Why Expand?

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makes a ton of sense! I've always liked the Nebraska thought. Mandel was basically saying, Notre Dame or Nebraska, and everyone else doesnt make sense. I think it would be plenty easy to move some last week rivalry games to December.
 

Good article and covers many of the negatives for expansion. I think simply extending the football schedule 1 or 2 weeks may accomplish more than adding a 12th team. They could play 3 games on Thanksgiving weekend and 3 games the first weekend of December and remain relevant in the media. The Big 10 is fortunate to receive so many BCS games each year. Mandel is probably close to the mark that having one of the top 2 teams lose in a championship game could knock one of them out of the BCS game. Of course, a championship game doesn't always match the top 2 teams, so it won't always be the case.

Note on Championship games: It's always rubbed me wrong that the conferences divide into divisions so that the championship game doesn't always feature the top 2 teams. That adds a tremendous amount of risk to the top team in the conference, doesn't mean as much, and lessens the accomplishments of the 2nd best team that didn't play in the championship game. Aside from revenue, not an ideal situation for any team.
 

This will be a huge decision for the conference. I think it is going to come down to money and disadvantage in recruiting. I agree with the thought of just expanding the season out like the Big East does. Pretty sure the Big Ten has sent the most teams to the BCS over the years.
 

The Big Ten loses so much exposure not having a championship game. With Michigan being down the last couple of years the conference gets lost in terms of media attention by the second week of November. All the focus is on the league playoff games and the implications to the National Championship. Even when Ohio State is in contention they do not get mentioned that often.

Expanding will make it almost impossible for a sleeper team like Illinois to win the conference. That extra playoff game would really come into play.
 


jovs said:
The Big Ten loses so much exposure not having a championship game. With Michigan being down the last couple of years the conference gets lost in terms of media attention by the second week of November. All the focus is on the league playoff games and the implications to the National Championship. Even when Ohio State is in contention they do not get mentioned that often.

Expanding will make it almost impossible for a sleeper team like Illinois to win the conference. That extra playoff game would really come into play.
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That is because they go on to embarrass themselves and the conference by crapping their pants in the BCS games.
 

All for it but....

I like the idea of a 12 team Big Ten. That being said I think the Big Ten has to do it the right way. If you expand to 12 teams you need to split the league into 2 divisions which can cause problems. Secondly the league should add a conference game. Then include a title game at the end of the year between the two division winners. You play each team on your half of the division and then 4 of the teams on the other half. That way you are still skipping just two teams in the Conference and it should help balance the strength of schedules throughout the conference. Not to mention it makes for easier scheduling as the teams dont have to find that extra non-conference team to play. When the schedules expanded to 12 a few years ago the only conference who added an extra conference game was the PAC 10.
 

jovs said:
The Big Ten loses so much exposure not having a championship game. With Michigan being down the last couple of years the conference gets lost in terms of media attention by the second week of November. All the focus is on the league playoff games and the implications to the National Championship. Even when Ohio State is in contention they do not get mentioned that often.

Expanding will make it almost impossible for a sleeper team like Illinois to win the conference. That extra playoff game would really come into play.
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I would think it would be easier for different teams to win the conference. With 2 divisions and a playoff wouldn't you be able to have a decent season and then knock people off in the play offs? It would put more pressure on Ohio State because they could be undefeated and then lose the championship game and not win the Conference. Am I wrong? I guess I saw it as a positive but I could be wrong.
 

WolfontheProwl said:
I like the idea of a 12 team Big Ten. That being said I think the Big Ten has to do it the right way. If you expand to 12 teams you need to split the league into 2 divisions which can cause problems. Secondly the league should add a conference game. Then include a title game at the end of the year between the two division winners. You play each team on your half of the division and then 4 of the teams on the other half. That way you are still skipping just two teams in the Conference and it should help balance the strength of schedules throughout the conference. Not to mention it makes for easier scheduling as the teams dont have to find that extra non-conference team to play. When the schedules expanded to 12 a few years ago the only conference who added an extra conference game was the PAC 10.
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Will never, ever, ever happen because of the lost revenue. I could see it happening if the Big 10 only had 10 teams. Then a round robin allows for a true champion. But at 12 teams there is ZERO incentive to add a conference games (same is true at 11 teams). All it does it cost the schools guaranteed money from a home game and replace an almost certain W vs. a non-con with a potential loss in conference that would affect bowl standings and future BCS appearances/payouts.
 



