How to Preserve (most) B1G Traditions
Today will forever be known as the day the Pac 12 died. With UA, ASU, and Utah joining Colorado in the Big 12, the final nail in the coffin has been hammered. But it's Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten that got me thinking, specifically about what the best thing to do would be if we want to preserve most of the old traditions. And I came to a stunningly simple conclusion (that I'm sure some of you have reached as well).
Add Stanford and Cal.
Obviously, the cat's out of the bag, we can't go back to what college football used to be, whether we want to or not. But if the B1G were to add Stanford and Cal, it would put the Big Ten at 20 teams. This would allow for the return of divisions, and there's a rather straightforward way to divide the Big Ten:
West Division: USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Oregon, Washington, Nebraska*, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin
East Division: Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan, MSU, OSU, Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers
With 10 teams in each division, each team could play each other team in the regular season, although in practice there will probably be only 7 or 8 divisional games in order to play cross-division games, the best of which would generate a lot of revenue.
At the end of the season, the best team in each division would play each other at the Rose Bowl for the Big Ten championship. This would have the feel of the old Rose Bowls where the best team in the Big Ten played the best team in the Pac 10. Sure, it's not exactly the same, but it's as close as we're going to get in this era. This would also remove any desire to move The Game, as there's no chance Michigan and OSU could play each other in the championship game. And most of the divisional opponents are ones we've played throughout our existence. It might not be exactly the same, but I think this is the best scenario we're going to get. Or should we just accept the fact that traditions are dead?
*If it's convenient for the Big Ten, they could kick Nebraska out due to not being an AAU school. The scenario where I could see this happening is if the Big 12 and SEC also go to 20 teams, and Notre Dame wants in. ND would then join the B1G West, preserving rivalries with USC and Stanford (and dodging Michigan and OSU). Nebraska would probably go back to the Big 12 in this case, or perhaps even the SEC depending on how the dominoes fall.
Expansion like this make it harder to preserve Michigan OSU as the last game. I don't think anyone wants to go back to divisions just for the sake of playing The Game as the last game of the season.
This is the reality of CFB. Greed, NIL, and expansion has diluted a great product. Everyone is suffering and I feel for rivalries such as the Apple Cup or Civil War no longer being annually played.
I do like your idea though!
Bedlam's dead too. Fucking Bedlam! That game is bonkers annually.
The only good thing about this round of expansion is it puts Utah/BYU in the same conference, so the Holy War is going to be played every year for sure.
August 4th, 2023 at 10:38 PM ^
All disrupted rivalries are now non conference games
August 4th, 2023 at 11:13 PM ^
But:
1) They have to actually go ahead and schedule them though. Often, one of the two backs out.
2) They can't play at the end of November anymore, but in September.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:28 PM ^
They can play in November just like Florida-FSU, UGa-Ga Tech, or Clemson-USC(ntUSC). If there’s an even number of those games you just move a conference game to early September and you’re fine.
Washington issued a statement that they were committed to keeping the Apple Cup alive and playing WSU in all sports.
We will see if that happens, but at least there's a chance.
I don't see how NIL should be thrown around in here as dilutive. Recruiting seems to be generally going as they have been in the past, with the bonus of athletes receiving compensation they had previously not enjoyed.
I'm not entirely sure we want it to be the last game. There's too much chance of having the matchup already locked as the championship game before it kicks off (as would have happened last year), and the very worst thing I can imagine is to have it look like a meaningless week 18 NFL game.
Agreed, which is why I proposed the system I did. Keeping divisions is pretty much the only way to keep The Game at the last week of the regular season. Otherwise, the networks will inevitably move it at some point down the line.
Don't care which week osu is, just get it the **** off of Thanksgiving weekend - when a *large* portion of the student body is visiting family at home, often out of state, thus enabling more osu fans to attend than otherwise would during the middle of the season.
Ohio fans will still shit in coolers
MSU fans will still burn couches and cry disrespekt*
Not sure we can count on anything else remaining constant in these crazy times.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:47 PM ^
All true, yet having more Michigan students & fans in town - not looking to sell tickets due to being out of town - will mitigate the amount of red in the stands.
