Big Ten's two divisions start at top

YES YES YES Number 5!

Are they reporting this as fact? Is this a done deal?

QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 08:57 AM ET  08.19 by pachyderm94

Are they reporting this as fact? Is this a done deal?

I don't think it is a done deal but they would be crazy to come up with a solution that did not allow Michigan to play tOSU every year.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 09:11 AM ET  08.19 by Gator97

I don't think it is a done deal but they would be crazy to come up with a solution that did not allow Michigan to play tOSU every year.

100% agree. but they could split and still keep rivals in tact like the SEC. TN plays Bama every year even though they are in different divisions.

QUOTE(#4):

Originally posted 09:12 AM ET  08.19 by pachyderm94

100% agree. but they could split and still keep rivals in tact like the SEC. TN plays Bama every year even though they are in different divisions.

Yes. The SEC does this alot (every team plays a team from other division yearly?)

OSU/UM in different divisions allows them to meet in Atlanta for the CG. No, Dallas. I mean GreenBay, er Chicago, Indy....

Nothing wrong with Neb vs Penn st, thats a great game and would make a great rivalry.
Big Red seems to be ready for it with coach Pelini, to bad Joe Pa's best days are behind him, but thats life.

QUOTE(#4):

Originally posted 09:12 AM ET  08.19 by pachyderm94

100% agree. but they could split and still keep rivals in tact like the SEC. TN plays Bama every year even though they are in different divisions.

I think thats the best thing, keeping one "permananent" cross-division rival per team.

QUOTE(#4):

Originally posted 09:12 AM ET  08.19 by pachyderm94

100% agree. but they could split and still keep rivals in tact like the SEC. TN plays Bama every year even though they are in different divisions.

You are right, that is something the Big10 could do. At the end of the day, Mich vs tOSU better be on the schedule every year or the Midwest would implode.

QUOTE(#4):

Originally posted 09:12 AM ET  08.19 by pachyderm94

100% agree. but they could split and still keep rivals in tact like the SEC. TN plays Bama every year even though they are in different divisions.

That was part of the deal that allowed the SEC to expand to 12 teams - the "legacy game," because of the history of the Bama-Tennessee game and the Auburn-Georgia game, and those schools weren't going to go for it without those annual games intact. Unfortunately, that also means LSU plays Florida every year, and some "rivalries" aren't really there, but they have to make it fit.

OTOH, one of the problems with the Big 12 is that they didn't have this concept, so the Nebraska-Oklahoma annual game became a thing of the past, and that might have hastened their departure to the Big 10.

The Big10 is starting to look more like a super-conf ready to challenge the SEC, I can't wait for a few more yrs down the road and see who next is controlling the football landscape, PAC10-12-14-16-or whatever, ACC, Big10, or still the SEC....too bad about the Big12, they really need better schools to challenge UT and OU

I think you have to keep OSU and UM in the same division to keep the rivalry and not cheapen the rivalry by having them play back to back weeks, potentially, in their cross division game and then a Big Ten Championship game.

QUOTE(#13):

Originally posted 10:37 AM ET  08.19 by Red&Gold03

I think you have to keep OSU and UM in the same division to keep the rivalry and not cheapen the rivalry by having them play back to back weeks, potentially, in their cross division game and then a Big Ten Championship game.

Good point! I would be very surprised if they put them in separate divisions. Having them in the same division will put much more focus on the third week in November with the winner going to the championship game.

traditional superpowers? the Big Ten has won ONE out right national title in the last 42 years ! who the hell is that "superpower" status?

QUOTE(#16):

Originally posted 10:48 AM ET  08.19 by Pimpston23

traditional superpowers? the Big Ten has won ONE out right national title in the last 42 years ! who the hell is that "superpower" status?

*how

QUOTE(#13):

Originally posted 10:37 AM ET  08.19 by Red&Gold03

I think you have to keep OSU and UM in the same division to keep the rivalry and not cheapen the rivalry by having them play back to back weeks, potentially, in their cross division game and then a Big Ten Championship game.

I suspect that if they were in different divisions that their yearly game would be moved up to earlier in the season so that this does not happen.

QUOTE(#12):

Originally posted 10:26 AM ET  08.19 by .5 WantsFriedChicken@BlaqMods

Sucks for Iowa/Wisconsin that they are considered 2 tier lol

They should have had a higher winning % in conference then. Just sayin