This has been a crazy-ass year for all of us. We've all had our opinions about the B1G and how this has been handled, but I think we are all happy to have a football season to look forward to. Hopefully it can be completed as planned in a safe manner.
This unique "+1" format that the conference is instituting during this crazy season is very interesting. I don't think it will be permanent (all teams playing 13 games), but it got me thinking about B1G scheduling.,
I hate the current cross-over scheduling format the B1G has implemented. Iowa gets 6 straight against PSU and then 6 straight against Rutgers. I've always thought that there could be a way to make the 3rd crossover game weighted and based on the previous year's standings. This would accomplish multiple things: 1) Avoids the monotony of being stuck playing the same cross-division rival so much, when there are only so many chances to play those teams in the first place; 2) Ensures more head-to-head matchups between the elite programs, making for more interesting games; 3) Allows the lesser programs to have an easier schedule, perhaps giving them a better chance to pick up that 6th win.
I don't think the scheduling would be that difficult. There could be a regular rotation of games between 2 cross division rivals (one cycle that would include H-H with each cross division rival would take 7 years). The 9th game on each team's schedule could be listed years in advance as "Cross-Division Home Game" or "Cross-Division Road Game" - these games would obviously need to be scheduled the same week for everyone. Of course there would be times when schools who both finished the same in the standings are already on each other's schedule, so there would have to be an objective way of sorting that out (much like they plan on doing this year).
A quick look at Iowa's schedule since '16, which has included Penn St each year (all loses, but beside the point). Under this format, Iowa's opponents would instead have been 2016 -MSU (BTCG rematch), 2017 - OSU (already on schedule, so may have been PSU or MI), 2018 - Michigan, 2019 - MiSU, 2020 - Michigan. Still a lot of the same teams, but compare that to our future 6-year run with Rutgers...
The only disadvantage I see to this format is the guarantee of H-H series with each cross-division rival every 7 years instead of every 6. However, the message would be clear to programs who are struggling but want more desirable cross-division matchups more often - Get better.
Anyway, just something I've been thinking about and thought would be worth a discussion. It's hard to find a thread that is not "Kevin Warren this" or "Trump that" or "Fake virus this" or "ISU/Minn/Neb that," so thought I'd try something different.
This unique "+1" format that the conference is instituting during this crazy season is very interesting. I don't think it will be permanent (all teams playing 13 games), but it got me thinking about B1G scheduling.,
I hate the current cross-over scheduling format the B1G has implemented. Iowa gets 6 straight against PSU and then 6 straight against Rutgers. I've always thought that there could be a way to make the 3rd crossover game weighted and based on the previous year's standings. This would accomplish multiple things: 1) Avoids the monotony of being stuck playing the same cross-division rival so much, when there are only so many chances to play those teams in the first place; 2) Ensures more head-to-head matchups between the elite programs, making for more interesting games; 3) Allows the lesser programs to have an easier schedule, perhaps giving them a better chance to pick up that 6th win.
I don't think the scheduling would be that difficult. There could be a regular rotation of games between 2 cross division rivals (one cycle that would include H-H with each cross division rival would take 7 years). The 9th game on each team's schedule could be listed years in advance as "Cross-Division Home Game" or "Cross-Division Road Game" - these games would obviously need to be scheduled the same week for everyone. Of course there would be times when schools who both finished the same in the standings are already on each other's schedule, so there would have to be an objective way of sorting that out (much like they plan on doing this year).
A quick look at Iowa's schedule since '16, which has included Penn St each year (all loses, but beside the point). Under this format, Iowa's opponents would instead have been 2016 -MSU (BTCG rematch), 2017 - OSU (already on schedule, so may have been PSU or MI), 2018 - Michigan, 2019 - MiSU, 2020 - Michigan. Still a lot of the same teams, but compare that to our future 6-year run with Rutgers...
The only disadvantage I see to this format is the guarantee of H-H series with each cross-division rival every 7 years instead of every 6. However, the message would be clear to programs who are struggling but want more desirable cross-division matchups more often - Get better.
Anyway, just something I've been thinking about and thought would be worth a discussion. It's hard to find a thread that is not "Kevin Warren this" or "Trump that" or "Fake virus this" or "ISU/Minn/Neb that," so thought I'd try something different.