WolfontheProwl said:
I like the idea of a 12 team Big Ten. That being said I think the Big Ten has to do it the right way. If you expand to 12 teams you need to split the league into 2 divisions which can cause problems. Secondly the league should add a conference game. Then include a title game at the end of the year between the two division winners. You play each team on your half of the division and then 4 of the teams on the other half. That way you are still skipping just two teams in the Conference and it should help balance the strength of schedules throughout the conference. Not to mention it makes for easier scheduling as the teams dont have to find that extra non-conference team to play. When the schedules expanded to 12 a few years ago the only conference who added an extra conference game was the PAC 10.
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GoAUpher said:
Will never, ever, ever happen because of the lost revenue. I could see it happening if the Big 10 only had 10 teams. Then a round robin allows for a true champion. But at 12 teams there is ZERO incentive to add a conference games (same is true at 11 teams). All it does it cost the schools guaranteed money from a home game and replace an almost certain W vs. a non-con with a potential loss in conference that would affect bowl standings and future BCS appearances/payouts.
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You're dead on. You gain nothing with the 9th conference game, with 11 or 12 teams.

A 5 game division schedule plus a 3 of 6 out of division rotation is a perfect 8 game schedule. You play everyone outside the division home and away twice every four years. You get 4 NC games and the future NC schedules remain intact. Championship Game pitting the Great Lakes champion versus the Great Plains champion would, as it was said "open things up" and be great exposure. I'm all for it.
 

Even if a 12th team is added along with a Championship game, is it absolutely necessary to split into divisions to accomplish this? Could they not just keep the 2 rivals you currently have and then play 6 of the remaining 9 teams on a rotating basis and let the top 2 teams play for the championship? If there's a tie for the 2nd spot, break it just the way it is done now.

There is no ideal way to split the conference into divisions without either overloading the East or doing it purely based on OSU and Michigan, neither of which seems fair IMO.
 

howeda7 said:
Even if a 12th team is added along with a Championship game, is it absolutely necessary to split into divisions to accomplish this?
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Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's an NCAA prerequisite that you must have two divisions (of the same size) in order to have a conference championship game.
 

I say add a team, but I agree on ND or Nebraska. Splitting into divisions benefits the sleepers. Indiana just plain sucks, and MSU & Purdue have their streaks. In the west though, no one is dominant or pathetic. NU, UW, Iowa, Illinois, even the Gophers -- all seem to be 3-5 or 4-4 on average. OSU-Mich will always be played. PSU-OSU & PSU-Mich will draw plenty as well. Allowing a title game will allow for more parity in the conference, which will allow the mid teams the occasional program boost (Mich, OSU, PSU will never be hurting for fans). Other than Iowa, the western schools all need that.

As for BCS loss - c'mon... Yes, we get 2 teams in the BCS regularly, but all other Big Ten schools jump up a bowl, and play higher competition. I'm tired of seeing the Big Ten finish bowl season 1-7 or 2-6. That does play an impact on recruiting, and that in turn hurts future payouts -- at the price of present day payout? Dead issue. Bring in a 12th, and in the mean time, fine -- let the red & blue play a week later so we can get our name in the news too...
 



dpodoll68 said:
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's an NCAA prerequisite that you must have two divisions (of the same size) in order to have a conference championship game.
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I know you have to have at least 12 teams...not sure about divisions.
 

Plus the Gophers have a better chance of tying for the title than in winning the BIG game against Penn State, Ohio State, etc. Sometimes two to four teams tie for the title - I like that, and you don't have to re-play some heavyweight you faced earlier in the year.
 

Round robin or bust. Our non-conference schedule will never be a guaranteed win.
 

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