This round of Big Ten expansion is over

The Big Ten sent out word this afternoon that its active search for new conference members is over, but did leave the door slightly ajar for possible future expansion.

"During today’s meeting it was decided that it was appropriate to focus completely on conference affairs at this time. “We have been thoroughly engaged in the process since last December,” said COP/C Chair and Indiana University President Michael McRobbie. “Following detailed discussions at today’s meeting, my colleagues and I can report that we believe that this process has reached its natural conclusion. We are pleased with the addition of Nebraska and look forward to working with our colleagues there in the years ahead.”

LBU Reaction to Big Ten Divisions

Those who are about to become
Penn State's biggest rivals, salute you!

It's been a crazy 24 hours, but a fun 24 hours. Big Ten Divisions are here, and we have something to say about it...

Penn State-Nebraska annual rivalry likely guaranteed

On the Big Ten divisions announcement special on the BTN tonight, it was announced that Penn State and Nebraska will be a protected annual protected inter-divisional rivalry game.

This significantly boosts Penn State's annual strength of schedule, and is a fantastic, though somewhat expected development. I haven't heard anything about the Penn State/Michigan State rivalry, but will update this post when I do.

The divisions are as prognosticated throughout the day...

(NOT the official names)
Div 1: Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin
Div 2: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Nebraska

Commish Jim Delaney said this would only affect football, for obvious reasons. Basketball will be up to the athletic directors and stuff. Over the next few weeks, we'll hear names for these divisions, and new logos, etc.

Follow LBU on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Linebacker-U.com by Email

Big Ten Divisions Announcement Coming at 7 p.m.

Give Jim Delany and the Big Ten credit. The conference has managed to stay front and center in the news cycle for nine straight months, and will continue to be there until Nebraska plays its first Big Ten conference game.

Big Ten Divisions: Nine Games Good; Divisional Split Bad

It was expected for a while that the Big Ten would adopt a nine-game conference schedule. Today, we found out that nine games it will be--in 2015. Per Madison.com, from Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez:

University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez confirmed Wednesday that when a two-division format for football is unveiled by league officials next month, UW and Iowa will be separated... [Alvarez] also said the Big Ten will adopt a nine-game schedule for football, but it won’t go into effect until 2015, allowing member schools to address previously contracted games.

It seems like Jim Delaney & Co. are really going with the whole "competitive balance" thing. Delaney also spoke with the Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein about the whole Michigan-Ohio State conundrum hissy-fit going on, and why it's a good idea to play The Game mid-season:

"If Duke and North Carolina were historically the two strongest programs and only one could play for the right to be in the NCAA tournament, would you want them playing in the season-ending game so one is in and one is out?" he asked. "Or would you want them to play and have it count in the standings and then they possibly could meet (again) for the right to be in the NCAA or the Rose Bowl?"

First off, how late did Delaney stay up thinking of that analogy? Second, don't go making fun of Michigan's recent record. North Carolina and Duke haven't always been elite every single year, but their rivalry game is still great to watch on TV--a few times per year. But back to Alvarez's conversation with Andy Baggot (Madison.com). The argument has boiled down to the "Big Four": Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska and Penn State. You can imagine why those four teams matter the most:

"Alvarez implied that it shouldn't be hard to figure out how the 12 schools will be arranged in the two divisions. He said there are four distinct tiers of teams, led by the four that have won national championships in the past 25 years: Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska and Penn State."

You have to admit, it does make some sense. I know the league doesn't want to do this half-assed, by splitting the just elite brand name teams, not going all-out to make the Big Ten as competitively balanced as humanly possible. But what has come next just makes me cringe. ESPN's Adam Rittenberg took a stab at what the divisions will look like next season, considering the Big Four split and separation of Wisconsin-Iowa.

Division 1
Michigan
Michigan State
Iowa
Nebraska
Illinois
Northwestern

Division 2
Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Purdue
Indiana

Just smash my head with a baseball bat while you're at it. These divisions suck so terribly, I'm not even sure I want to suggest my own, completely irrelevant divisional breakdown.

But then I think about what I told someone the other day: Even next season, there may in fact be five mandatory intra-divisional games against so "meh" Big Ten teams in terms of interest. But there are three other conference games that need filling. You don't think that Penn State-Michigan or Penn State-Nebraska wouldn't be a mega ratings monster every season, or at least on a few-years-on, few-years-off basis?

