I think a given that Iowa and Nebraska are now locked in a death embrace and will play the day after Thanksgiving.
Trevor McCue • Maize&BlueReview
Staff Writer
@trevormccue
Starting in 2024, the Big Ten conference expands to 16 teams with the additions of USC and UCLA. All future Big Ten schedules were pulled while the conference works to consider a new scheduling model. Scott Dochterman, who covers Iowa for the Athletic, is reporting that last week's meeting of Big Ten admins, officials, and coaches was productive, but a model that will be implemented starting next season has still not been determined.
Dochterman reports while no model has been agreed to, priorities and the "core tenant" of the future model are clear. Finding the schedule model that best meets those, is what the conference is working to figure out.
College Football Playoff qualification was established as the core tenet, and any future alignment must serve that greater good. Two other common-sense principles were established, too. One, that scheduling should be fair and equitable. Two, that every four-year player should compete at least once on every Big Ten campus. Illinois, for instance, no longer will have to wait nine years before competing three hours southeast at Indiana.
With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams starting in 2024, officials in the Big Ten make it clear getting as many teams into the playoff as possible is their biggest priority. Where this gets difficult is satisfying both their TV networks that want as many marquee matchups as possible and protecting the long standing rivalries of the conference.
Iowa's Athletic Director Gary Barta told Dochterman, “I don’t know where we’ll end up. But it’ll follow those principles. What’s the most fair? What’s going to give us the most teams in the new playoff? And we don’t want to go — I don’t want to go, and I don’t think the Big Ten has interest in going seven years until you play somebody. So, getting into a better rotation.”
Eliminating divisions seems more than likely at this point, in fact it is hard to imagine any scheduling scenario where the divisions are not eliminated. Since moving to the East-West format, the East division winner has also won the Big Ten Championship game. So while the best representative has seemingly always won out, it has turned the Championship game into a borderline exhibition, creating a situation where the East champion has nothing to gain but almost everything to lose by even playing in the game.
Aside from the impact on the Championship game, an imbalance in the regular season schedule has existed for multiple seasons. The East division that has featured each conference champion in the current format with Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State. While results have varied season to season, the top 2-4 teams in the conference have come from this group. With each team having to play each other, they face a more difficult path than a West division team.
There will be annual opponents while the rest of the conference is scheduled on a rotational basis. A rotation again, that ensures teams play often enough to avoid situations like the SEC current format where Georgia and Alabama play once every six years.
The problem is avoiding creating a situation that results in a similar imbalance to the current division format. Again, the Big Ten will want to preserve rivalries, typically bigger matchups, for fans and their media partners.
In the last two seasons, 89% of the Big Ten's highest rated games included Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State. Fox, CBS, and NBC are going to want those big-time matchups to fill their designated three time slots each weekend, considering the massive price tag they just paid. So if the Big Ten were to go with the 3-6-6 format for instance, how do you select the three teams that are protected for each team?
Maybe the best thing for TV is Michigan playing Ohio State, Penn State, and USC every year. But does that achieve what Barda stated? Would that be fair to Michigan or does that give the Big Ten the best chance at CFP selections? The answer is no.
A balance has to be reached, and all 16 teams have to agree. Michigan will play Ohio State every year. USC will play UCLA. Some of these things are a given, and they should be. The conversation gets more complicated with those 2nd and 3rd protected teams, and how you balance and weight the rest of the rotations.
It sounds like that is the stage the Big Ten is now in. They know what goals they want to achieve, they have a good list of options, some changes will be part of the model, but the finer details that satisfy as many parties as possible are still in the works.
The issue, if that is what it should be called, is the conference currently doesn't feel any pressure. With games to be impacted more than 18 months away, no decisions are being rushed. And while something like eliminating conferences may already be decided, the Big Ten is hoping to have a mass release of information rather than a slow drip of agreements according to Barta.
“If it goes the best it can go, we’ll announce everything at once. I think that makes more sense. I’m not going to predict it, but I think that’s the desire is to have it all come out at once so everybody can plan ahead.”
Progress appears to be made, but an imminent announcement is not coming. Priorities are set, but how to meet them has not been decided. The waiting, and debate, continues.
