Doesn't look good for preserving OSU-Michigan

[hermanfontenot]

Hypothetically, once Dick Rod is run an dthey get a new AD and a real Michigan man as a FB coach, like harbaugh, could both schools get together and be like "F the Conference' ?

And schedule this as a regular season game every year like how ND v UM and ND v SC and UT v OU (before they were in conference) used to be in terms of hype/relevance?

Then just play 3 more in state MAC cupcakes?

If The Game is Gameworthy, it would technically be a non-conference game not counting in league play standings an dthey could meet again later in the season for the marbles, and if not then it it the end of the world if not the lst game in a non-descript year?

Not plan A for me, but not a bad plan B if you ask me. Depends on the sze of the 2 schools' AD's. I mean, what is the Big 10 going to do to them power-wise? Excommunicate them?

I would rather expell Penn State and go back to 11 teams. Penn State can play in the Big East where they belong.

I see Penn State's fingerprints ALL OVER this travesty. They've been trying to weasel their way into arch-rival status with the Bucks ever since they joined the Big Ten. And the Big Ten has been kissing their ass the entire way.


I've grown to loathe the Nittanys. They're like the guy you allow to rent a room in your house and all of a sudden he's busting your balls about the color of the drapes and the carpet.

[motherscratcher]

I've grown to loathe the Nittanys. They're like the guy you allow to rent a room in your house and all of a sudden he's busting your balls about the color of the drapes and the carpet.

Sounds like the makings of a great rivalry.

[JCoz]

Holy......Fucking......Shit.

I posted this in another thread, but it is appropriate here as well::

It gets better.

If you thought separating the two schools was bad enough, and moving the game date was the straw that broke the camel's back, then what do you think of this (http://frankthetank.wordpress.com/20...#comment-83248):

it keeps getting better
a friend on another board attended a luncheon, I believe, at the Ann Arbor Club where Brandon made a few comments:
The Big Ten does not want the top 2 brands in the same division.
We can not have everything we want as we only have 1/12 vote.
It appears that only your games against your Division will determine who goes to the Championship game. The games against the other Division will be used as tie-breakers. Is the SEC like this?I have never paid that close of attention.
Brandon is a guy that is firery and he did not come across as arrogant at all. I can understand people being upset with him, but I think from his tone today he does not hold the cards here as OSU and U of M are outvoted.
Did say he wants the Championship game played at one of the Big Ten Stadiums but he is losing that battle as they want it indoors.

so the Michigan Ohio State game won’t even count towards either winning their division. games with teams in the other division will only count if needed as tiebreakers.

In other words, The Game won't even matter, unless either team fails to win its division outright.

Holy shit, they really did it. They literally destroyed THE game. Or apparently will shortly.

It will mean almost nothing at all.

Now we'll get "The game" around 4 times every 2 decades, each primed by a meaningless game against UM that may as well be a fucking scrimmage.

Amazing.

So, so amazing. I am dumbfounded.

[Erie Warrior]

This is very undude.

[jb]

Holy shit, they really did it.

Damn, dirty apes.

[waborat]

Holy shit, they really did it.

Damn, dirty apes.

God, some of us are so, so old

[motherscratcher]

Holy shit, they really did it.

Damn, dirty apes.

I get it. Good one.

That's from that movie with Marky Mark, right?

[JCoz]

Holy shit, they really did it.

Damn, dirty apes.

Solid. I didn't even see that.

[tired]

The problem is the week before the game is a build up of the game. You got mirror lake, senior day etc. It mentally and physically drains everyone. The simplest solution is to pair PSU & Neb and OSU & UM and Wisky & Iowa all on the same day with different times for the last game. Only thing is the big ten will have to allow a night game.

[Loo]

This is why I need to think before speaking...thanks for making me look like an ass/idiot Jimmy D. I didn't think they'd dare do this...just didn't think they had the balls.

If everything rumored actually unfolds as it appears it will, this is complete and total horseshit.

Looks like the college game--which everyone says is better than pro football because of the pageantry and tradition--is also being ruined because the people making the decisions are thinking with their wallets and not their damn heads. This is all for TV exposure and money.

