College Football Post-Season

With more talk about the Power 5 and the College Football Playoffs, I wanted to add my opinion on helping decide the "Final 4." I think conferences should actually go away from divisions. Just go back to how it used to be and at the end of the 8 or 9 game conference schedule, the top 2 teams play for the Conference Championship. If it's a repeat game, so be it.

For example, this year, OSU and MSU were clearly the two best teams in the conference. But instead, Wisconsin was the team from the West Division that qualified for the Title game. It was a blow out.

In the SEC, Alabama and Missouri played for the Title. In both conferences, the winner was going to automatically be in the Final 4 and deservedly so...but that's assuming OSU and Alabama win. What if Wisconsin and/or Missouri would have won? Disaster. If Missouri or Wisconsin would have won, would either team have been in the Final 4? No way. In that case, a team from those conferences (MSU or Miss St.) could have been selected for the Final 4...and neither would have played in a Conference Title game.

Shouldn't a championship game be the top 2 teams? Having divisions does not ever guarantee a balanced conference. So why do something so flawed? The B1G East and the SEC West were top heavy. Eliminating divisions allows more flexibility to send the top 2 teams.

If you want disaster, then allow a weaker division to send it's #1 team to the Title game to screw things up.

Football Thoughts

College:
 -The Buckeyes winning the national title should have been impossible. I couldn't really root for them, but you have to appreciate what it took to pull off such an improbable season.

-If the story of Cardale Jones was unfolding on a movie screen instead of real life I'd probably walk out of the theater. It's completely ridiculous.

-Does the B1G benefit from OSU's win? I think you have to say yes. The conventional wisdom was a team from the Big Ten couldn't compete at the highest level. MSU started to prove that wrong last year, followed it up again this year, and OSU blew it up completely. I think some, maybe most, of the Power 5 might be better from top to bottom but at least the B1G isn't a laughingstock now.

-I do feel a little bad for Mariota.

-I wasn't a huge fan of the idea of a playoff, but I have to admit it did deliver.

NFL:
-I'm having a hard time maintaining interest in the NFL playoffs. I can't bring myself to root for any of the remaining teams. The only player I like is Russell Wilson, but I can't stand Richard Sherman, so the Seahawks are out.

-Does any quarterback who hasn't won a Super Bowl get more of the benefit of the doubt than Neckbeard? I get that the guy is good, but some of the commentary gets a little ridiculous.

-As the season winds down I was reflecting that I'm going to miss NFL commentary once it ends. Favorite analysts: Trent Dilfer, Mark Schlereth, Brian Billick.

New Divisions

The Big Ten announced new divisions today. As suspected, they ditched the Legends and Leaders designations and went with a geographical alignment:

East: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers

West: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin

Thoughts? 

Realignment

In the Detroit News Bob Wojnowski had an article yesterday about Big Ten realignment following the addition of Maryland and Rutgers. As the conference has said geography will play a major factor in determining the alignment, here are Wojo's proposed divisions:

East: Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland
West: Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern

If you're feeling a little fuzzy on the geography, yes, both Indiana schools are to the west of MSU. Not that it necessarily matters, but it's probably worth noting. Here are the current divisions if, like me, you can't keep them straight:

Legends: Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State  
Leaders: Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois

A few thoughts:

-Is there a legitimate need to have UM and OSU separated?
-Will teams in the hypothetical East have a recruiting advantage due to increased exposure?
-How much do you worry about competitive balance, if at all?
-Will they keep the names Legends and Leaders?
-Will there be 16 teams by the time the moves are made?

!

I'm no Badger fan, but I love the way Wisconsin finished the first half of the Big Ten Championship Game. Too many teams, the Spartans definitely included, get a lead then sit back and play it safe, hoping they don't make a mistake that loses the game. Wisconsin had a chance to rip Nebraska's collective heart out, and they took it. Bravo.

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This one is for the football pundits who are (reasonably) trashing the Big Ten and (unreasonably) talking up Northwestern: Do you honestly believe the Wildcats are going to be in the B10 Championship Game come November? Or is pointing out the B10's inadequacies so easy that you just have to tack on some really stupid comment?

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Just how bad is the Big Ten? I'm actually in agreement with the polls, there's not a Big Ten team that deserves to be in the top 15. And the teams that are usually bad (Indiana, Purdue, etc) look to be really awful. I'm as tired of the talk about SEC dominance as anyone, but we might as well just give Alabama the national title and call off the rest of the season.

Another Poll Comment

Want another example of the poll insanity I mentioned below? As you know, MSU plays Wisconsin tonight for the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis. In the BCS the Spartans and Badgers are ranked #13 and #15, in the AP #11 and #15, and in the USA Today poll #9 and #12. The Badgers are favored by 9 points. Note once again that the game is being played on a neutral field, not in Madison or East Lansing. Regardless of the outcome on the field, either the polls or the line are completely screwed up.

As for the game itself, commenter "billinwilliamston" on the Yahoo preview of the game posted this notable stat:

A little history for those predicting a blow-out.

2011 MSU 37 UW 31 @ East Lansing
2010 MSU 34 UW 24 @ East Lansing
2009 UW 38 MSU 30 @ Madison
2008 MSU 25 UW 24 @ East Lansing
2007 UW 37 MSU 34 @ Madison

I suspect the Big Ten hopes this game remains true to form.

