Around the Big Ten

[Hannibal]

The AD's who have been scheduling harder OOC games are the same one who dreamed up the 9-game conf schedule.

And they scheduled lots, if not all, of those games right after a nine-game schedule with a 12-team conference had been shot down, before the conference expanded to 14. In Michigan's case, some of these are meant to replace Notre Dame. Michigan hasn't scheduled a game that I know of since Rutgers and Maryland were added. I don't know about anyone else. The one attempt to force scheduling with the PAC 10 failed, and I doubt that you will see another effort like that.

The new schedule has an 18 year cycle. Most OOC games are scheduled maybe five or six years out. You won't see these caliber of games once they are played, and I'll bet my balls that you will see some of them moved. Especially in years where the team in question has five road games.

Oh, and you don't have to go back to 1973 to find an example of Michigan playing Minnesota on a semi-regular basis. You only have to go back to 2012. But you're right, playing a random shit program other than Minnesota is light years better than playing Minnesota (an admittedly shit program, but half of the oldest trophy game in college football and one of the few remaining connections to the game's roots).

PS -- I have already admitted that I am an outlier when it comes to my affinity for the Brown Jug game.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Anyways, there's plenty of old-fashioned college towns in the B1G...I'm glad there's now two more "big city" experiences though. Really, only Northwestern and Minnesota provided that in the past. I wouldn't even count Columbus which is more of just an overgrown college town.

[Dr. Strangelove]

And they scheduled lots, if not all, of those games right after a nine-game schedule with a 12-team conference had been shot down, before the conference expanded to 14. In Michigan's case, some of these are meant to replace Notre Dame. Michigan hasn't scheduled a game that I know of since Rutgers and Maryland were added. I don't know about anyone else. The one attempt to force scheduling with the PAC 10 failed, and I doubt that you will see another effort like that.

Ohio State announced series with TCU, Texas, Oregon, and Boston College all in October of last year. Maryland & Rutgers were added right before Thanksgiving. So Gene Smith almost certainly knew the conference was about to have 14 members at the time he put together those games. And everybody supported AT LEAST a 9-game conf schedule if we went beyond 12. There's really been no doubt that was coming ever since Maryland joined.

Right now our 2018 OOC is: Cincinnati, @ TCU, North Carolina. I'd be surprised if anything got moved (UNC was already moved once) but I suppose it's not impossible. The way our road OOC games play out, it fits in nicely with giving the East the 5 games in even years.

[WM Wolverine]

Gophers used to be a rivalry in the 50's and 60's...

In a perfect world, M would play its rivals (Ohio & Sparty) annually and rotate amongst the rest the division but the rules say you have to have divisions.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Michigan and Penn State are the only two I felt needed to be played every year. I want to play Nebraska/Wisconsin as often as possible though

[hack]

More power to ya, then. Certainly DC has its sights and that's a good way to go about it. Just not necessarily my own style. Wider view though is that Big Ten athletics are being reshaped in a half-baked way, and unintended consequences are going to come. Some will be good, others bad. Easier to imagine more of the latter tho.

[Hannibal]

Cincinnati is generally crappy, UNC is shit, and TCU would only be considered a "tough" game in about four or five years in my lifetime.

I don't know what OSU will do, but I can guarantee you that in the future, Michigan is never again going to schedule Oregon State, BYU, and Utah in the same year when they are playing Nebraska, MSU, Penn State, and OSU. And Oregon State, Utah, and BYU are merely "decent" programs, not elite ones.

[Dr. Strangelove]

If BYU, Utah, and Oregon State aren't good enough for you then you're living in a fantasy world. Teams don't play 3 powerhouses OOC and never did. Not even Michigan in the 70's.

But if that's your standard, that Cinci + TCU + UNC is a shitty OOC schedule, then I 100% agree with you: OOC schedules will be shitty from here on out and they can't compare to the good ol days!!!!

[Hannibal]

If BYU, Utah, and Oregon State aren't good enough for you then you're living in a fantasy world.

Funny, I didn't say that.

But that has never stopped you before.

Dr. Strangelove, strawman bowling league champion 10 years running.

[Dr. Strangelove]

No, you've said that B1G teams like Michigan will load up on MAC schools once they know that the 9-game schedule has arrived. Schools have pretty much known the 9-game schedule was coming for a couple years now and have been actually doing the opposite of what you claim will happen.

[Dr. Strangelove]

More power to ya, then. Certainly DC has its sights and that's a good way to go about it. Just not necessarily my own style. Wider view though is that Big Ten athletics are being reshaped in a half-baked way, and unintended consequences are going to come. Some will be good, others bad. Easier to imagine more of the latter tho.

Yeah, well, there's also the possibility that huge changes are coming to college athletics in the next 50 years, changes that will occur whether the B1G remained at 11 teams or with these new additions. And stepping beyond athletics, there's a real possibility that higher education itself will see a major shakeup.

[Hannibal]

No, they haven't known. The 9-game schedule was shot down maybe a couple of years ago, and expansion to 14 was not a sure thing immediately after that. The decision to pair the top teams in each division against one another as often as possible was certainly not a given. I don't know when ADs knew for sure that Rutgers and Maryland would be joining. Michigan's games against Arkansas, Oregon State, BYU, and Utah were scheduled well before the second round of expansion was announced.

[hack]

Yeah, well, there's also the possibility that huge changes are coming to college athletics in the next 50 years, changes that will occur whether the B1G remained at 11 teams or with these new additions. And stepping beyond athletics, there's a real possibility that higher education itself will see a major shakeup.

Likely. I just like to see a fully-baked plan instead of something less so before I'm gonna support it. Otherwise, it's the devil you know for me. I'm a misanthrope. I have more faith that they will screw it up than that they will improve it.

[Hannibal]

You don't have to be a misanthrope to think that they will screw this up. After "Leaders and Legends", Anne Frank wouldn't have faith in this bunch.

[entropy]

Eliminating FCS schools is a good start