Sure, the Big Ten wanted to add a team that would expand it's network footprint and bring in more revenue--that's fine, go get your paychecks Big Ten.

But don't belittle the greatest rivalry game in sports. Commish Jim--don't be that guy.

[noles1]

Saw Herbie and Robert Smith's view on this on College Football Live.

Robert went 0-2 against Michigan but would never want to de-value the game by playing twice a season. Herbie basically thinks the whole thing is preposterous. Brian Greise came on and basically gave a stale ass dissenting opinion that literally made no sense regarding the Rose Bowl, etc. Then they threw ole Lou up there and he disagreed with the idea, as well. Then again ole Lou thought that Texas-OU played at the end of the year... he's not exactly all there.

Anyway, found it interesting how basically every OSU player over the years has stated being against it and the Michigan players seem indifferent. Still can't believe Gee and Smith have came out publicly like they have. Gee is a greed-driven, nerdy prick so I guess I should expect it.

Still praying common sense prevails...

[furls]

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/8153883/21627589

Hitler fucking gets it in this one. If you are one of those politically correct folks don't click on it and spare me the "insensitive to the holocaust BS" and learn to take a joke. This has nothing to do with the Holocaust.

(Please understand that this thing is supposed to be a joke, spare me the political BS)

[FUDU]

Brian Greise came on and basically gave a stale ass dissenting opinion that literally made no sense regarding the Rose Bowl, etc.

Sounds about right considering Brian Griese was probably the most irrelevant player to ever take part in THE Rivalry.

Brian Griese is the Al Gore of quarterbacks.

[Loo]

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/8153883/21627589

Hitler fucking gets it in this one. If you are one of those politically correct folks don't click on it and spare me the "insensitive to the holocaust BS" and learn to take a joke. This has nothing to do with the Holocaust.

(Please understand that this thing is supposed to be a joke, spare me the political BS)

Being completely serious--what's funny about that video is there ARE people in Ohio and Michigan who will be that upset over it.

This is almost unfathomable even though it's apparently evident.

[jb]

Anyway, found it interesting how basically every OSU player over the years has stated being against it and the Michigan players seem indifferent. Still can't believe Gee and Smith have came out publicly like they have. Gee is a greed-driven, nerdy prick so I guess I should expect it.

I do think The Game is far more emo for Buck fan than UM fan. The Game relly heated up becasue of Wody, and then went thermonucular when his apt pupil returned the heat. I've seen far, far more examples of Buckeyefan drooling blood and UM fan being up for it, but not psycho. I think part of it is the MSU rivalry and part of it reflects the student body and alumni base. Michigan has always been a premier academic institution, whereas tOSU really only picked it up in the past 15 years or so with all the great work they've done there. In some ways, blue collar vs blue blood.

[JCoz]

Anyway, found it interesting how basically every OSU player over the years has stated being against it and the Michigan players seem indifferent. Still can't believe Gee and Smith have came out publicly like they have. Gee is a greed-driven, nerdy prick so I guess I should expect it.

I do think The Game is far more emo for Buck fan than UM fan. The Game relly heated up becasue of Wody, and then went thermonucular when his apt pupil returned the heat. I've seen far, far more examples of Buckeyefan drooling blood and UM fan being up for it, but not psycho. I think part of it is the MSU rivalry and part of it reflects the student body and alumni base. Michigan has always been a premier academic institution, whereas tOSU really only picked it up in the past 15 years or so with all the great work they've done there. In some ways, blue collar vs blue blood.

Good take.

Alot of this HAS been, IMO, a battle which has as much to do with social class perception as anything else, and I do actually agree that it is not quite the same for UMers as it is for buckeyes.

That said, if Michigan was "up" right now their feeling on the matter, both at the school and in the community, would be different IMO.

[noles1]

I've always felt that scUM has been a bitch about "the rivalry". When it's convenient for them (ie a better team or winning) they tout how they own OSU. Then the 2nd they get pushed around, they back into the "you're not our rivals" shit.

Then they turn around and do the OSU special like they did on HBO...

Uppity pricks need to make their mind up.

Only saving grace I have is that DickRod has went sooo poorly they are going to bring back a Michigan man who will promote the rivalry and (ala) Bo, bring back the respectful hatred.

