B1G division alignment coming (fairly) soon

[NYBuckeye96]

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/i ... airly-soon

B1G division alignment coming (fairly) soon

January, 2, 2013

By Adam Rittenberg | ESPN.com

Big Ten division alignment is one of the more popular topics among blog loyalists, who are leaders and legends in debating which teams should go where.

Everyone should have an answer fairly soon on the Big Ten's revised division alignments in anticipation of Maryland and Rutgers entering the league. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told ESPN.com on Wednesday that the new division alignment -- along with the 2014 football schedule -- should be done by the end of the spring. Maryland will join the Big Ten in 2014, and while Rutgers hasn't confirmed its Big Ten arrival, the Scarlet Knights also are expected to officially join in the summer of 2014.

"I would hope we would have divisions and conference schedules for '14 later this spring," Delany said, "and a bowl lineup as well."

The Big Ten's current bowl lineup expires after the 2013 season.

Delany has said geography would be a bigger factor in the new division alignment than the first one, so expect several teams to be on the move. Several items to watch: •Will Ohio State and Michigan be placed in the same division? It would eliminate the possibility of a rematch in the Big Ten championship, but it might balance out the power between the two divisions.
•Will Wisconsin move back to the "West" side of the league? The Badgers would like to play Iowa every year, and their rivalry against Nebraska packs plenty of potential.
•How will the protected crossovers work with the new divisions? Would they even be necessary? After all, teams would be playing only two cross-division games unless the Big Ten goes back to a nine-game league slate.

We should get these answers and more by the time summer hits.

[VegasEagle]

I think OSU and TSUN should be in the same Div. The thought of these 2 schools playing twice a year cheapens The Game imo...

[GoBuckeyes2786]

^^^ agree completely. That should be a once a year game and be the game that determines who goes on to the B1G championship. Plus it's gonna allow the rest of the B1G a chance. UM and OSU will soon own the conference completely and we would see this game back to back weeks at the end of the season on the regular

[NYBuckeye96]

I think you have to go with an East vs. West setup. Especially when you consider that the Big Ten will most likely expand more in the near future. This would make it easy to move say an Indiana and Purdue from East to West whenever new teams are added.

I wouldn't be surprised if we are at 16 teams by spring anyways, so they would already know who the teams will be.

We could have 3 of the 4 top brands in the same division, but that in a way helps to compensate for the fact that Rutgers, Maryland, and most likely future expansion schools from the ACC will all be in the same division with them. The Buckeyes are most likely to find themselves in a divison where they have no history at all with half of the teams they will play on a yearly basis. The West Division will be most of the traditional Big Ten members, plus Nebraska.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I think OSU and TSUN should be in the same Div. The thought of these 2 schools playing twice a year cheapens The Game imo...

i agree 100%

[dazed&confused]

One thing for sure...the times, they are a changin'