[NU Sports] Divisions

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> > It will be slightly amusing
> whenever Michigan and Ohio State both have their 
> 
> I wonder how often that will occur?  My guess is no
> more than once every 

Well, looking back at how the Big Ten title game would look with these artificial divisions ...

2009: OSU vs. Iowa
2008: PSU vs. MSU
2007: OSU vs. Mich.
2006: OSU vs. Mich.
2005: PSU vs. Mich.
2004: Wis vs. Mich.
2003: OSU vs. Mich.
2002: OSU vs. Iowa
2001: Ill vs. Mich.
2000: Pur vs. Neb.

Much less variety of games than the east/west "what if" we went through a few months ago -- and three OSU/Mich. rematches (most interesting might have been 2006, where they meet in Columbus with OSU winning by 3, then meet in the title game where, if Michigan had won narrowly, they would have almost certainly met a THIRD time in a row for the BCS title game :) ).

Michigan won't be down for long (think of RichRod as Big Blue's Callahan Experiment). So 1 of every 3 or 1 of 4 years seems like a likely scenario for a repeat title game.

> certainly not play out that way every year.  It
> wouldn't surprise me if 
> 2011 comes down to the Iowa-Nebraska game.  

I think that's the rivalry to watch. It should be a fantastic border war and could be a defacto semifinal for many years.

> Over in the other division, Penn State seems to have a
> problem beating 
> Ohio State, and Wisconsin could bump both of them out of

Well, to be fair, Iowa and Michigan are more JoePa's nemesis than OSU. He is about as good as one can be against Tressel (usually splitting home and home). And while I know that Wisconsin fans are probably as upset as anyone east of me about this alignment, they do have fairly good recent histories against both the Buckeyes and Lions ... they just aren't rivalry games like Nebraska and Iowa.

> a few times, but I'm really wondering how long JoePa will
> be able to hang 

They'll probably have a tough transition from the legend when he does decide to step down, but like Michigan, PSU won't be down for long. With a 100,000+ seat stadium in the middle of a football-mad state and recruiting hotbed, someone will come in and bring them back in a hurry.

> Nebraska is being 'welcomed' with a pretty heavy schedule
> in 2011, there's

No kidding. They sure didn't take competitive balance into the mix when looking at the rotations and protected rivalries. Teams like Nebraska and Ohio State are getting hammered those first few schedules with big games ... so maybe there will be a few cracks in the door open for the plucky upstarts like NU to sneak through.

> We don't have Husker season tickets, but I might have to
> work on getting 

:) - not that Nebrsska has ever had trouble selling tickets, but the 2011/12 schedules are going to be quite a change. No more waiting for OU or Texas every 3 or so years and filling time with Baylor, Iowa State or Kansas. Now it's Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin ... the marquee games in this new league will be a treat to watch! And I'm sure Husker fans will enjoy road trips to the Twin Cities, Chicago, Columbus, Ann Arbor, State College and Madison more than Ames, Manhattan, Lubbock, Stillwater and such. :)

GO CATS!!!
-SjT