[danwismar]

Doug at the PD is saying there's supposed to be an announcement tonight (on Big Ten Network?) on the conference realignment. 7 p.m.?

He expects OSU and Michigan to be placed in different divisions. He's hearing it will be:

OSU, Wisconsin and Penn State in one division and...

Michigan, Iowa and Nebraska in the other.

That would be in keeping with what we've been hearing that the so-called Big Four (OSU, Nebraska, PSU and Michigan) would be split up 2 and 2, and that the Next Two, Iowa and Wisconsin, would be split up as well.

I've been hearing some reports that they will keep "The Game" in Week 12, but based on what JT and others have been saying in recent days, I'm not getting my hopes up.

[JCoz]

I've been hearing some reports that they will keep "The Game" in Week 12, but based on what JT and others have been saying in recent days, I'm not getting my hopes up.

I am hearing the same, and feeling the same.

If that is the case, as long as all bigten games count towards winning your division, then at least a portion of this iceberg is now out of the way. I may even put my pitchfork away. Still won't be happy about it, but I would no longer be enraged.

[peeker643]

AdamJardyBSB RT @freepwolverines: RT @deryNBA: Doug Karsch at 97.1 The Ticket confirms UM and OSU in different divisions but will play final weekend.

FWIW

[Ziner]

Praise the lord

[danwismar]

I've been hearing some reports that they will keep "The Game" in Week 12, but based on what JT and others have been saying in recent days, I'm not getting my hopes up.

I am hearing the same, and feeling the same.

If that is the case, as long as all bigten games count towards winning your division, then at least a portion of this iceberg is now out of the way. I may even put my pitchfork away. Still won't be happy about it, but I would no longer be enraged.

Keep the pitchfork, Coz....just put away the red font color.

2011 and 2012 schedules to be announced tonight as well, BTW

[JCoz]

I've been hearing some reports that they will keep "The Game" in Week 12, but based on what JT and others have been saying in recent days, I'm not getting my hopes up.

I am hearing the same, and feeling the same.

If that is the case, as long as all bigten games count towards winning your division, then at least a portion of this iceberg is now out of the way. I may even put my pitchfork away. Still won't be happy about it, but I would no longer be enraged.

Keep the pitchfork, Coz....just put away the red font color.

LOL. Will do wiz.

[danwismar]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5519832

ESPN has full divisional breakdown:

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that the two divisions in the Big Ten will look like:

• Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota.

• And Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois.

Turns out to be pretty much a straight East/West geographical division...except for Michigan and Wisconsin switching their spots

[JCoz]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5519832

ESPN has full divisional breakdown:

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that the two divisions in the Big Ten will look like:

• Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota.

• And Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois.

Not surprising, this has been pretty much the rumors since the news broke that OSU/UM and Iowa/Wisc split.

At this point I really want to see the gritty details and a date for The game.

Good news is that they get to re-think the whole thing in 4 years.

On a side note, not gonna lie, I would have really liked to get away from Wisconsin. For some reason I can't stand them. I don't have a whole lotta love for PSU either, but I like the rivalry. Can't say the same for the badgers.

[fairvis]

As long as they keep The Game the last game of the season, I can deal with a lot of other crap. These divisional alignments also favor further expansion- like taking Pitt, Rutgers or Maryland and putting them with Ohio State/Penn State and taking Notre Dame/Mizzou/etc and putting them with Michigan.

If it's a 9 game conference schedule, we're talking about 2 protected rivalries. In this setup, I would think you'd have these protected cross-divisional rivals...

Ohio State - Michigan, Nebraska
Penn State - Michigan State, Nebraska
Wisconsin - Minnesota, Iowa
Purdue - Northwestern, Michigan
Indiana - Michigan State, Iowa
Illinois - Northwestern, Minnesota

It gives the Big 10 the marquee matchups that people want to see every year- Ohio State/Michigan, Ohio State/Nebraska, Michigan/Nebraska, Penn State/Nebraska. That's their money play.

[motherscratcher]

^^^Why do we need 2 protected rivalries?

Give me Michigan the last game of the season. Beyond that, who gives a shit?

