Posts tagged Big Ten
It's Not Crazy, It's Sports
Big Ten Announces 2014 Conference Football Schedule
The Big Ten office announced the conference schedule for the 2014 football season on Thursday, as approved by the Big Ten directors of athletics. The 2014 schedule will consist of eight games for each of the Big Ten’s 14 teams, feature a new division alignment, include the conference debut of Maryland and Rutgers and culminate with the fourth-annual Big Ten Football Championship Game.
2014 MICHIGAN STATE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Aug. 30: JACKSONVILLE STATE
Sept. 13: at Oregon
Sept. 20: WYOMING
Sept. 27: EASTERN MICHIGAN
Oct. 4 : NEBRASKA
Oct. 11: at Purdue
Oct. 18: at Indiana
Oct. 25: MICHIGAN
Nov. 8: OHIO STATE
Nov. 15: at Maryland
Nov. 22: RUTGERS
Nov. 29: at Penn State
B1G/ACC Challenge matchups announced
These days, college basketball has a flurry of early season events; it’s not just Maui anymore. There are aircraft carriers and U.S. Army bases and the Champions Classic and the ESPN Tip-Off Marathon and the Battle 4 Atlantis and whatever else Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis dreams up next. Much of this did not exist even five years ago. In 1999, when the Big Ten/ACC Challenge was born, much of it would have been laughable.
Tuesday, Dec. 3
Florida State at Minnesota
Illinois at Georgia Tech
Indiana at Syracuse
Michigan at Duke
Notre Dame at Iowa
Penn State at Pittsburgh
Wednesday, Dec. 4
Boston College at Purdue
Maryland at Ohio State
Miami, FL at Nebraska
North Carolina at Michigan State
Northwestern at North Carolina State
Wisconsin at Virginia
The Competitive Balance (or lack of) Between the New Big Ten Divisions
The Big Ten announced new football divisions starting in the 2014-2015 season, or when Maryland and Rutgers arrive, opting to go the geographical route this time (here is a map version of the divisions)
The divisions look like this:
B1G West
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Nortwestern
- Purdue
- Wisconsin
B1G East
- Indiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Michigan State
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Rutgers
On the surface, it looks as though the divisions have a huge imbalance competitively, with traditional powers Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State all in the East, and Nebraska in the West. However, if you take a closer look, it’s actually quite balanced.
Last year for Penn State will be the exception, not the rule. Once the scholarship reduction hits the Nittany Lions, they will struggle. Maryland and Rutgers are middle-tier programs, and Indiana is, well, Indiana. Ohio State is certainly going to be a contender for years to come, but I’m not convinced Michigan has “arrived” yet. One joke of a Sugar Bowl bid doesn’t mean you’re the class of the B1G. And Michigan State’s offensive struggles have been well documented.
In the West you have three-time defending B1G champion in Wisconsin, last year’s Legends Division winner (and traditional power) Nebraska, and Northwestern who had 10 wins last season. Yes, Iowa, Purdue, Illinois and Minnesota have all struggled, however all of those programs except Minnesota have been to BCS bowls, and only Purdue hasn’t been in one since 2008 (the 2001 Rose Bowl). Minnesota is on the rise, so is Illinois (mostly because they have nowhere to go but up), and Iowa has shown a tendency to bounce back under Kirk Ferentz. Purdue is optimistic with a new coach, so it is safe to say that as a whole, the West is much more even and will be exciting to watch in the future.
While the B1G East will get more attention because of the names that are in it, the B1G West shouldn’t be ignored. If there is anything we learned last season in Big Ten football, it’s that anything can happen. That’s the beauty of college football, and college sports in general.
After a convo I have been having on Twitter, I was about to write an extremely similar post to this one. Good thing Tyler did the work for me.
Predicting MSU Football's 2013 Big Ten Outlook
Alright, time to man up and take responsibility for last year’s predictions. Last year, I predicted that Michigan State would make a strong run for the Rose Bowl. At first glance, I was dead wrong—Michigan State went 7-6 in one of the more disappointing seasons for Spartan fans in recent memory. But how close were they to actually reaching their Rose Bowl aspirations?
The truth is that they were a lot closer than their record indicates. In fact, they were four points or less away from winning five games, and they beat the conference champions, Wisconsin, in their own stadium.
Hey Joe: What the new Big Ten means for Michigan State
Delany just did a heck of a job of illustrating the imbalance that has been created. The truth, of course, is that Ohio State and U-M are both No. 1 seeds. And that Penn State is a No. 2. And that there isn’t a No. 1 on the other side. And that goes far beyond recent performance or current situation (such as the probation that should weaken Penn State in the near future).
Breaking news: Big Ten will replace Legends and Leaders names with East and West.
Can the Big Ten Sweep the Final Four?
(via straight-from-the-mitten)
Michigan State - 2013 NCAA Tournament Hype Video
New Big Ten Football Divisions
The divisions have yet to be named, but they would look like this:
“WEST”
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Indiana or Purdue
“EAST”
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Rutgers
Indiana or Purdue
My friend Kara shared this link with me. However, I have no idea how accurate this is because I haven’t seen anything on BTN, ESPN or even on Big Ten Conference website. But…
When I first posted about the different realignment options from BTN.com, this was the one I liked the most.
What do you all think?
Maybe you shouldn’t be skipping school of you don’t even know how to spell “school” to begin with. I know he’s a kid, but… I’m so mean.
