CFN article on Round Robin Big Ten play

[GoBigGold]

Pretty much states similar frustrations Big Ten fans have:

http://cfn.scout.com/2/854033.html

 

[WAGopher]

Pretty much states similar frustrations Big Ten fans have:

http://cfn.scout.com/2/854033.html

Now that's a college football schedule! I think a schedule like that would help in recruiting and increase attendance. The only concern is that playing that many tough games could wear down a team. A mid-season bye week would most certainly be needed.

 

[2727Gopher]

Now that's a college football schedule! I think a schedule like that would help in recruiting and increase attendance. The only concern is that playing that many tough games could wear down a team. A mid-season bye week would most certainly be needed.

Well, it's easy to create a schedule based on games that have already been scheduled, but the reality is that if we ever went to a 10 game Big Ten schedule, we'd never have a decent non-conference game ever again. No BCS team would agree to come to our stadium to play us without a return trip to their stadium. Now, if they ever expand to 13 games, then I think we could go to a round robin schedule.

 

[Ski U Master]

That is a treacherous schedule to get through undefeated or with only one loss, if the conference wants a nat'l championship they won't go to this.
Personally, I would love a 10 game big ten schedule, it would be intense from a fan perspective and we would have a true champion of the conference instead of this co-champ BS.

 

[walter]

I would like to see this happen - playing every team in the conference would be good. It would be a tough schedule for sure.

 

[Schnoodler]

see this makes more sense with a national playoff system. winning the conference would then be more important than number of wins.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Well, it's easy to create a schedule based on games that have already been scheduled, but the reality is that if we ever went to a 10 game Big Ten schedule, we'd never have a decent non-conference game ever again. No BCS team would agree to come to our stadium to play us without a return trip to their stadium. Now, if they ever expand to 13 games, then I think we could go to a round robin schedule.

You are right. All BCS schools want 7 home games.

Bye-bye OSU-USC, Minnesota-Cal, ND-Michigan, Purdue, MSU, Iowa-ISU (as if the state will let that happen).

 

[ChemEGopher]

That is a treacherous schedule to get through undefeated or with only one loss, if the conference wants a nat'l championship they won't go to this.
Personally, I would love a 10 game big ten schedule, it would be intense from a fan perspective and we would have a true champion of the conference instead of this co-champ BS.

This is exactly why the BCS is a crock. The goal is to have an easy enough schedule so that you can go undefeated, but difficult enough that their schedule isn't frowned upon by the computers. Heaven forbid the fans get what they want: Consistent match-ups of quality teams every week.

 

[4starrecruit]

Have every Big Ten team play every Big Ten team every year. If Notre Dame could be brought into the Conference, so much the better. Add one more team in addition to ND and then play only Big Ten games. Have a Big Ten championship game. Restore the mystique of the conference by making it an exclusive Big Ten Conference. Now, that would be a football schedule that no other conference would easily match. Big Ten Football! Who needs anything more?

 

[dpodoll68]

Have every Big Ten team play every Big Ten team every year. If Notre Dame could be brought into the Conference, so much the better. Add one more team in addition to ND and then play only Big Ten games. Have a Big Ten championship game. Restore the mystique of the conference by making it an exclusive Big Ten Conference. Now, that would be a football schedule that no other conference would easily match. Big Ten Football! Who needs anything more?

So you never want to see OSU/USC again? Or Michigan/Notre Dame?

As others have said, games like this would never happen under a proposed 10-game Big Ten schedule, because the two non-cons for every team will be against the likes of Florida International and Utah St.

It would be schedule suicide for a team to play 10 Big Ten teams, and then play two BCS powers in their non-cons. Goodbye, traditional non-con rivalries.

 

[4starrecruit]

So, what traditional non-conference rivals do Big Ten teams have any way? Michigan and ND are going off each others schedules in a few years. PSU and Pitt don't play each other. OSU free lances every year. None of the other Big Ten teams, other than iowa (Iowa State) have long-standing "traditional" rivals. Personally, I think it would be better to play every Big Ten team every year. It would be easier to compare "apples to apples..." in terms of conference rules, regulations, academic standards, recruiting practices and all those fairly significant considerations, it would be a more even playing field. It could potentially cut down on travel costs...and...athletic programs that are governed by Title IX rules DO need to control the expenses of the one program that does not match up with any other Title IX or non-revenue sport. Football with it's 85 scholarship rules is throwing everything out of whack the way it is. Money will be a big time consideration from now on and going forward. OSU even claims that they are having financial problems with their athletic budgets. It is going to be different in the future from a fianncial point of view.