Wouldn’t OSU struggle with the same challenge?
Except that they don't. When was the last time you saw the Toilet Bowl in that truck stop filled with Blue?
August 5th, 2023 at 12:09 PM ^
Then that’s on Michigan fans; not the schedule date
Not if they have to choose between traveling to Columbus to watch the game or traveling home for holiday weekend, when home is several states away.
ok - a fair point. UM has 45-48% of their students from outside of Michigan; and OSU has 30% of their students from outside of Ohio. So when there is this influx of OSU fans into Michigan stadium - is it in the student section?
August 5th, 2023 at 10:11 AM ^
The vast majority of osu students are in-state, making it easier for them to go to games in Columbus or Ann Arbor (a few hours drive usually) rather than students who need to take a flight or 5+ hr car ride home, which is a higher proportion of UM students.
I remember attending the UM-osu game as a student back when it was still the weekend prior to Thanksgiving... there was never as much red in the stands as there has been the last ~15 years (granted those were pre-RR days, but I believe there is merit to the observation).
You have an awful loose definition of “suffering”.
Nothing prevents the Apple Cup or the Civil War from being played. If they want it to be played it will be played.
College football is as awesome as it ever was. The game is bigger than the financials and other off the field stuff. What makes the game great is what goes on between the lines for 4 hours each game.
August 4th, 2023 at 10:25 PM ^
What makes the game great is what goes on between the lines for 4 hours each game.
The commercials?
August 4th, 2023 at 10:46 PM ^
I think change is what keeps a sports exciting. Playing new high-profile teams. Visits to new stadiums. Creating new rivals (while still playing the old ones). TV ratings for Michigan-Oregon or Washington-OSU will be huge, and the B10's footprint will expand into recruit-rich California.
I'd watch Michigan play OCC. But I don't especially need to see a season that's mostly filled with Maryland, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, and NW. At least half the current B10 teams are boring nothings. Go big or go home.
As soon as Wazoo and Oregon State fall to the MWC, they will stop getting the handful of playmakers they get now and the Apple Cup and Civil War will become grossly one sided annual ass kickings for those two schools. Won’t last 5 years and they’ll move on from each other
Kick out everyone added since 1990, merge with the old PAC10 and call it day. Except Fox would hate that, and they're running the show.
Would they though? How much revenue does Maryland, Rutgers, and Nebraska really bring?
When was the last time a team got “kicked out” of a conference?
If the ACC implodes, I could see the B1G go to 24 teams, 4x 6-team pods.
If they're cherry picking I think they take UVA, UNC, FSU, Miami, BC and Duke, though I could see BC and Miami being left out in favor of Stanford and Cal.
The most important thing is to get to that final number without Notre Dame, because to hell with Notre Dame.
Expanding on this great idea, I’d swap the non-conference schedule with three cross-over games for 12 scheduled matchups.
Every cross divisional team would face each other once every three years.
I'd love this, but remember it's the non-conference games that pay for the athletic programs of the lesser programs like MAC schools. I don't want to sacrifice college football for those schools in favor of playing Oregon every few years.
If the Power 3 conferences eventually go to 20-24 teams each, the Group of [whatever number it becomes] should have their own playoff. Maybe even have the champion play the first team out of the Power 3 playoff in a bowl game.
I think the tradition would be better preserved if Penn State, Maryland and Rutger moved to the West Division and Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin were in the East. Perhaps even better if we boot out Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland and Rutger and add Washington State, Oregon State, Arizona State and Arizona. The divisions never play each other during the regular season and they play a conference championship on New Years Day (Jan 2 if New Years Day is a Sunday) at 2:00 Pacific time in the Rose Bowl.
I'd be fine with this, although it's not going to happen since the Big 12 is gobbling up the Arizona schools. Maybe sub Penn State and Nebraska for those two. Playing the championship game on NYD wouldn't be compatible with a playoff system though. Still think it should be played at the Rose Bowl regardless
Have to tip your cap to the B12. Ever since Nebraska bolted it feels like they're on the verge of collapse every several years and yet here they are about to survive longer than the PAC12, gaining some of their refugees in the process, including one of their exes back.
