And I hope it comes as a result of Ohio State being left out of the playoff come Sunday. The #6 Bucks get a shot with #21 Northwestern while the #5 Sooners get #14 Texas on Saturday. It didn't have to be this way.
The Big Ten took an idiotic approach in shuffling things around once Maryland and Rutgers can aboard. While Legends and Leaders sounded like $h!t, the balance was rather competitive. You could have easily added one of those two eastern schools on each side and while this likely would feature a rematch of The Game, at the very least the Big Ten would be better positioned to snag the final bid.
There was some consternation though that if Michigan and Ohio State were in opposite sides, then they could have a rematch the next week. Ok, fine, but why did they foolishly stack the east? The assumption was that Penn State would take a decade to recover and that msu would eventually regress. Those thoughts weren't too egregious, but what was moronic was the assumption that Wisconsin and Nebraska could match the firepower of OSu and Michigan. That's right, the conference felt historic top 20 Wisconsin in a middle range talent rich state could be an equal along with a once proud Nebraska program who got fat 30 years before through a now abandoned prop 48. At the very least, couldn't the figureheads have realized they may want to hand that side Penn State if by chance that historic top 15 program doesn't go in the abyss for a decade?
I've long felt these should be the divisions with cross rival in parens. You can play around with the last pairs, but there is excellent historic parity among the first four..
Ohio State (Penn State)
Michigan (Michigan State)
Iowa (Wisconsin)
Minnesota (Nebraska)
Northwestern (Illinois)
Indiana (Purdue)
Rutgers (Maryland)
The only rivalry lost is Minnesota and Wisconsin. Oh, the horror.
Regardless of what side NW is on, I have no doubt the game this week would feature a rematch of OSu and PSU. Not only that, but my guess is Psu may actually had more urgency in playing Msu after losing to Osu and may not have lost the game. In addition there is only a 1/3 chance Penn State actually gets their teeth kicked in at Michigan given the revised schedule. Penn State is currently #12, but may actually have been sitting at 10-2 or 11-1 and ranked in the top 10.
This should be the game for this weekend instead of middle of the pack Northwestern sneaking through.
The Big Ten took an idiotic approach in shuffling things around once Maryland and Rutgers can aboard. While Legends and Leaders sounded like $h!t, the balance was rather competitive. You could have easily added one of those two eastern schools on each side and while this likely would feature a rematch of The Game, at the very least the Big Ten would be better positioned to snag the final bid.
There was some consternation though that if Michigan and Ohio State were in opposite sides, then they could have a rematch the next week. Ok, fine, but why did they foolishly stack the east? The assumption was that Penn State would take a decade to recover and that msu would eventually regress. Those thoughts weren't too egregious, but what was moronic was the assumption that Wisconsin and Nebraska could match the firepower of OSu and Michigan. That's right, the conference felt historic top 20 Wisconsin in a middle range talent rich state could be an equal along with a once proud Nebraska program who got fat 30 years before through a now abandoned prop 48. At the very least, couldn't the figureheads have realized they may want to hand that side Penn State if by chance that historic top 15 program doesn't go in the abyss for a decade?
I've long felt these should be the divisions with cross rival in parens. You can play around with the last pairs, but there is excellent historic parity among the first four..
Ohio State (Penn State)
Michigan (Michigan State)
Iowa (Wisconsin)
Minnesota (Nebraska)
Northwestern (Illinois)
Indiana (Purdue)
Rutgers (Maryland)
The only rivalry lost is Minnesota and Wisconsin. Oh, the horror.
Regardless of what side NW is on, I have no doubt the game this week would feature a rematch of OSu and PSU. Not only that, but my guess is Psu may actually had more urgency in playing Msu after losing to Osu and may not have lost the game. In addition there is only a 1/3 chance Penn State actually gets their teeth kicked in at Michigan given the revised schedule. Penn State is currently #12, but may actually have been sitting at 10-2 or 11-1 and ranked in the top 10.
This should be the game for this weekend instead of middle of the pack Northwestern sneaking through.