 

[dpodoll68]

Illinois has been playing Missouri off and on since 1896
Notre Dame has/had rivalries with Michigan, Michigan St, Purdue, Penn St and Northwestern
You mentioned Iowa/Iowa St (every year since 1977) and Pitt/Penn St (1893-2000)
Penn St also has/had longstanding rivalries with Syracuse, WVU, Temple, and Maryland (all largely ended when they moved to the Big Ten, with occasional renewals since)

Besides these, there have been high-profile series such as OSU/USC, OSU/Texas, Michigan/Oregon, etc.

Remember when we used to play Nebraska?

The point is, any and all of these games would be a thing of the past with a move to a 10-game Big Ten schedule.

And for another thing, we should be about the last fanbase that wants this, as it would make our schedule far more difficult every year, and we haven't won anything in 40+ years.

 

[grunkiejr]

None of the other Big Ten teams, other than iowa (Iowa State) have long-standing "traditional" rivals.

Do you have any idea what you're talking about?

Michgan and Notre Dame play every year. Notre Dame got its start in football in 1887 when the train Michigan players were traveling on back to Ann Arbor broke down in South Bend, IN. At the time football was still a new game so they taught a group of students how to play football. Michigan and Notre Dame recently renewed the contract for 30 years so this rivalry isn't ending any time soon.

Michigan State and Notre Dame have appeared on each other's schedule all but 4 times since 1948. Many years ago Notre Dame wanted to join the Big Ten but Michigan did their best to keep them out of the conference. Then in the late 1940's Michigan State wanted to join the conference to bring the conference back up to 10 teams. Michigan once again tried to block another potential rival from joining the conference. Empathetic to the position Michigan State was in, Notre Dame agreed to play them every year in football which increased attendance and the profile of Michigan State and help their case to become the 10th member of the Big Ten. This game is still alive and well and is generally played every year. The winner of the game takes home The Megaphone Trophy.

Purdue has an in-state rivalry with Notre Dame. The first game was in 1896 and they have played without interruption since 1946. The winner of the game takes home the Shillelagh Trophy.

If you weren't aware of it, the Gophers have played more games against Nebraska than they have played against Penn State or Ohio State. That is pretty impressive considering OSU and Minnesota are both original members of the Big Ten.

I could go on but I figured giving you the back story of just the teams that play Notre Dame would be sufficient to prove that teams other than Iowa/ISU have out of conference rivalries.

 

[WAGopher]

Michgan and Notre Dame play every year. Notre Dame got its start in football in 1887 when the train Michigan players were traveling on back to Ann Arbor broke down in South Bend, IN. At the time football was still a new game so they taught a group of students how to play football.

This is one of the things I love about Gopherhole. We have many members with great knowledge and passion for not only Gopher history, but college sports history. I never knew this about Michigan and Notre Dame football and it does help fill in the blanks.

 

[4starrecruit]

The thing about having played NE more than OSU...for some reason, Minnesota and OSU very seldom played each other. During Bernie Bierman's years, during the big NC runs, the Gophers and OSU just very seldom played. Bierman started coaching the Gophers in 1932. He never played OSU until 1939 and then he lost to them in minneapolis by a score of 23 to 20. He did beat OSU in 1940 by a 13-7 score. George Hauser (who filled in for Bernie during the WWII years lost to OSU by a score of 34-14 in 1944. Bernie was back coaching the Gophers in 1945 and lost to OSU by a 20-7 score. In 1946 Bernie lost to OSU by a 39-9 score. They didn't play again until 1949 when Bernie won 27-0. In 1950 OSU beat Bernie 48-0 in Minneapolis. Bernie was only 2-4 against OSU during his 16 year stint with the University of Minnesota. He played Nebraska 15 years out of the 16 he coached at Minnesota. He was 12-3 against them. Nebraska kind of smacked back then. Nebraska was only ranked in the top 20 five years out of the fifteen that Bernie played them. He was 8-6-2 against Michigan during his 16 year tenure. The ironic part of that was the fact that in the years1932 through 1941 he was 8-1-1 against Michigan and1945 through 1950 he was 0-5-1 against Michigan. During that time, Michigan was ranked in the top 20 12 years out of the 16.

Actually, Minnesota did not first play Ohio State until 1921 in Columbus and they lost 27-0. They played again in 1922 in Minneapolis and the Gophers won 9-0. They didn't play again until 1931 when they played the Buckeyes in a "post Season" game in Minneapolis with the Gophers winning 19-7. Ironically, Fritz Crisler coached the Gophers in 1930 and 1931. He later went on to coach Michigan to greatness. In 1932 Bernie Bierman took over the reigns at Minnesota.

In 1900 Minnesota first played Nebraska and beat them by a score of 20-12 in Lincoln. In 1901, the Gophers won 19-0 in Minneapolis. In 1902, they lost 6-0 to Nebraska in Minneapolis. They played often until 1913. They didn play again until they tied 6-6 in Minneapolis in 1919. In 1928, they played Creighton to get their "nebraska" game in. It was bernie Bierman who revived the Nebraska series during his first year coaching the Gophers in 1932.

