Big Ten Basketball Scheduling

[Ski-U-Mah24]

Not sure if this was asked earlier in the year, but can anyone please explain why you can lock in a rivalry or two every season in football to guarantee teams like Iowa and Wisconsin to be on our schedule every season but yet we can't lock in two games with the Badgers year in and year out by guaranteeing one game at the Barn and one at the Kohl center every year? I for one am a huge advocate to move the Wisconsin football game to the final game of the season for rivalry week and would like to know why we don't have them on our basketball schedule twice this season. Thanks!

 

[rcpratt]

I don't know. The two years before this Purdue only played IU once. You'd think they could lock in at least one rivalry, but apparently they want to try to balance the unbalanced schedule.

 

[howeda7]

I don't know. The two years before this Purdue only played IU once. You'd think they could lock in at least one rivalry, but apparently they want to try to balance the unbalanced schedule.

It's dumb. In football, where it's very meaningful and could cost a team a Rose Bowl bid, they don't worry about it. This year the Gophers missed Indiana and Michigan arguably the two worst teams. In basketball, where at the end of the day it doesn't matter that much who wins the regular season title since the top 4-7 teams will make the NCAA's anyway, they suddenly care a great deal about making sure it's not unbalanced. The football rivalaries are generally well balanced for basketball as well. I guess Michigan would have it a bit tough with MSU and OSU and OSU a bit easy with Michigan and Penn State, but overall it's reasonably fair.