Big Ten To Realign As East-West, Will Scrap Legends And Leaders

[TheImmortalGoud]

http://www.fbschedules.com/2013/04/report-big-ten-to-realign-as-east-west-will-scrap-legends-and-leaders/

The Big Ten will realign their divisions as East and West and will scrap the Legends and Leaders names beginning with the 2014 season, ESPN has reported.

The divisions will be geographically split and will look very different than their current setup. Michigan and Michigan State will be together in the East, and they will be joined by Indiana, Ohio State, and Penn State. Also joining the East are newcomers Maryland from the ACC and Rutgers from the Big East.

The West Division is highlighted by Nebraska and Wisconsin and looks to be the weaker of the two divisions. Here is a look at the rumored lineups for both the East and West:

East Division

Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and Rutgers

West Division

Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin

The new alignment places virtually all traditional rivalries in the same division. The lone exception is Indiana-Purdue, and that will be a protected cross-division rivalry according to ESPN.

The Big Ten is expected to formally announce the new division lineup as early as next week, and at that time they will also approve the move to a nine-game conference football schedule in 2016.

“We like to play each other, and those are not hollow words,” Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in February. “We are getting larger and want to bind the conference together.”

A 10-game conference schedule was also under consideration, but likely didn’t gain support because it wouldn’t guarantee teams would be able to schedule seven home games each season.

Delaying the nine-game schedule is a necessity due to the fact that most teams have full or nearly full non-conference schedules through 2015. A switch to nine-games in 2014 would cost schools a lot of money in contract buyouts.

Also under consideration by the Big Ten is the end of scheduling FCS opponents. Although nothing official has been announced, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez said in February that the conference will discontinue games against those teams.

“The nonconference schedule in our league is ridiculous,” Alvarez said. “It’s not very appealing.” Alvarez went on to say that Big Ten officials have “…made an agreement that our future games will all be Division I schools. It will not be FCS schools.”

Currently, Big Ten schools have 24 games scheduled against FCS teams from 2014 into the future.

 

[Goober]

West division is ridiculously easy. I hope Wisconsin's protected rival in the East is Ohio State.

 

[NAHSTE]

Great move. Michigan and Ohio State should have been in the same division the whole time.

Glad they have un-done the worst divisional alignment this sport has seen since the ACC expanded.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

How it should have been done all along.

 

[Woy]

The west division is an absolute joke, lol.

 

[Goober]

The west division is an absolute joke, lol.

This is what happens when the conference only has five good programs.

 

[JimLeavy59]

Penn State being placed in the East should count as punishment.

 

[krulmichael]

:rofl: at that west division.

 

[Argath]

Doesn't look like Maryland will be winning any conference games in the near future

 

[NAHSTE]

Doesn't look like Maryland will be winning any conference games in the near future

Which is such a departure from their ACC tenure.

Wait, no it's not.

 

[Senser81]

I think they should do away with the tepid "East-West" divisional names, and instead go with the "Rust Belt" (East) and "Grain Belt" (West) divisions.

 

[FirstTimer]

I think they should do away with the tepid "East-West" divisional names, and instead go with the "Rust Belt" (East) and "Grain Belt" (West) divisions.

 

[Senser81]

Big fan of Grain Belt. I think its brewed in St. Paul?

 

[JeremyHight]

I'm much more stoked that Big Ten will be making it a 9 game conference schedule... less games for us to lose OOC. :shifty:

 

[NAHSTE]

I'm much more stoked that Big Ten will be making it a 9 game conference schedule... less games for us to lose OOC. :shifty:

I think this should be mandatory at this point in the two-division set up. SEC can't go to 9 games soon enough. A lot of discrepancies with teams playing vastly different schedules otherwise.

 

[JeremyHight]

I think this should be mandatory at this point in the two-division set up. SEC can't go to 9 games soon enough. A lot of discrepancies with teams playing vastly different schedules otherwise.

It amazes me how some East teams have the most laughable in conference schedule while others get like @Bama and @LSU on consecutive weeks. Plus, it was very odd how like 6 teams got byes before facing Bama.

 

[NAHSTE]

It amazes me how some East teams have the most laughable in conference schedule while others get like @Bama and @LSU on consecutive weeks. Plus, it was very odd how like 6 teams got byes before facing Bama.

This was addressed the next season after the Gumps complained. Bama playing Tennessee and Kentucky while LSU plays Florida and Georgia -- a year after Bama played Mizzou/Tennessee while LSU played South Carolina/Florida -- on the other hand, the league is in less of a hurry to fix.

Meet Mark Womack, a graduate of Tuscaloosa High and University of Alabama, a longtime employee for the University of Alabama, and your current chief coordinator of scheduling for the SEC:

(I realize this could be its own thread, sorry to derail, been a bit of a hot button issue in LSU circles, LOL)

 

[FirstTimer]

Big fan of Grain Belt. I think its brewed in St. Paul?

Used to be. I think it's brewed someplace else in Minny now.

 

[Senser81]

(I realize this could be its own thread, sorry to derail, been a bit of a hot button issue in LSU circles, LOL)

I guess LSU people need something to talk about now that Jarrett Lee is no longer the QB.