Likely "Pitt In" Alignment Scenario?

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spermophilus

spermophilus

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West:
Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois
Purdue

East:
Indiana
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Pittsburgh

Play your division foes each year, play 3 of the other 6 on a rotating basis each year, a total of 8 conference games. Plus a chance for one of the other division foes in the Big Ten Championship game ;).

4 non-conference games, plus 8, equals 12.

Realistic?
 

No, not realistic. If they put Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State together, we might as well as call ourselves the Big Twelve Redux. Geography will need to be put aside if balance is to be preserved.
 

Do people actually believe the Pitt "news?"

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure there would be regents meetings, public hearings, etc before they were invited and accepted an invitation to join the Big Ten. If I know anything from watching the U of M, large public institutions don't act quickly and they don't act quietly.
 

Note That The "Pitt In" Scenario

Protects virtually ALL historic rivalries, save for the Old Oaken Bucket, and The Little Brown Jug. But the Jug game has already gone on 2-year hiatus every 6-8 years or so.

Also, think long-term. The looks a little heavy in the East, but Michigan has been average lately, and Penn State has had years of mediocrity (remember the Fire JoePa groundswell 4-5 years ago). Also, (and this may be the hardest thing I've had to write in a while), Herky and Bucky don't have to take a back seat to anyone in the East, save perhaps tOSU, and to that I say - get in line.

Anyway, makes soooo much sense, my scenario has zero chance of coming to fruition.:rolleyes:
 

How about this? Would combine some geographic principles with rivalries. OSU and Michigan must be in separate divisions.

BT North:
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Michigan State
Pittsburgh
Iowa

BT South:
Ohio State
Penn State
Indiana
Illinois
Northwestern
Purdue
 


Ummm, One Big Problem

josh087 said:
How about this? Would combine some geographic principles with rivalries. OSU and Michigan must be in separate divisions.

BT North:
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Michigan State
Pittsburgh
Iowa

BT South:
Ohio State
Penn State
Indiana
Illinois
Northwestern
Purdue
Click to expand...

There is no way Michigan and tOSU don't play each other every year under any scenario.
 

my take

West
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Iowa
Michigan
Illinois
Northwestern

East
Penn state
Pitt
Ohio State
Michigan State
Purdue
Indiana

Michigan continues to play Michigan State and Ohio State every year. All other rivalries maintained and gives geographic priority and some balance of power.
 

thestl said:
No, not realistic. If they put Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State together, we might as well as call ourselves the Big Twelve Redux. Geography will need to be put aside if balance is to be preserved.
Click to expand...

Disagree. College football runs in cycles, so what looks balanced today won't necessarily be the case a decade from now. Look at the ACC - all the fuss about where Miami and Florida State should be slotted, and both programs have been completely mediocre since joining, leaving two arbitrarily-created divisions where only the most diehard fan can identify which team belongs in which division. Nobody has any trouble naming which teams belong in the SEC West, or Big 12 North, but the ACC Coastal?
 

I don't think "we" should worry so much about preserving rivalries by keeping teams like Minnesota and Wisconsin or Iowa in the same division. The SEC does it just fine. Georgia and Auburn have the longest running rivalry in college football save Minny/Wisky, and they are in opposite divisions. Same for Alabama/Tennessee. Only two of your three games from the other side should rotate. This way, Ohio State and Michigan could be split up and still play every year. The SEC has proven that this can work. We just adopt the same model.

I think Josh's North/South model above works best, though I think Pitt stays in the South and Indiana, Northwestern, Illinois or Purdue come to the North. Ultimately I think this will be the way this would shake out....if Pitt is the team.

I'll add that Pitt is still third on my list. I prefer Mizzou or Iowa State.
 



spermophilus - your division makes the most sense

On a personal level Pitt doesn't elicit my inner Jack Kerouac to start making travel plans. However, I'd love to rekindle the magic of a Primanti Brothers sandwich. I have never seen someone fellate a capicola and cheese like you did.
 

The Part That Made That Sandwich

norman dale said:
On a personal level Pitt doesn't elicit my inner Jack Kerouac to start making travel plans. However, I'd love to rekindle the magic of a Primanti Brothers sandwich. I have never seen someone fellate a capicola and cheese like you did.
Click to expand...

Was the fried egg. Ooooh baby.

Anyway, I needed all those calories to keep warm sleeping in the rental later that night/morning.

"What happened to the Delta house I used to know?"

:)

Hope the whole fam is doing well, nd.
 

thestl said:
No, not realistic. If they put Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State together, we might as well as call ourselves the Big Twelve Redux. Geography will need to be put aside if balance is to be preserved.
Click to expand...

They want OSU and Michigan together to keep the yearly rivalry game going. Plus OSU, Mich, and PSU will always be powers. Splitting them will not change that. Keeping them together will allow some western schools to join them in the spot light (which is a better image for the conference). Also, money is a factor. Big programs and big rivalries generate more revenue, not to mention travel costs are much better when splitting east/west.

