ESPN: Big Ten reassess division names

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MNGoldenGophers1 said:
Delany was a dumb-azz for thinking he could create divisions based on competitive equity and then, to add insult to injury, he conjures up legends and leaders. With OSU on probation, Butt Bielema likely to run WI into the ground, and PSU a 5-alarm dumpster fire along with football juggernauts Purdue, Ill. and Ind., this division is a train wreck. It would have been more fitting if Delany had named the divisions dumb and dumber for his dumb-azz idea. Do the right thing: swap WI and Ill for Mich & Mich St and make it East and West.
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This^
 

Dumb and dumber. Delaney should move Michigan and MSU to the East where they belong and Wisconsin and Illinois to the West where they obviously belong and have geographical divisions. Balance would be about the same - and who can look far enough ahead to challenge that? Penn State or MSU might drop some, Illinois or Minnesota could come up. Iowa might stay strong, etc. Nobody knows...
 

The division names are clearly idiotic. This cannot be argued against.

As far as the divisional alignment, anyone with common sense knows it should've been a straight geographical split, but if it were, Delany couldn't hold out hope that he could gargle Mich/OSU balls as they matched up twice a year for 7 years in a row. After all, everyone knows those two teams are going to dominate their respective divisions each and every year.
 

dpodoll68 said:
The division names are clearly idiotic. This cannot be argued against.

As far as the divisional alignment, anyone with common sense knows it should've been a straight geographical split, but if it were, Delany couldn't hold out hope that he could gargle Mich/OSU balls as they matched up twice a year for 7 years in a row. After all, everyone knows those two teams are going to dominate their respective divisions each and every year.
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The best part is the rest of the conference - ADs, etc, went along with this. Anyone who kids themselves in to thinking the alignment was done the way it was for any other reason than the possible OSU-Mich B10 title game is off their rocker. How much extra money was this title game matchup supposed to get over any other one? I know it's too late and debating it over and over again would be pointless, but assuming a straight geographic split of:

East: OSU, MSU, Mich, Indiana, Purdue, Penn st
West: Minn, Wisc, Iowa, Neb, NW, Ill

The East's average B10 place from 2000-2010 was 5.7th with a total of 26 of those teams ending the season with a top-25 ranking (the average of those 26 total teams being 11)

The West's average B10 place from 2000-2010 (assuming Nebraska averaged 4th place in B10 play over that total span) was 6.0th, with a total of 21 of those teams ending the season with a top-25 ranking (the average of those 26 total teams being 12)

Seems pretty even from a competitive perspective to me. Also consider that UM and OSU finished #1 and #2 in the conference only twice in that span and it seems like aligning for a UM-OSU title game is pretty pointless. Lucky for MN, we still get to play Wisconsin and Iowa every year, add back the Jug, and get to renew a well-played game with Nebraska each year. That's the only good I can say of the current alignments.

Oh, and the market research firm they used.... it didn't happen to be the same marketing firm that came up with the division names, did it??...
 


Competitive balance was always about TV markets and brands, not about the level of play.
 



Heck, I just call them "Our Division" and "The Other Division"
 




Haves and Have Nots would be my choices.
 






RailBaronYarr said:
Lucky for MN, we still get to play Wisconsin and Iowa every year, add back the Jug, and get to renew a well-played game with Nebraska each year. That's the only good I can say of the current alignments..
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True, but keep in mind that the Gophers and Purdue are the only teams in the conference that are guaranteed to play four of the "top six" teams every year, and are the only two teams that could theoretically play all six of them in a single season. The ability to keep all of these rivalries comes at a price. The Gophers would be way better off if they'd fix it and change it to a geographic alignment (assuming the "top six" maintain their momentum).
 



East and West make the most sense, even if there are anomalies like Wisconsin in the East.

Legends and Leaders looks like something played with a 20-sided die. "Saving throw vs. fumble..."
 

RodentRampage said:
East and West make the most sense, even if there are anomalies like Wisconsin in the East.

Legends and Leaders looks like something played with a 20-sided die. "Saving throw vs. fumble..."
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All of the geographical divisions in college football at the BCS level have these quirks. Just look at the Pac-12 and SEC.
 

I vote for Lakes and Plains

The division names Bemidji came up with,
 

RodentRampage said:
East and West make the most sense, even if there are "anomalies like Wisconsin" in the East.

Legends and Leaders looks like something played with a 20-sided die. "Saving throw vs. fumble..."
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You forgot the quotes. And the bold. You simply cannot avoind anomalies like Wisconsin. It's similar to "idiots like Bielema"...
 

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