It's not much, but it's something to hold onto. At least Penn State doesn't have the kind of history with a rival in this league. In my view, Iowa-Wisconsin fans have more to bitch about right now than Michigan-Ohio State fans.

But no one cares what bloggers think.

Follow LBU on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Linebacker-U.com by Email

Big Ten Divisions: 'Mass Hysteria' cometh

At least, that's how Pete Venkman would describe it:



We won't get to far into the Michigan-Ohio State battle going on right now, but it does involve Penn State, as our buds at BSD pointed out earlier today. Michigan (especially Michigan) fans and media (particularly this one) are trying to foster the idea that no matter what, Michigan and Ohio State must absolutely positively stay in the same division... at all cost. Even if that means sending Penn State fans on an eight-hour car ride to its nearest divisional opponent in 2011.

"Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press is a crafty dude. Without saying the Big Ten divisions should split geographically minus Penn State, he still found a way to advocate sending the Lions west for all of their divisional games.

After splitting up what he called the four "traditional superpowers" into pairs of Nebraska/Penn State and Ohio State/Michigan, Rosenberg sells moving three western teams into the Nebraska/Penn State division... [snip]

What results are defacto east and west divisions with Penn State as the ugly ducking."

Rosenberg adds that Michigan State and Penn State are worthless rivals, and should be split up if it means Michigan and MSU can still play each year. Though, as BSD points out, that's kind of absurd considering that Ohio State and Penn State is easily the most important rivalry in the Big Ten at the moment; a rivalry that's directly decided the conference's automatic BCS berth (and the bragging rights to the actual conference title) more often than Ohio State vs. Michigan, or Michigan vs. Ohio State has in the last five years.

But here is where all the "mass hysteria" grew out of. MVictors.com posted a recap of a Michigan radio show, during which Michigan AD Dave Brandon seemed to inject some local anesthetic into the UM-OSU fan base, before the slicing and dicing begins. Greg (MV) summed it up for us:

"Translation? Bank on it. Ohio State will be in the other division, we’ll meet every year midway through the Big Ten schedule."

Naturally, every Michigan blog out there was on this, including Brian at MGoBlog, who settled on the same conclusion about "The Game" as Greg had in his original reporting of the radio broadcast:

"Not that this matters. Apparently it's done. Get ready for Michigan-Ohio State sometime in October, not even playing for a division or anything, because the "TV people" really want it. Do I need to remind you about Mark Shapiro?"

And just to point this out, if you didn't read Brian's whole post on the matter, he did mention who Michigan might end up facing in the finale each year, as Ohio State's replacement. Hmm... yup, Michigan State:

"Michigan's year-end opponent: Michigan State? Boy, that will fire up everyone on Rivalry Week: "It's Michigan! It's some team that's been within a game of .500 every year since SEC schools started recruiting black kids! On ABC!"

(It should be noted, though, that Michigan State (22-17, 3 bowls) has a better record the last three seasons than Michigan (17-20, 1 bowl), including going 2-1 against the Wolverines in that time)

Of course, the Ohio State side of it hasn't been as loud, but it's odd to see both fan bases agreeing on something. (Check out OurHonorDefend.com, one of the few blogs to comment on this whole thing.)

Now, I know you've been just biting your nails to know what I think about all this. So here's my take.

Penn State belongs with either Michigan or Ohio State in whatever division that works best. To be completely honest? I really don't give a crap if they threw Penn State's main rivals into another division, 1) as long as it wasn't that completely retarded alignment proposed by Rosenberg, forcing Penn State to play every real meaningful division game eight hours away from home, and 2) Ohio State is a contractually-obligated annual inter-divisional opponent, similar to how the Big Ten is set up right now, with certain teams playing every year no matter the rotation that year.

My ideal alignment would be a straight east-west split. There are just as many problems with that proposal as there are with any of the others. The main thing is that an east-west split will feel and look much better than anything else out there. Plus (as mentioned by the Michigan guys above) any rivalries that would be split up between divisions could still be played out each year, even if it means destroying "rivalry week" at the end of the season.

Follow LBU on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Linebacker-U.com by Email

Linkbacker-U could see Big Ten divisions by August

Let's talk Big Ten stuff today. Well, mostly.