If this scenario is true, it's very favorable for the Gophers. We should at least expect to be in the title game 1 in 4 years.
 




thestl said:
No, not realistic. If they put Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State together, we might as well as call ourselves the Big Twelve Redux. Geography will need to be put aside if balance is to be preserved.
Click to expand...

This year 5 of the 8 (if you count Pitt) bowl teams came from the west.

The bottom 2 teams were in the east.

Wisconsin, Iowa & NU have strong teams and good coaching (despite what you think of BB). The Big Ten West will not be the Big XII North.
 

I suggest alphabetical.

A-M division: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, MSU, MN

N-Z division: NW, OSU, PSU, Pitt, Purdue, Wisky

Balanced and fair.
 


East-West is the only way this will go down. It keeps the rivalries. Plus, Iowa, Wisconsin,
& Northwestern are not exactly chopped liver.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
It'll never fly, but I love the idea of "quads".

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/216123-the-big-ten-goes-to-quads
Click to expand...

I like the quad idea too. What I don't like about the Big 12 and SEC divisions is they can become lopsided and you end up leaving out the 2nd best team in the championship game. The quad solves that problem and for the most part keeps traditional rivalries in place. If a system like this was used, I'd feel much better about adding a 12th team.
 

spermophilus said:
West:
Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois
Purdue

East:
Indiana
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Pittsburgh

Play your division foes each year, play 3 of the other 6 on a rotating basis each year, a total of 8 conference games. Plus a chance for one of the other division foes in the Big Ten Championship game ;).

4 non-conference games, plus 8, equals 12.

Realistic?
Click to expand...

spermophilus and few others are actually thinking clearly. It will be East-West, and it will not matter if one division is "loaded" at first. The Big 12 is skewed way to the south now, but the first 8 years the Championship game was 4-4.

I would swap Indiana and Northwestern. I think the Purdue-Indiana rivalry is more important than Illinois-Northwestern. Old Oaken Bucket has been played for 85 years, Land of Lincoln Trophy for 1 (that's one-really) year...

And for those of you that think Michigan and OSU would ever end up in different divisions--:blah::horse::blah::horse::blah:

Great Plains
Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin
Indiana
Illinois
Purdue

Great Lakes
Northwestern
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Pittsburgh
 

I don't see Michigan and Ohio State agreeing to Big Ten expansion without a guarantee that they will be in different divisions. They want the potential to play for the conference championship and putting them into the same division eliminates that potential.

The key is using the "dedicated rival" system that the ACC uses. Each team has a dedicated rival in the other division that they play every year. For example, Virginia Tech plays Boston College every year and then rotates their conference but non-divisional games amonst the other schools in the other division.

If the Big Ten uses that system and designates Michigan and Ohio State as "dedicated rivals" but in different divisions they will: 1) guarantee that they play every year, and 2) create the potential for a rematch in the conference championship. The rematch has happened a couple of times in the ACC, and in the SEC, and it works really well. It makes a pretty compelling game.

If I'm the AD at Michigan or OSU I don't agree with expansion without the dedicated rivalry game provision.
 

Mammal Division:
Gophers
Badgers
Wildcats
Wolverines
Nittany Lions
Panthers

Manimal Division:
Hawkeyes
Illini
Boilermakers
Hoosiers
Buckeyes
Spartans
 

I don't care how it happens but this is the perfect time to make sure that Minn and Mich play every year again. Not playing every year is a travesty that needs to be fixed. The LBJ is not only the best trophy in college football but truly represents what is awesome about college football.

ps Does anyone consider any BT state a great plains state?? I guess I never have but am wondering about others.
 

ruralgopher said:
ps Does anyone consider any BT state a great plains state?? I guess I never have but am wondering about others.
Click to expand...

None of the Big Ten states are considered to be part of the Great Plains. It's an arbitrary distinction, but the Great Plains are considered to be west of Minnesota and Iowa. We have our prairie in Minnesota, and Iowa has plenty of prairie, but neither state is considered to be in the Great Plains.

http://www.unl.edu/plains/about/map.shtml
 

Here is my alignment
West
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Illinois

East
Penn state
Pitt
Ohio State
Purdue
Indiana
Northwestern
 

Bottom line is, you don't want to break rivalries (sport value and financial gain):

Minn-Wisc-Iowa
Mich-MSU-OSU
Pitt-PSU
Illinois-N'western
Ind-Purdue

The only way this works is to keep the 3's together and the 2's together (call the divisions what you want):

Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Mich St
Ohio St
Iowa

Indiana
Illinois
Purdue
N'western
Penn St
Pitt

That said, I still prefer East/West.
 

magpie said:
Bottom line is, you don't want to break rivalries (sport value and financial gain):

Minn-Wisc-Iowa
Mich-MSU-OSU
Pitt-PSU
Illinois-N'western
Ind-Purdue

The only way this works is to keep the 3's together and the 2's together (call the divisions what you want):

Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Mich St
Ohio St
Iowa

Indiana
Illinois
Purdue
N'western
Penn St
Pitt

That said, I still prefer East/West.
Click to expand...

This would be brutal. The Gophs would be going to chilly Detroit when they do become bowl bound.
 

I know, but money talks -- and this is certainly not impossible. I really hope it's east/west.
 

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