Let me preface this by saying, I’m not into knee jerk reactions.
However, since we’ve seen the speculation about the new Big Ten football divisions for weeks, I’ve had plenty of time to digest what might happen. Once one of those scenarios came to pass tonight, my opinion had already been formed for weeks. And, as it usually goes with the NCAA and the Big Ten, my opinion is that (to quote John Lovitz in ‘The Critic’): it stinks!
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m an Ohio State graduate. Hence, for me, there was only one right answer where the much-ballyhooed OSU-Michigan debate was concerned. The two rivals must be placed in the same division and continue to play each other at the end of every regular season. This did not happen. Since I doubt anyone reading this blog cares too much more about that topic, I’ll digress.
However, if I’m a Wisconsin fan…I’m equally peaved at Jim Delany and company. At one point in this process, the outside appearance was the Barry Alvarez had some serious pull in these discussions. Now, I’m not so sure that Mr. Alvarez didn’t do something to make Mr. Delany mad! Wisconsin not only got thrust into the tougher division (although I think they’re pretty equal), but they also got separated from all of their rivals. Obviously, the Paul Bunyan’s Axe game against Minnesota was indispensable…and the teams will meet every single season as “protected cross-over rivals.” But if I was to conjure up a list of the other teams Wisconsin wants to play every year, the next 3 out of the chute would be Iowa, Michigan, and Nebraska. Even Northwestern seems to have a decent mini-rivalry with the Badgers, at least as of late. Yet every school that I’ve named in those last 3 sentences is in the opposite division from the Badgers.
The league also released the conference schedules for 2011 and 2012 on Wednesday. Indeed, neither Iowa nor Michigan appears on the UW slate. The only consolation for Bucky is that he gets to host Nebraska’s first-ever Big Ten game (Oct. 1, 2011). That’s it. After 2012, the Huskers could transition off the schedule for several years.
Although I am opposed to a championship game, I was pleasantly surprised when the conference added Nebraska this summer. Since expansion and an accompanying title tilt seemed inevitable, I thought, “hey, maybe the league officials know what they’re doing after all.” Then 10 seconds later I thought, “but I’m sure they’ll screw it up when they make the divisions.” Good to see that my cynicism was right-on once again!
Posted under College Sports, Sports
This post was written by jgeiser on September 1, 2010
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