You thought last year's Big Ten kickoff luncheon was good? Wait till this year, when the Big Ten staffers begin their proposals for the new divisional alignment of the conference in 2011. It's going to be a media circus no matter what happens, but if there's some--any--controversial proposals, watch the heads explode from Ann Arbor to Iowa City.

This is all, of course, following a report that the divisions talk will come quicker than we thought.

The Big Ten athletic directors received a memo this week from league commissioner Jim Delany, outlining the priorities and the process for determining divisions. Big Ten associate commissioner Mark Rudner and others are spearheading the project, and will present data to the athletic directors when they gather in Chicago for the Big Ten's media days and kickoff luncheon Aug. 2-3.

So that's the nuts and bolts of the story, but Adam Rittenberg asks the question I'm wondering, and you too are probably wondering: how will the Big Ten screw this one up? You know it's possible, especially with all the talk out there of "competitive balance" between the divisions. Unfortunately, some of the Big Ten AD's are already spouting that talking point.

"You have to look with a wide lens," [Purdue AD] Burke said. "You have to look over a 50-year period and look at who’s been consistent. If you take a snapshot of a five-year period or a 10-year period, you may miss it. Clearly, Michigan and Ohio State and Penn State and Nebraska, if you look at a 50-year history, are your four biggest brands. It doesn’t mean they win all the time, but they’re your biggest brands. I don’t think there’ll be any disagreement among all the Big Ten ADs about that. You’re not going to stack all four of them in one division. You’re going to try to create some level of parity."

What? No one, ever, has seriously suggested placing Nebraska in the same division as Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State. But I guess this is how you skew public perception, before the public even knows it has perception on the matter. I can't argue, though. I don't think the Big Ten would even entertain the notion of that kind of alignment. But I can totally see the ADs or presidents using this as ammo for keeping certain rivalries intact (Michigan-Ohio State, anyone?), while breaking up others. Ok, done with that crap for today.

Ok, not totally done with divisions crap. One of our newest friend/foe sites kind of tears apart the parity argument we just went over in the above section. So here's a little sanity out of Lincoln, of all places.

The numbers may not agree with [the competitive balance argument].

No question Ohio State has been the class of the Big Ten this past decade, posting a record of 102-25.

But the winning percentages of Wisconsin (66.7) and Iowa (64.0) the past 10 years stack up just fine with those of Michigan (65.3) and Penn State (62.6).

So if you align Nebraska, with a winning percentage of 65.6 this past decade, alongside Iowa and Wisconsin, recent numbers suggest that’d be a pretty even split among the conference’s power programs.

So chew on that for a while. Looking at it that way, the basic east-west divisional alignment should be a forgone conclusion, right? We can only be so lucky.

Huskers-Lions rivalry. Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota are some of the early suitors for an annual, highly-marketed rivalry game with Nebraska. But when it comes to Penn State, there's a bit of a lost-twin syndrome for Nebraska fans.

In fact, BRN publisher Jason Siffring and I both went to a Penn State game as neutral observers one time. We were both living relatively in the area and drove over to watch Drew Brees and Purdue come play in Beaver Stadium. It was my first PSU experience. At the time, I said to Jason..."Wow, this place is like Bizzaro Nebraska." Comic book references aside (yay for Superman!), it felt very much like going to a Nebraska game except everyone was in blue instead of red.

Considering that Nebraska fans are widely regarded as the most courteous, loyal, welcoming fans in all of sports, that's a serious comparison from Big Red. I would love to see an annual Penn State vs Nebraska inter-divisional game. It would completely crush any of the past ratings for Penn State vs Minnesota, Penn State vs Iowa, or even Penn State vs Wisconsin--all those teams would end up being in the west division, should that alignment happen. If there's an opportunity for five divisional games, and three inter-divisional games in the Big Ten season, Penn State vs Nebraska is a necessity.

Ok, we'll cut it off there for the day.

In Scores of Other Games...

BSD has a great look back at one of the legends of Penn State football, Dick Harlow. Check it out... Penn State basketball players are profiled by VBR, one at a time. It's probably more info on most of them than you ever expected would exist... Michigan comes in at No. 71 in TSN's countdown. Not sure the Wolves will be quite that bad, but whatever... Big Ten quarterback breakdowns come at us from the Rivalry, Esq... Another massive recruiting update from MGoBlog.

