Protected rivalries make so much sense for Big Ten basketball

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SelectionSunday

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It would be so simple to do in the Big Ten. It's a no-brainer. Only a couple (at most) aren't, per se, natural hoops rivalries. And I also wouldn't be opposed to the Pac 12 scheduling model (traveling partners).

Illinois-Northwestern
Indiana-Purdue
Iowa-Nebraska
Maryland-Rutgers (joined at same time)
Michigan-Michigan State
Minnesota-Wisconsin
Ohio State-Penn State

Get it done, Mr. Delany. I want to see the Gophers & Badgers meet twice every season.

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Isn't Maryland-Penn State kind of a rivalry? That leaves Ohio State-Rutgers, which isn't ideal, but Rutgers is escalating things by beating OSU last year :)
 

It will never happen but the obvious solution would be to get rid of Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, and Nebraska.

Hey, I can dream too, right?
 

SelectionSunday said:
It would be so simple to do in the Big Ten. It's a no-brainer. Only a couple (at most) aren't, per se, natural hoops rivalries. And I also wouldn't be opposed to the Pac 12 scheduling model (traveling partners).

Illinois-Northwestern
Indiana-Purdue
Iowa-Nebraska
Maryland-Rutgers (joined at same time)
Michigan-Michigan State
Minnesota-Wisconsin
Ohio State-Penn State
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While I know MSU fans would agree with this Michigan fans would much rather see this be against OSU even though MSU is in the same state and most years better than OSU.
 

Tim1406 said:
While I know MSU fans would agree with this Michigan fans would much rather see this be against OSU even though MSU is in the same state and most years better than OSU.
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Is it this way in basketball though? I've always gotten the sense that Michigan-Ohio State is a football thing, and then the other sports are more "we hate each other, but because we're supposed to."

With basketball, I've always thought MI-MSU was more intense. People can correct me if I'm wrong though.
 


FireDaveLee said:
Is it this way in basketball though? I've always gotten the sense that Michigan-Ohio State is a football thing, and then the other sports are more "we hate each other, but because we're supposed to."

With basketball, I've always thought MI-MSU was more intense. People can correct me if I'm wrong though.
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This.
 

SelectionSunday said:
It would be so simple to do in the Big Ten. It's a no-brainer. Only a couple (at most) aren't, per se, natural hoops rivalries. And I also wouldn't be opposed to the Pac 12 scheduling model (traveling partners).

Illinois-Northwestern
Indiana-Purdue
Iowa-Nebraska
Maryland-Rutgers (joined at same time)
Michigan-Michigan State
Minnesota-Wisconsin
Ohio State-Penn State

Get it done, Mr. Delany. I want to see the Gophers & Badgers meet twice every season.

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I think you have to do this. Conference is too big, no rivalries develop with staggered schedule. I think a given team should have a handful of teams they play every year.
 

die hard gopher said:
This.
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This x 2.

Michigan-Ohio State a fantastic football rivalry, arguably the best in the country. But the other sports not so much. A total fabrication by the media.

If you live in Michigan, or have a relative that went to one of the schools, Michigan-Michigan State is pure hatred. In that state you're either Blue or Green.

Blue is mostly "We're smarter & better than you" arrogance, Green is more in-state, blue-collar, lunch-bucket folks.
 

Protected Rivalry

I don't really see the need for this, everyone still play the other teams at least once currently. Some teams have multiple natural rivals. Minnesota has both Iowa and Wisconsin, while others don't really have one. If I was a Maryland fan, I would get sick of Rutgers coming to town every year as an artificial protected rival.

A better solution would be divisions in my opinion.
 



Ope3 said:
If I was a Maryland fan, I would get sick of Rutgers coming to town every year as an artificial protected rival.
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Maryland and Rutgers aren't real B1G schools so who cares what they think.

Personally I'd love to see this happen.
 

SelectionSunday said:
This x 2.

Michigan-Ohio State a fantastic football rivalry, arguably the best in the country. But the other sports not so much. A total fabrication by the media.

If you live in Michigan, or have a relative that went to one of the schools, Michigan-Michigan State is pure hatred. In that state you're either Blue or Green.

Blue is mostly "We're smarter & better than you" arrogance, Green is more in-state, blue-collar, lunch-bucket folks.
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Attending MSU right now, I can say that MSU fans feel like they're always overlooked in almost anything(compared to Michigan). It creates a chip on the shoulder mentality that permeates all sports and many academic fields. Meanwhile(anecdotally) friends of mine who are Michigan fans tend to always overlook MSU regardless of sport and in terms of basketball i don't think they could separate the 2 rivalries as one being better than the other. Michigan is a Football school for most of it's fans, while MSU is more of a basketball school(at least right now).

And I disagree that it's pure hatred. Once they aren't playing each other anymore in the season(basketball only on this one) most people in the state will cheer for the other school... that never happens for michigan-OSU
 

Tim1406 said:
Attending MSU right now, I can say that MSU fans feel like they're always overlooked in almost anything(compared to Michigan). It creates a chip on the shoulder mentality that permeates all sports and many academic fields. Meanwhile(anecdotally) friends of mine who are Michigan fans tend to always overlook MSU regardless of sport and in terms of basketball i don't think they could separate the 2 rivalries as one being better than the other. Michigan is a Football school for most of it's fans, while MSU is more of a basketball school(at least right now).

And I disagree that it's pure hatred. Once they aren't playing each other anymore in the season(basketball only on this one) most people in the state will cheer for the other school... that never happens for michigan-OSU
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Thanks for the perspective from the younger generation, though I disagree with you about the "most people cheer for the other school" part. Not my experience at all (from both sides).

My father is a MSU grad. He's a good, Christian man, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that there are few things he despises more than the general arrogance of (most) Michigan fans. But he does like Harbaugh and Beilein, so there's that!
 

Cayman said:
Isn't Maryland-Penn State kind of a rivalry? That leaves Ohio State-Rutgers, which isn't ideal, but Rutgers is escalating things by beating OSU last year :)
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Rutgers is a dud for whoever they're paired with. OSU-Maryland and PSU-Rutgers makes more competitive sense.
 



howeda7 said:
Rutgers is a dud for whoever they're paired with. OSU-Maryland and PSU-Rutgers makes more competitive sense.
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Agree.

For basketball those are the two I wouldn't have an issue with getting flipped.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Thanks for the perspective from the younger generation, though I disagree with you about the "most people cheer for the other school" part. Not my experience at all (from both sides).

My father is a MSU grad. He's a good, Christian man, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that there are few things he despises more than the general arrogance of (most) Michigan fans. But he does like Harbaugh and Beilein, so there's that!
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Yeah I should have stated "most of my friends" instead of "most people". It's all anecdotal. I'm also in grad school so it's not always the exact feel of the undergrad portion of the school.
 

A few years ago I had a girlfriend who graduated from Wisconsin (don't know what I was thinking there) and she tried to convince me Ohio State was Wisconsin's real rival. Relationship ended shortly thereafter.
 

Tons of Badger fans, especially the present generation think of Michigan State as the rival. In the big two sports it has been very competitive over that time frame. The two big sports between UW and the Gophers has been very one sided. Iowa-Minnesota seems to be a much better rivalry.
 

Should do divisions in basketball. Same as football.
19 game conference schedule. Double round robin with your division, single with the other.
 

Divisions East/West play your division twice and cross division once?
 


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