Big 10 Divisions Good Not Perfect
The Big Ten will officially announce its divisional setupIn the revamped 12 team conference later today. However, the alignment has been leaked and both Michigan and Michigan State fans should be pretty pleased.
One division has Michigan,Michigan State,Iowa,Northwestern,Minnesota, and Nebraska. The other will have Ohio State,Penn State,Wisconsin,Purdue,Indiana,and Illinois.
Reportedly these divisions will be for both football and basketball. If you go by how good the teams are now, it appears the division with Michigan and Michigan State is the weaker of the two, especially for basketball. In football one could argue that only Nebraska and Iowa are top 20 caliber,while Ohio State,Wisconsin, and maybe Penn State are that in the other conference. In basketball only Michigan State is real good currently, while Ohio State,Wisconsin, and Purdue are very good from the other division.
Historically the divisions are pretty even in football. Michigan and Nebraska are historic programs as are Ohio State and Penn State in the other division. In basketball when you consider Indiana,Ohio State, and Purdue you would have to say history makes that division better, with the Spartans the only legendary program there.
The other big news is that Michigan and Ohio State will still play the last game of the season in a yearly crossover battle.That means we could see them play in back to back games if they do happen to win their respective divisions.
The solution to that is simple. Keep the game the where it was,the last Saturday before Thanksgiving and then take a week off before the Big Ten Championship game.
All in all I think they did a decent job. It is not a masterpiece, but it's certainly not a piece of garbage either.