Extra Point...

Penn State wide receiver Tariq Tongue posted a video featuring the team's senior class of 2013. Recognized those photos of Stephon Morris and Shawney Kersey? Oh yeah, baby, those are mine!

Follow LBU on Facebook and Twitter Subscribe to Linebacker-U.com by Email

Linkbacker-U says 'Nice try, Buckeyes'

Maybe the World Cup ain't so bad. At least, not now that the U.S. is no longer part of the "well, at least you tried" group.

When Ohio State takes on Algeria on Nov. 13 in Columb--oh, wait, this isn't that kind of football? Well, it's still a lame idea. Ohio State fans have tried to rustle up support to flood the Horseshoe with vuvuzelas (Can we get this word officially in the spell check dictionary now? It's still coming up with a red squiggly line under it.) when Penn State comes to town this fall. I mean, hey, they must be serious, 'cause there's a Facebook page an errrvrything.

Turns out the playground monitors said no to the idea. And the Big Ten is sticking by it's rules: (HT: EDSBS)

A. Nonpermissible Items -- The arena management is responsible for enforcing the Big Ten policies in this regard. The following items may not be brought into the arena by patrons: Alcoholic beverages, bottles, cans, cups or containers, irritants (e.g., noisemakers) or strobe lights. In addition, the facility may have additional restrictions on items that can be brought into the arena.

Seriously, Buckeyes? No only did you completely rip off Penn State's Seven Nation Army cheer, but now you're ripping off the most impoverished continent on earth? Say it with me... nice!

'Atta Boy, Adam! There is only ONE Linebacker U. You know, Penn State fans aren't all that self-centered, particularly when it comes to knowing our place in the "[position] U" battles. The Nittany Lions (despite some actually decent claims to these monikers) will never be Quarterback U, or Tailback U, or anything other than Linebacker U. And we're okay with that, really. Penn State is the only program in college football where that kind of nickname is as big as the team itself.

But I guess when you're known for little more than a 10-10 tie game in 1966, it leaves some stretching for something... anything.

"Tom from Detroit writes: Hey Adam,Is it just me, or does the Big Ten have a contender for new Linebacker-U? ... Adam Rittenberg: Tom, I think we'd both agree that it takes more than a good three-year stretch of linebackers to earn a designation like Linebacker U... Penn State always will be known as Linebacker U., but Michigan State is certainly building its own legacy at the position.

Try beating Penn State anywhere outside East Lansing, more than four times the last 17 years, then we'll talk.

Big Ten-SEC football challenge? Nah. But who's fault is that really, Dave Curtis?

Do you ever see college football doing what college basketball does with nonconference challenges between leagues—for example, a Big Ten-SEC challenge in September, where each team plays?

Curtis: I've always loved this idea, but it's unfeasible. Big schools value home games way too much to sacrifice one every other year. Take, say, Penn State. The Nits always play at least seven home games, and sometimes (like last year) play eight. They don't need a big road win to help their BCS status—sweeping through the Big Ten and getting four road wins there would be plenty.

Penn State is no innocent victim in this scheduling war, but to pick the Nittany Lions out of the pack is a bit misleading in this instance. But as you saw in this Wizard of Odds post a few years back, the SEC is head-and-shoulders beyond any other conference in terms of avoiding travel for away football games. I mean, seriously, if the SEC were game to play an annual matchup with the Big Ten in, say, Washington, D.C., then I would give them credit due. But for now, no dice.

The Big 12 10 conference south and to the west of the Big Ten might be stabilized for now, but dont' think for a second their media isn't still thinking that it's only a matter of time before the other bomb drops in this conference realignment thing.

Let’s not kid ourselves about what saving the Big 12 was all about — what was best for Texas. Oklahoma has since postured, as has Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and others for the sake of their “pride.” But that’s all it was — posturing.

When it came down to it, if Texas said “jump,” just about everyone in the Big 12 was going to. In this case, they said “stay,” and the conference survives to see, well hopefully, at least another few years.

For us in the Big Ten, this expansion thing is on the back burner. But for the Big 12 remnants, this thing is still boiling over onto the floor.

Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom... The Big Ten media is in a rather different state right now. We no longer are inundated with cliffhanger articles about who will join and when. Nope. Now we get to enjoy the next 12 months of prognosticating which teams will end up in which divisions. Like about a million others the last few days, here's one that is kind of... not really... doesn't... oh well, just read.