[danwismar]

Putting the best face on the situation, someone tweeted earlier today that:

"it's OK, Michigan and Ohio State haven't been in the same league for years"

[swerb]

It's official - different divisions, but will play the final week of the season.

Would have rather seen them in the same division, with Michigan State, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Indiana .. but I can live with it.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/n ... -divisions

[motherscratcher]

It's official - different divisions, but will play the final week of the season.

Would have rather seen them in the same division, with Michigan State, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Indiana .. but I can live with it.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/n ... -divisions

Did you read the comments after that article? It makes me sad. So many people are so dumb. It's mind blowing the amount of stupidity.

Kind of makes me appreciate peanut butter man and GTATT.

[furls]

I like the final result. i think it was about as good as you were going to get. There was no perfect outcome. The B10 obviously learned from the Big XII's mistakes in structure. The priorities were obvious and correct, create a split that maintains parity between the divisions and preserves rivalries and traditions. If you can split the divisions equally, the odds of an OSU scUM rematch go down considerably and should OSU and scUM end up in the championship game, well then they should replay. How many times did you watch the defacto B XII championship game get played in October only to watch some farce game containing the 4th best team in the conference (at best) playing against the winner of the RR shootout.

I think they got the parity pretty much right, but I think the West is tougher. The East really needs Purdue to be worth a shit and Penn St. to stay strong post Joe Pa in order maintain the balance.

I really like how they set up PSU and Nebraska as a protected rivalry, hopefully it is on the last week of the season to.

[danwismar]

I like the final result. i think it was about as good as you were going to get. There was no perfect outcome.

This is me.

They listened. A few thousand emails paid off in the end.

[fairvis]

I like the final result. i think it was about as good as you were going to get. There was no perfect outcome.

This is me.

They listened. A few thousand emails paid off in the end.

I would've swapped Penn State and Purdue for Michigan and Michigan State... then changed cross-divisional rivals from their current form to:

Ohio State (Michigan) - Penn State (Nebraska)
Michigan (Ohio State) - Nebraska (Penn State)
Michigan State (Indiana) - Iowa (Purdue)
Indiana (Michigan State) - Purdue (Iowa)

Would've done it differently, but I understand the alignment as it is. Wisconsin got seriously boned, though- losing the rivalry with Iowa, and no protection with Northwestern. I do think that the Ohio State - Wisconsin rivalry will get really, really bitter ASAP (not like it isn't already).

Ranking the Bucks division games in fan interest: 1. Penn State 2. Wisconsin 3. Illinois (there is the Illibuck, after all) 4. Purdue (Purcan't, Purwon't, Purshouldn't) 5. Indiana (Ohio Stadium West)

So really, as a Buckeye fan, you have 2 division games you care about, and 3 that you should win. The crossovers the years we don't have Iowa or Nebraska would be light schedules, enough to get to 5-2 going into the Michigan game for a shot at the Big Ten title game.

Who wants to bet that they'll name the divisions the "Bo" and "Woody" divisions? Delany specifically said that they'll be willing to name the divisions after coaches. I don't want to play in the Paterno division, though.

[JCoz]

I really like how they set up PSU and Nebraska as a protected rivalry, hopefully it is on the last week of the season to.

Flip side of that is that you are then exponentially increasing the chances of a rematch for the B10 crown.

I can understand why they considered moving the date when they decided on the division split.

Now potentially you would have OSU/UM and NEB/PSU final game, and your chances I think of an OSU/UM or NEB/PSU Championship game go up on both accounts.

[furls]

Sounds like an interesting math problem for me, the kind that I like. I will have to make some assumptions and try to come up with something. It is a good question, but here is the counter argument, if those two teams can play each other and one of them can absorb the loss and still make the championship, then they should probably play again since they will be the best teams.

[jb]

If and when UM gets over its Bump Elliott II years and contende, I love the fact they ar ein different divisions. They could easily still meet in a Big 10 championship as a rematch. I actualy like this.

BTW - Apparently, no university chratogrophy department was in ivolved in creating "east" and "west".

[Ziner]

Doesnt really need its own thread, just some humor for you Buckeye fans