[NU Sports] Big Ten Divisions appear to be firming up

[John Labbe]

Before getting too worked up about these division splits, I think it makes sense to consider these statistics:

Currently, every Big Ten team plays 2 teams in 100% of seasons, and plays each of the remaining 8 teams in 75% of seasons.

Once the divisions are implemented, and assuming a 9-game conference slate, each team will play 5 teams in 100% of seasons, and will play each of the remaining 6 teams in 67% of seasons.  So the percentage of time that two particular teams do not meet in a season will only rise from 25% to 33%.

I also guess it's possible that there could be protected rivalries across divisions (one for each team).  If so, that would mean each team would play 6 teams in 100% of seasons, and will play each of the remaining 5 teams in only 60% of seasons.

Having said that, I think the biggest concern for us should be (as others have noted) which teams we play 100% of the time.  I'd much rather only play OSU 67% or 60% of the time rather than 100% of the time.

On the other hand, I have a goal of seeing the Cats win a game, in person, on the road at every Big Ten venue before I die.  I fear I need as many chances as I can get at the 'Shoe.






On Aug 26, 2010, at 11:28 AM, Jonathan Hodges <jonathanwhodges at gmail.com> wrote:

> Regarding avoiding OSU/Michigan and Big Ten titles (since 1993, when Penn
> State joined and the current conference scheduling system was set up):
>
> Ohio State (9) and Michigan (5) have won or shared a combined 14 titles over
> this 17 year span. This occurred in 13 separate times in those 17 seasons.
>
> During that 17 year span EVERY team that has won OR shared the conference
> title has played OSU or Michigan in that season. Here are the only
> conference title winners/sharers who did not play BOTH, and who they missed:
>
> 2002 Iowa (OSU)
> 2000 Northwestern (OSU)
> 1998 Wisconsin (OSU)
> 1996 Northwestern (OSU)
> 1995 Northwestern (OSU)
>
> Yes, that's a trend, teams benefit most from avoiding Ohio State
> (Northwestern 3 times). Some teams have missed both OSU and Michigan
> multiple times over that span, and although that leads to a lot of people
> putting them in title contention, it hasn't worked out for anyone.
>
> Although the 'Cats have obviously benefited from this and the "shared title"
> (specifically in '96 and '00 where NU won a shared title but lost the
> tiebreaker in order to go to the Rose/BCS Bowl), I am personally glad that
> there will no longer be shared titles and teams will get to avoid other good
> ones and still win a conference crown. Competitively, it makes more sense,
> and I'm a logical guy, so I like that kind of thing.
>
>
> I also agree with Jeff: the Big Ten has seemed to make all the right moves
> at the right times in recent years, and I trust them to do the same here