival and everyone knows that.
December 28th, 2011 at 7:53 PM ^
As a Northwestern alumnus I do hear a lot of noise from U Chi people about how their degree is so much better than mine. Would have loved to play them in a meaningful conference game.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:42 PM ^
I knew this day would come. And I'm not surprised.
The Game has not always been Michigan's biggest rivalry game.
Michigan and Chicago were once the biggest of rivals in the Big Ten (called the Western Conference back in those days) and even the Midwest. When the Maroons dropped football in 1939 and athletics alltogether in 1946, it was the death of the school's chance to compete at a high level in the future. UC resurrected their football program in 1969 and currently are a dormat in Division 3. Just imagine, if Chicago didn't de-emphasize athletics, they would have a great shot at being a national power and nationally relevant program.
Michigan-Chicago might still be the biggest game, the Big Ten might not have admitted state. (they invited state due to the fact that losing Chicago made them a 9-team league)
Michigan-minnesota became Michigan's #1 rival once Chicago left, and then once they slid into irrelevance (which they still are in today) and ohio hired woody, they became the biggest rival to Michigan.
What I'm trying to say is, rivalries come and go. It sucks but that's just how things work. The Game won't go away (if this is true) if it's moved back, but it sure will lose a lot of importance. And if by some travesty, the B1G makes ohio a rotating game that rotates off the schedule every some two years, if I were Coleman or Brandon, I would threaten to leave the B1G.
December 28th, 2011 at 3:21 PM ^
I think that the Northwestern-Chicago Rivalry could be pretty intense. I know some White Sox fans who absolutely hate my cubbies.
December 29th, 2011 at 12:19 AM ^
...but Chicago is no longer a doormat in D3. They're solidly mediocre; even went 8-2 in 2010.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^
that takes care of everything, including the names of the Divisions -- East and West work just fine. [My only gripe is that we'd be in the East. If we were in the West, Champions of the West would have current, rather than historical, relevance!]
December 28th, 2011 at 1:00 PM ^
How do we know that the announcement is actually happening? I'd expect a credible news source (TomVH, Rothstein, Brian, etc.) to say something about it, but the only people talking about it are on forums like this one and we're hardly a credible source.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^
...to the question of the day.
@PeteThamelNYT: BREAKING: Pac-12 and Big Ten enter scheduling agreement. All 12 teams playing an inter-league football game starting 2017
December 28th, 2011 at 1:06 PM ^
New Big Ten vs. Pac-10 scheduling agreement beginning in 2017.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^
LOVE it. Brilliant stuff.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:12 PM ^
...and paranoia is on display in this thread. Can't wait to see the spin from these parts about how this is just a smokescreen for an attack on Michigan's traditions.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:14 PM ^
Starting in 2017 the B1G and Pac will do interconference scheduling. Interesting.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:20 PM ^
Big Ten will add Texas and North Carolina making it the big 14
<br>
<br>Divisions are
<br>Texas
<br>Ohio
<br>Wisconsin
<br>Penn State
<br>Indiana
<br>Purdue
<br>Minnesota
<br>
<br>Michigan
<br>Sparty
<br>Nebraska
<br>North Carolina
<br>Iowa
<br>Northwestern
<br>Illinois
December 28th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^
according to pete thamel te B1G and PAC12 have entered into an inter conference scheduling agreement starting in 2017, not sure if that is the news or notand sorry i donthave a link im on mytablet and am not sure how,tocopy and paste yet
December 28th, 2011 at 1:53 PM ^
Color me intrigued. I like this idea. B1G-Pac12 Challenge.
December 28th, 2011 at 3:38 PM ^
Does this mean that sparty holds their bye week all the way till November?