I think they'll survive longer than the ACC as well
I agree that the BigXII has been pretty scrappy and resilient. I think some of this is due to timing and sequence of events. They lost TAMU and Missouri first. I think that shook their world and made them realize they were hyper reliant on OU and Texas; their 2 biggest marquee names. And they had to contemplate life without THEM too. So they aggressively added teams, they added a conference title, etc. And when OU and UT DID leave a few years later they just kept plowing ahead on survival mode and moved quickly to benefit when the PAC-12 cratered.
The PAC-12 on the other hand messed up tv negotiations and then lost their 2 biggest marquee names FIRST. That being the first domino along with the short time span between USC/UCLA and UW/Oregon + Colorado/Utah/ASU/Arizona lead to the implosion.
Survival during expansion is a zero sum game; and the Big XII managed it at the PAC-12 expense. Similar feeding frenzy could happen with the ACC and it’ll be interesting to see how the Big XII expands if the ACC starts to wobble.
Frankly, at this point I'm tired of Rose Bowl fetishism. Yes, it's in a pretty setting, and it was cool when the Big Ten champ went there and the players had roses in their mouths and all that, but those days are past. Now it's the home stadium of a Big Ten team. Play the BTCG there and you just give a big advantage to any Pacific team. Let those teams play in the Midwest. They joined our league.
my GOD but these conversations suck. every word is completely disposable.
Two Divisions, Original Big Ten (ie pre-1989) and New Kids (post-1989). Play everybody in your Division once, plus three rotating crossover games in the other Division. I'm not a fan of Conf Champ Games, but if you must, play at alternating sites (Indy, Chicago, Rose, etc). The New Kids Division will eventually add more schools, until then schedule an OOC game or two.
Not a bad idea, but what about standing pat at 18.
West: Washington, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.
East: Northwestern, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, MSU, OSU, PSU, Maryland, and Rutgers.
10 conference games. Play all of your division and 2 cross over games. TV would love the bug match ups rather than beating up more midmajors.
Bug matchups like Ga Tech vs Richmond?
Not sure if it was autocorrect or my fat thumbs!
August 4th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
so Illinois plays a 20 game season?
They need a schedule as big as Bielema.
How do you get rid of Rutgers in your scenario?
August 4th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
That may be my scenario's fatal flaw...
August 4th, 2023 at 11:35 PM ^
Use the Fox money to fund a trench along the NY/NJ border from the Hudson to the Delaware. Once it’s done, give NJ a firm push and let it float out into the Atlantic where it sinks. Then invite an ACC school to replace Rutgers.
I don’t see a flaw in this plan.
ADD ALL THE TEAMZ!!!!!!!
For the players and the integrity of the game, as I have stated multiple times, the best system for football is a relegation arrangement where the top programs are in their own division and they all play each other. The players do not give a damn about long-time traditions-they know nothing nor care anything about them. Make this for/about the kids/players and let the fans attempt to become the adults they claim to be. This actually benefits everyone the most.
August 4th, 2023 at 11:16 PM ^
There will be one premier conference eventually. 28 teams, 4 divisions, 8-team playoff, made up of top two teams in each division.
EAST: Clemson, Miami, Florida, FSU, Penn State, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
SOUTH: Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee
MIDWEST: Iowa, Michigan, MSU, Nebraska, Wisconsin, OSU, Notre Dame
WEST: Texas, TAMU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, USC, UCLA
That's your Premier League, on ESPN/FOX.
Everyone else in America will be on Peacock.
Kick out MSU and add Wisconsin and you have it figured out. Eventually the top teams will realize that they shouldn’t be sharing money with the Vanderbilt/Rutgers/Wake Forest of the world and create their own super conference.
So Wisconsin would be in there twice?
Much as I'd like Nebraska out of the Big 10, any attempt to push them out would lead to major lawsuits, likely big liability, and a hit to reputations.