Our Honor Defend

The divisions are out, and yes, Michigan and Ohio State have been separated in the new divisional format. The Big Ten has announced that much of the rumors about the new Big Ten were borne out in the final product. Rather than go with the Illinois-Indiana divide (as I would have done), the Big Ten sent Michigan and Michigan State west and Wisconsin and Illinois east. The two divisions, as outlined and even labeled on the Big Ten Network, are as follows:

• X Division: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
• O Division: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nerdwestern

Aware of the sensitivity regarding the split, especially of Ohio State and Michigan, the Big Ten announced there would be a protective cross-over game in a manner similar to the SEC’s guaranteed inter-divisional matchups (Auburn-Georgia, Alabama-Tennessee, LSU-Florida) and so on. These are:

• Illinois-Nerdwestern
• Indiana-Michigan State
• Ohio State-Michigan
• Penn State-Nebraska
• Purdue-Iowa
• Wisconsin-Minnesota

Off the bat, Ohio State and Michigan fans were assured that The Game will keep its usual spot at the end of the schedule. Several thoughts follow.

• RELAX EVERYONE. Just CHILL. They protected Indiana-Michigan State’s historic grudge match for the Old Brass Spittoon. I was worried there. We all were. Let the healing begin.
• I’m glad they also protected Purdue-Iowa. You know, two teams without any extended interaction with each other.
• Penn State-Nebraska as an annual occurrence is intriguing and a neat little surprise of the divisions. These two tradition laden programs have a history of 13 games with each other.
• Looking a little further, I wonder how happy Penn State fans are with this overall. Their fanbase was rightly concerned about becoming an island in a western alignment. Instead, they get to trek to Lincoln, Nebraska every other year, get Wisconsin and Illinois in their division and still have to play two other teams out west. That is still fairly punitive, though I think any arrangement was going to have their fans pack their bags and prepare for a long trip somewhere. Penn State is very isolated from the rest of the conference. There was no way to hide it. At least Big Ten fans get Penn State-Nebraska every year.
• This arrangement makes The Little Brown Jug (Minnesota-Michigan) and Illibuck (Illinois-Ohio State) now yearly occurrences. As if anyone gives a shit. Seriously, I do not care the slightest bit about that stupid turtle we play for. Illinois can keep it. Play with it if you want. Not like I care. I just want the win when we do play. The Little Brown Jug is a little more important in terms of historical context for both schools. However, Bo Schembechler singlehandedly killed that rivalry. The Gophers have won 3 times since Bo Schembechler took over at Michigan in 1969. Unlike the Illibuck, though, I think both sides care a little more about it. You don’t have any Illibuck restaurants in Columbus like you do a Little Brown Jug restaurant in Ann Arbor. All told: that is now an annual occurrence while Wisconsin gets taken away from Iowa and its desired yearly matchup with Nebraska? I’m not sure that’s worth it.

There are other thoughts I would like to belabor a bit further. First, I had grown to detest Jim Delany frequently saying “competitive equality” was the utmost concern in creating these divisions. By most accounts, he did that. But the Big Ten also produced two divisions that they will have a difficult time branding.  Unveiling two divisions without names to begin the broadcast spoke volumes.  That Howard Griffith had to call them the X and O division accentuates the difficulty the Big Ten is going to have pitching this alignment to consumers of college football in general. Draw a line between Indiana and Illinois and you get two neat and not altogether unequal divisions. One is firmly central time zone, the other eastern time zone. One has states where urban rot and the legacy of heavy industry loom large. The other falls in the footprint of “the heartland”, decidedly flatter and more rural than the eastern states. These are admittedly very broad strokes and ignore diversity in places like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio, but you can pitch a better narrative with a straight west/east split than with these divisions. Have fun figuring out what you call them.  This will be very important and the Big Ten has already handicapped itself.

But really, though, I am expecting Jim Delany to host his next teleconference by saying Cash Rules Everything Around Me and that the new divisions will be named “Barbasol” and “RO*TEL”.  Delany also talked about having divisional trophies (please, don’t).  If so, the winner of the Barbasol Division gets a big ol’ can of shaving cream.

I do want to delve into the “competitive equality” thing further.  Delany kept repeating it over and over through this process as if he knew what he was doing.  Heads up: you don’t.  You never know.  You can not forecast into the future and know with certainty that the competitively equal divisions outlined now will hold into the future.  Consider it an exercise of finding out “What’s in the box?”  You don’t know what’s in the box and you can’t open it, but you have to guess.  You can shake it, weigh it and so on, but you will never know for sure.  Looking from 1960 to 1967, would you have guessed Michigan and Ohio State would make the conference uncompetitive through the 1970s?  Looking at the 1970s, you may have guessed that Michigan would go to 5 Rose Bowls from the 1980 to 1989 seasons.  Seems to be a reasonable extrapolation.  Would you have guessed that Ohio State would only go once?  You may not have expected that Iowa would go twice and Illinois once.  In 2004, would you have guessed that Michigan would be struggling as bad as they are now?  You can come up with metrics to guess (weighing, shaking), but you still don’t know and you never will.  Remember: Sovietologists, the CIA experts and diplomats (many having PhDs, years of research and expertise) associated with tracking the trajectory of the Soviet Union, could not look into the future and see the events of the late 1980s unfolding.  And somehow you can? Don’t kid yourself.