The scheduling model that was used by the Big 12 - teams faced the same three interdivisional opponents in back-to-back seasons, once at home and once on the road - seems more palatable to me. It makes for fairer scheduling and results in a truer champion, but it means two-year breaks from the schedule for teams outside the division... If the Big Ten goes that way - and it pains me to say this - then those annual OSU-Penn State games probably have to be sacrificed... As good as the series has been in the 17 years the Nittany Lions have been in the league, this is relatively recent as rivalries go; the schools met only a handful of times before then... If something has to give, and lots of somethings probably will have to give before this process is finished, having Penn State on the scheduling rotation doesn't seem that serious, particularly when there's a chance the teams still could meet in the title game.

Tell all that to the World Wide Leader. If you think ESPN is going to allow the breakup of one of college football's best annual matchups, you're nuts. I know, I know. The Big Ten Network is gaining steam by the second, and has much more clout with the conference--and college football as a whole--than it did a few years ago. But the big bucks are still with ESPN, whether we like it or not.

And Russ Rose still won't smile. Penn State women's volleyball is arguably the greatest collegiate women's sports dynasty... ever. Seriously. So naturally, they took home some hardware at the Big Ten Network Awards Show this week. Our ladies won the Women's Team of the Year, and Rose won Women's Coach of the Year.

This has been--next to actually winning the last 100 NCAA titles--probably the best week for Penn State women's volleyball, with a bunch of it coming at superwoman Megan Hodge, who received every award under the sun. The latest? The Suzy Favor Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year.

Some Big Ten team blogs were disappointed, some elated. Others, well, just had to throw in a photo of John L. Smith winning the Land Grant Trophy. (Yeah, that actually did happen.) But you can't diminish the fact that the BTN is doing everything it can to promote Big Ten sports as a whole, not just football and basketball. I really like the way the BTN is operating.

In Scores of Other Games... ESPN has a really good series this week about college football's strength and conditioning coaches, featuring Penn State's own John Thomas. He's probably one of the most valuable unknowns in the Nittany Lion football program. There's also a companion piece looking at weight room and locker room traditions, with, you guessed it, Penn State's big white "S" rules. So go take a look. Jared Odrick is doing fine down in Miami. Gambling is bad. But having fun is cool with us. Kevin over at BSD gives us Vegas lines on how Penn State will do this year, along with almost everything else for 2010. Rose Bowl, presented by... someone. I guess all that money pumped into the Mets' Citi stadium had to come from somewhere, because Citi is no longer going to sponsor the Rose Bowl.

Stay tuned for Tim's enhanced interrogation with Temple Football Forever, and Galen's profile of the fittin' Owls.

Follow LBU on Facebook and Twitter Subscribe to Linebacker-U.com by Email

Linkbacker-U is talking Student Sections, QB's, and Nebraska

The often times self proclaimed "best student section in the country" has a chance to start proving themselves today as tickets went on sale at 7 a.m. this morning. Can the students actually fill their section this year? You know, in time for kickoff? If you recall, only during the Ohio State and Iowa games did the student section come close to reaching capacity, and even then it took a quarter for them to leave their tailgating sites and enter the stadium.

Don't forget this new season brings in a new era for Penn State football, one that very few of the students who purchased tickets toay are probably looking forwar to. Daryll Clark's graduation means a new quarterback lining up uner center this fall. The new signal caller will be teste in a way that Clark never was, going on the roa in his secon ever start to take on the nation's top team In Alabama. Patriot News columnist Bob Flounders doesn't think Joe Paterno's choice to replace Clark will be able to duplicate the former quarterback's success.

The tough 2010 schedule Penn State has in front of them is already set. But 2011? That's a different story. Nebraska should be a competing member in Big Ten athletics in time for the start of the 2011 football season, which has many athletic directors scratching their heads as they comtemplate the best way to realign the conference and incorporate Nebraska.

With this marking the first day of ticket sales for Penn State students, take a look at the best student section that you probably have never seen before. Think "We Are Penn State" is cool? Check out the Utah State Aggie basketball fans.

Follow LBU on Facebook and Twitter Subscribe to Linebacker-U.com by Email Be sure to visit our new LBU Forums