Now, about the Notre Dame rivalrys with so many Big Ten teams...why not force ND to join the conference if they want to continue to play their Big Ten rivals? In years to come this will all be about revenue generation and paying for Title IX and non-revenue sports on the back of the football program. The Big Ten should circle the wagons and do as much "in-house" as possible.
maximize the Big Ten Conference Name Brand.

 

[Mick Turition]

Lots of "used to play" in your reply, which proves his point. Those 'rivalries' aren't played anymore with the exception of Iowa/ISU and Notre Dame's pseudo-Big10 schedule.
Nebraska? I remember I was in grade school when the Gophers played them. My kids are in grade school now.

 

[4starrecruit]

Do you want to play Nebraska or do you want to play OSU, Michigan, PSU, Michigan State? Perhaps they used to play a more interesting ooc schedule, but, they only played Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, maybe Northwestern, maybe Indiana, maybe Ohio State or maybe Purdue during the Big Ten season. OSU was very seldom on the Gopher's schedule. MSU wasn't in the conference. PSU wasn't in the conference then. Wouldn't it have been cool to have played OSU, MSU and PSU back then? I mean, those three schools are big time football schoolsThose three football giants have had more history than some of these other "non-conference match ups.

The rivalry between Michigan and Notre Dame has spent as much time NOT having that game played and with "games being played between the administrators of the two schoos..." as they have in playing games. Just as recently as 2007 there was a lot of publicity that Michigan and ND were NOT going to be playing each other any longer. Finally, in 2007 new contracts extending the series were signed. But, with the reletive distance between the two schools, they are a natural. (Michigan was constantly battling the fear of having both OSU and Notre Dame at home during the same seasons. THAT left no real "big game" in their season ticket package every other year when both the OSU game and ND games were played in Columbus and South Bend.) So, scheduling was rather problematic for Michgian because of that series. The fact that all major programs demand to have 7 home games in a 12 game regular season makes scheduling of intra- regional or inta-conference games much more difficult.

In fact, the season is two to three games longer now than it used to be. The games used to start fairly late in September and went until the third Saturday in November. I recall when the Gophers played only a 9 game season.

Of course, back in those days, Title IX didn't exist. Of course, back in those days the Big Ten Conference didn't cut every school a check for between eleven and twelve million dollars from the football and men's hoops television contracts.

The future lies in Big Ten play for the big Ten programs. They need to maximize the tv contracts because Title IX and the non-revenue sports that every school sponsors are very hungry mouthes for football and men's hoops to have to feed. Having football and it's 85 scholarships be responsible for a huge portion of the revenue generation dictates utilizing the money that BIG TEN FOOTBALL can generate essential for the survival of the football program. Why show-case other conference member teams or independents such as Notre Dame. Take away some of those games and insure that all Big Ten teams play each other. A schedule that includes the likes of PSU, MSU, Michigan, OSU, Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, llinois, Northwestern and Indiana for a program like Minnesota in a lot of ways looks more interesting than one that included Nebraska, South Dakota State, Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. And, those 12 million dollar checks from the Big Ten make a nice cash-flow situation for the cash-tarved Title IX and non-revenue sports that the footall porgram must provide so much support for.

Getting to a bowl game (yes, a program needs to become bowl elegible to qualify for the 13th game) makes for some interesting regional match-ups. Somebody has to be the "bread winner" though. At Minnesota, the only sports that make any money are hockey, men's hoops and football. The football money from the new stadium has all been budgeted for decades in advance. The only extra money is the money the conference collects for tv rights and distributes to member schools. Be TRUE to your conference. Support Big Ten inter-league play. Help the Big Ten make more money! Make the Big Ten strong. The Big Ten will do much more for the University than playing the University of nebraska will do for the University of Minnesota.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

OK, you need 7 home games

If you play a full round robin (5 home & 5 road), that leaves 2 games to schedule. In todays BCS conference world, you need 7 home games to survive.

Your home schedule will look like this

Wisconsin
Michigan
Northwestern
Purdue
Ohio St
Florida Atlantic
NDSU

then

Iowa
Michigan St
Illinois
Indiana
Penn St
Florida International
SDSU

Say goodbye to even MAC schools. They were usually 2 for 1.

Definitely no BCS conference teams, and probably no MWC teams, for they demand home & home.

 

[4starrecruit]

Why do you think they are allowing so many schools to gravitate up? The NCAA uses the trickle down theory to make sure the big schools help fund the smaller schools athletic departments so that Title IX and non-revenue sports can survive at all levels. These smaller schools then, in turn schedule a few Division II schools to give them a "pay day."

Remember: the NCAA is the organization of college presidents and administrators banding together to fund and to regulate college athletics. It has nothing to do with the fans, other than to insure that the fans continue to buy tickets and make contributions.