I think splitting Ohio State-Michigan, but keeping it at the end of the season, was the compromise to turn the reaction from Ohio State and Michigan fans against itself.  An objection about moving The Game, as Delany freely admitted to considering¹, was that it would be hijacking an institution in the once-in-a-decade probability that a rematch may occur in the Big Ten championship game.  Splitting Ohio State and Michigan, but keeping the game at the end of the season, may have been a way to call that bluff.  The Game remains where it is and, if Ohio State and Michigan fans are right, it will be played twice approximately one out of every ten trials.  Neither side gets what it truly wants.

Ultimately, it reflects uncertainty from Delany and company about the nature of the product.  If you are secure in the product, you should not have to rig the divisions to make an Ohio State-Michigan rematch possible.  If neither Ohio State nor Michigan appears in it for the next 20 years², it should still pack seats because it’s the Big Ten Championship game.  This is not the ACC; Midwesterners care about the sport.  There are no Boston Colleges or Dukes.  Even if Indiana, decidedly neutral on football, makes it to the finale, it would still put people in seats.  This alignment is as much about “competitive equality” as it is a prayer to God, begging “Oh God, please don’t let Minnesota or Northwestern get in.”

I am still not crazy about these divisions.  Divisions should not have to be gerrymandered in order to produce specific outcomes.  Rather than try to neutralize “the Big Four”, you would want to encourage everyone else to commit even further to the sport.  But with some of the other hare-brained things being discussed, I guess I should be grateful that the Big Ten divisions and format are what they are.

2011, 2012 Schedules Announced

With the new divisions, the Big Ten also announced the new schedules.  I give Ohio State’s 2011 and 2012 schedules below.  Thoughts follow.

2011/2012 Season
Date	Opponent	Venue	Date	Opponent	Venue
09/03/11	Akron	Ohio Stadium	09/01/12	Miami (Ohio)	Ohio Stadium
09/10/11	Toledo	Ohio Stadium	09/08/12	Cincinnati	Ohio Stadium
09/17/11	Miami (Florida)	Sun Life Stadium	09/15/12	California	Ohio Stadium
09/24/11	Colorado	Ohio Stadium	09/22/12	Alabama-Birmingham	Ohio Stadium
10/01/11	Michigan State	Ohio Stadium	09/29/12	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium
10/08/11	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium	10/06/12	Nebraska	Ohio Stadium
10/15/11	Illinois	Memorial Stadium	10/13/12	Indiana	Memorial Stadium
10/22/11			10/20/12	Purdue	Ohio Stadium
10/29/11	Wisconsin	Ohio Stadium	10/27/12	Penn State	Beaver Stadium
11/05/11	Indiana	Ohio Stadium	11/03/12	Illinois	Ohio Stadium
11/12/11	Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium	11/10/12
11/19/11	Penn State	Ohio Stadium	11/17/12	Wisconsin	Camp Randall
11/26/11	TTUN	The Hole in the Ground	11/24/12	TTUN	Ohio Stadium

On Twitter, I fearlessly predicted that Ohio State and Nebraska would be playing in 2011 and that it would become a talking point afterward.  I got the first part right, but did not have the patience to listen to DiNardo any longer than what was required.  Pelini’s Cornhuskers make the return trip to Ohio State in 2012.

Coincidentally, Ohio State’s 2011 and 2012 Big Ten opener remained the same: Michigan State.

By a fluke, Ohio State will host Penn State in 2011.  The Buckeyes have hosted the Nittany Lions in every even-numbered year since 1996.  Consider this retribution for having to go on the road to play them in 1994 and 1995.  Fortunately, the 1994 game never happened.  I don’t like to discuss things that decidedly did not happen ever on this blog.  End of discussion.

Nerdwestern ducked Ohio State for another two years, making it four years since the Buckeyes have given the Nerds the rightful wedgies they deserve.  They will be getting wedgies of the atomic variety should they cross paths in 2013.

Elsewhere

I am intrigued that Penn State and Nebraska will be playing yearly and that Iowa-Nebraska will be a regular season-ender.  This is the right way to go.  Their games will be enjoyable.

Penn State fans are probably rejoicing that they are free of their obligations to play Michigan State.

Nebraska’s Big Ten opener in 2011 and 2012 is against Wisconsin, starting in Madison.  I smell Alvarez.

1. He admitted to moving it to no earlier than mid-November. [↩]
2. Bite your tongue about Ohio State, but nevertheless… [↩]