Report: Big Ten scheduling model not finalized, but priorities set
Trevor McCue • Maize&BlueReview
Staff Writer
@trevormccue
Starting in 2024, the Big Ten conference expands to 16 teams with the additions of USC and UCLA. All future Big Ten schedules were pulled while the conference works to consider a new scheduling model. Scott Dochterman, who covers Iowa for the Athletic, is reporting that last week's meeting of Big Ten admins, officials, and coaches was productive, but a model that will be implemented starting next season has still not been determined.
Dochterman reports while no model has been agreed to, priorities and the "core tenant" of the future model are clear. Finding the schedule model that best meets those, is what the conference is working to figure out.
College Football Playoff qualification was established as the core tenet, and any future alignment must serve that greater good. Two other common-sense principles were established, too. One, that scheduling should be fair and equitable. Two, that every four-year player should compete at least once on every Big Ten campus. Illinois, for instance, no longer will have to wait nine years before competing three hours southeast at Indiana.
With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams starting in 2024, officials in the Big Ten make it clear getting as many teams into the playoff as possible is their biggest priority. Where this gets difficult is satisfying both their TV networks that want as many marquee matchups as possible and protecting the long standing rivalries of the conference.
Iowa's Athletic Director Gary Barta told Dochterman, “I don’t know where we’ll end up. But it’ll follow those principles. What’s the most fair? What’s going to give us the most teams in the new playoff? And we don’t want to go — I don’t want to go, and I don’t think the Big Ten has interest in going seven years until you play somebody. So, getting into a better rotation.”
Eliminating divisions seems more than likely at this point, in fact it is hard to imagine any scheduling scenario where the divisions are not eliminated. Since moving to the East-West format, the East division winner has also won the Big Ten Championship game. So while the best representative has seemingly always won out, it has turned the Championship game into a borderline exhibition, creating a situation where the East champion has nothing to gain but almost everything to lose by even playing in the game.
Aside from the impact on the Championship game, an imbalance in the regular season schedule has existed for multiple seasons. The East division that has featured each conference champion in the current format with Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State. While results have varied season to season, the top 2-4 teams in the conference have come from this group. With each team having to play each other, they face a more difficult path than a West division team.
There will be annual opponents while the rest of the conference is scheduled on a rotational basis. A rotation again, that ensures teams play often enough to avoid situations like the SEC current format where Georgia and Alabama play once every six years.
The problem is avoiding creating a situation that results in a similar imbalance to the current division format. Again, the Big Ten will want to preserve rivalries, typically bigger matchups, for fans and their media partners.
In the last two seasons, 89% of the Big Ten's highest rated games included Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State. Fox, CBS, and NBC are going to want those big-time matchups to fill their designated three time slots each weekend, considering the massive price tag they just paid. So if the Big Ten were to go with the 3-6-6 format for instance, how do you select the three teams that are protected for each team?
Maybe the best thing for TV is Michigan playing Ohio State, Penn State, and USC every year. But does that achieve what Barda stated? Would that be fair to Michigan or does that give the Big Ten the best chance at CFP selections? The answer is no.
A balance has to be reached, and all 16 teams have to agree. Michigan will play Ohio State every year. USC will play UCLA. Some of these things are a given, and they should be. The conversation gets more complicated with those 2nd and 3rd protected teams, and how you balance and weight the rest of the rotations.
It sounds like that is the stage the Big Ten is now in. They know what goals they want to achieve, they have a good list of options, some changes will be part of the model, but the finer details that satisfy as many parties as possible are still in the works.
The issue, if that is what it should be called, is the conference currently doesn't feel any pressure. With games to be impacted more than 18 months away, no decisions are being rushed. And while something like eliminating conferences may already be decided, the Big Ten is hoping to have a mass release of information rather than a slow drip of agreements according to Barta.
“If it goes the best it can go, we’ll announce everything at once. I think that makes more sense. I’m not going to predict it, but I think that’s the desire is to have it all come out at once so everybody can plan ahead.”
Progress appears to be made, but an imminent announcement is not coming. Priorities are set, but how to meet them has not been decided. The waiting, and debate, continues.
