I took the liberty of naming the divisions myself...hope you enjoy
Tom Izzo Division:
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
Nebraska
Bobby Knight Division:
Illinios
Indiana
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Wisconsin
My initial reaction is mostly positive to the announcement made by the Big 10 that two divisions will be formed once Nebraska joins in 2011. The way this all shook down it looks to me like U of M got a bit of a break here. No Wisconsin, Penn State, or Ohio State in their division means your traditional 10-1 or 9-2 Michigan team will be the odds on favorite to win that division each year. Minnesota and Northwestern are gonna basically be jokes year in and year out, and once Michigan regains their hand they should annually beat teams like Iowa and Michigan State. That leaves Nebraska as their really big divisional game each year.
More importantly the Big Ten brain trust listened to the outcry of fans and kept the Michigan and Ohio State game an end of the season staple. This sets up the possibility that Michigan and Ohio State could play the last week of the season and if both teams still win their division, then they'd play the following week in the Big Ten championship as well. A lot of people are crying about how this diminishes the value of the regular season game but I see it differently. Besides the chances of this happening being rare, I think a rematch would actually amp up the rivalry. I remember how ridiculously excited the city got in '06 when we lost by 3 to OSU and we all thought we might get a National Title rematch game after UCLA beat USC. (Of course, Tebow and his merry men ended up getting the nod) Having that feeling again would be amazing and only make the hatred increase.
Either way this is gonna definitely shake things up and change the face of college football as Midwesterners know it.
PS - I think it's hilarious that the Big Ten refused to acknowledge that made up rivalry between the Spartans and Penn State that they play at the end of each year.
What your missing her brother, is the scenerio in which michigan and ohio state each have their divisions rapped up prior to their end of season meeting. This will put no value on the end of season game, with the real game being played the next week in the Big Ten Championship game. Granted this would be a rare occurance, and I'm sure there would be other BCS implications that could play a factor, but there is a tiny drawback to this set up. Having said that, im all for it.
ReplyDeleteTrue BMOC, I just don't think either team would tank the game because like you said the BCS will shit all over them and could leave em out of the BCS title game because of that extra loss. I also read somewhere that in the past 20 years this replay scenario would've only happpened 4 times. But you're right, shit feels a little weird.
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