I wonder what will happen when the Big 10/12 splits into 2 divisions.
Personally, I don't want the conference to divide just to be able to hold a championship game and make millions. Can one thing in this world not be about making an extra buck and preserving history?
But it's inevitable, so in a second I will offer my solution on how to split up into 2 divisions.
But first, no matter what the decision-makers do, it will create slightly unequal divisions because there is one absolute and I'm not talking about vodka ..... Ohio State and Michigan MUST be together.
Why?
Because the last Saturday in the season is sacred ..... it's all about OSU vs. That School Up North. And putting them in separate divisions will take away from The Game because it will create a championship game rerun.
Once Michigan becomes relevant again (as soon as the Wolverines fire Rich Rodriguez it will happen), OSU and Michigan will play two weeks in a row ..... once in the regular season and then the next week in the conference title game. I will be willing to bet that once Michigan recovers from it's Rodriguez-induced stinkyosity, OSU and the Maize and Blue will win their divisions with bran-like regularity.
Occasionally other teams like Penn State and Wisconsin and maybe Iowa will get lucky when either OSU or Michigan have a "reloading" season but lets get real. The conference's signature schools are in Columbus and Ann Arbor. OSU has won umpteen Big 10 titles in a row and before Tressel arrived Michigan dominated.
But they can't be in separate divisions.
This rivalry is not about a rematch 7 days after. It's about winning once and bragging until the next season. It's not about all the anticipation, all the build up and the trash-talking only to say "see ya next week, let's do it again."
One other caveat ..... Penn State will also be in the same division with OSU and Michigan unless they decide to divide the schools in some unorganized fashion that makes no sense (as opposed to unorganized fashion that makes sense). Whether they go north and south or east and west, its impossible to split up OSU and Michigan. And given my previous argument, that leaves OSU, PSU and UM in the same division.
Common sense tells me this:
Division 1: Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana and Purdue
Division 2: Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska.
Division 1 is a little tougher as only Indiana pretty much sucks year in and year out. Division 2 has Minnesota which is trying to become a team that matters and Illinois which has turned up the suck to full blast since upsetting No.1 OSU a couple years ago.
I say keep 'em all together.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
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