RE: Twisted

This got too long for a comment, so it's a post instead. I think I realized this issue before, but now that I'm staring it in the face I'm really appreciating it. As you said, MSU and Wisconsin seem to clearly be the best teams in the conference (though not necessarily by a lot), and one of them is going to be penalized while a team that didn't defeat either of them is going to benefit. It doesn't seem fair, but I don't think the problem is so much the BCS as the "logic" that the polls use. Those voting in the polls vote certain ways because that's the way it is done, not because they actually think a team is better. Does anyone think Michigan is a better team if MSU loses to Wisconsin? How about South Carolina? Baylor? Did Florida State get better because Notre Dame lost to Stanford? And so on. I'm sure this won't change, so there probably isn't a good answer. As I heard on Mike & Mike last week, whatever you do, don't lose late.

Twisted

I think it is unfair that the loser of the Big Ten Championship game will be penalized in the BCS rankings if they lose. The idea that a MSU/Wisconsin team will have 3 losses and a 2-loss Michigan team will jump ahead is not right. It's not right because only two teams are playing (risking a loss) and someone has to lose. It almost rewards a team for not being in a conference title game. Wisconsin and MSU are the two best teams in the Big Ten. Just because one of them loses on Saturday doesn't necessarily mean Michigan is now "better" than them because of the loss column...except in the Alabama-Georgia scenario. Georgia isn't the second best team in the SEC. But it's not Georgia's fault the way the division is set up.

Legendary

Congratulations to Michigan State Spartans, especially the record-breaking seniors, on winning the Big Ten Legends Division. And, of course, the Old Brass Spittoon.

So, think I should get tickets to the Championship Game?

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Should the Big Ten just go ahead and award Wisconsin the championship now?

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Just how happy are Michigan fans that Jim Tressel has resigned? The sweater vest was 106-22 overall at OSU and 9-1 against the Wolverines. He beat MSU a few times as well.

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So, I take it the Big Ten's announcement about names, divisions, logos, trophies, etc didn't go over well? Honestly, since they decided geography was just too obvious a way to break up the divisions, I don't know how they could have done better. Speaking as someone who is not a fan of Michigan or Ohio State, calling the divisions "Schembechler" and "Hayes" would have been unacceptably offensive to at least 10 of the 12 teams. Maybe "Lakes" and "Plains" would work, but since they threw geography out the window that's tough.

Also, if they paid a bunch of money for that logo, they didn't get their money's worth.

Legends and Leaders

I could write a lot about the Big Ten's new logos and division names, but I think a picture will cover much of it:


I guess the names are okay, and at least they're not offensive to fans of any particular team. The logos are fine if not very impressive. I'm a little surprised they didn't change the name though. I'm probably as big a fan of tradition as anyone, but I can't see it as anything but ridiculous that a 12-team league will be calling itself the Big Ten while a 10-team league will (presumably) be calling itself the Big 12.

!

Penn State just threw their first TD pass in Columbus under Joe Paterno. That is just crazy.

Divided

I think I was right that the Big Ten was going to screw up the divisions. Here they are, as announced yesterday:

Division 1
MSU
UM
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern

Division 2
Illinois
Indiana
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Wisconsin

UPDATE: My first impression of this was negative, and after dwelling on it all it's still negative. Swap MSU and UM with Wisconsin and Illinois and you have two perfect divisions. As it stands now, both Michigan teams are at least 300 miles away from every other team in the division. And I hate that MSU is in a division with Nebraska. Hate it. At least MSU plays OSU and Wisconsin in 2011 and 2012, so they're maintaining some games I really like to see. But no Penn State. This could have been much better.

Same Division, Final Game

It doesn't happen often, but I'm almost completely in agreement with Lynn Henning. I write "almost" because I'm not near as certain as Henning (...Michigan is sure to return soon enough to its old glory...)
that it is a foregone conclusion that Michigan will return to form.

Rivalry Weekends?

I didn't actually have many worries about the Big (12) Ten's upcoming divisional split and schedule adjustments. Sure, it was going to be complicated and some things were going to be lost, but I figured the conference would get it mostly right. But after the talk over the past week, like these comments by Michigan AD Dave Brandon, I am concerned. It's starting to feel like 50/50 that they won't completely screw up. And that's a bad place to be.

One additional thought for UM: Before you permanently set the divisions to protect your title game with OSU, maybe you should, you know, win a few games? As they say in the financial ads, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns.

Big (12) Ten Championship Game Site

Angelique S. Chengelis has a short article in the News discussing venues, Ford Field specifically, that could host the eventual conference championship game. Despite the obvious drawback of being in Detroit, I think Ford Field has proven to be a viable location of major events, but I had a few other thoughts:

-Chengelis thinks it's a no-brainer that the game should be played indoors given that it would be the first week in December. I'm not so sure. I wouldn't want it to always be played at Soldier or Lambeau, but what better way to live up to the conference's reputation for toughness and smash mouth football than playing in freezing temperatures? Show those hothouse flower teams down South how it's done.

-Rotating the game between a few different locations makes sense once you've determined the locations. I don't think I'd want the game to be tied to any particular stadium, even Ford Field.

-The Metrodome shouldn't be an option because the Metrodome sucks. It's not as bad for football, but still... it sucks.

-I'd rather the game not be played on a college field.