As the Big Ten enters its second year of divisional play here is a breakdown of the schedule. We will evaluate the relative strength of the schedules by placing opponents into three constructed levels; 1) Bowl Championship Series (BCS) teams from the following conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, PAC 12, SEC & Notre Dame along with the Big Ten) make up the BCS. 2) The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for our purposes consist of the following conferences; Conference of the United States of America (C-USA), Mid American Conference (MAC), Western Athletic Conference (WAC), Sun Belt Conference (SBC) , & Mountain West Conference (MWC).
Please note, the NCAA would not use this identification system to define conference affiliation, to them, all 11 of these conferences make up the FBS (the BCS is an independent construct agreed to by the fore-mentioned 6 conferences and Notre Dame). FBS conferences all award and by rule must provide 85 scholarships to maintain their FBS status.
3) Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) these teams can award up to 63 scholarships but are not required to do so by rule. In other words, they can not give more that 63 but can provide fewer and still maintain their FCS status. The FCS consist of 13 conferences (Great West disbanded after last season) & a few independent teams. A BCS or FBS team can count one win against a FCS opponent toward the 6 wins required to become bowl eligible. If they schedule 2 FCS teams, only one counts toward the needed 6 wins, as a result, it is rare for an 85 scholarship program to play two 63 scholarship opponents in one season.
Leaders Division:
1) Illinois plays 12 games; 8 conference games, 1 game against a BCS Conference opponent PAC 12 (Arizona State), 2 FBS opponents, a MAC team (Western Michigan), & WAC team (Louisiana Tech), and one FCS Team from the Big South (Charleston Southern)
2) Indiana plays 12 games; 8 conference games, no one from a BCS Conference, 3 FBS opponents, 2 from the MAC (Ball State & Massachusetts) & 1 independent (Navy),and 1 FCS opponent from the Missouri Valley Conference (Indiana State)
3 Purdue plays 12 games; 8 conference games, 1 BCS Conference opponent (Notre Dame), 2 FBS opponents, one from the MAC (Eastern Michigan) & one from C-USA (Marshall) and 1 FCS opponent from the Ohio Valley Conference (Eastern Kentucky)
4) Wisconsin plays 12 games; 8 conference games, 1 BCS Conference opponent from the PAC 12 (Oregon State), 2 FBS opponents, one from the WAC (Utah State) & one from C-USA (UTEP), and 1 FCS squad from the Missouri Valley Conference (Northern Iowa)
5) Penn State plays 12 games; 8 conference games, 2 BCS Conference opponents, one from the Big East (Temple) & one from the ACC (Virginia) and 2 FBS opponents, one from the MAC (Ohio) & one independent (Navy)
6) Ohio State plays 12 games; 8 conference games, 1 BCS Conference opponent from the PAC 12 (California) and 3 FBS opponents 1 from the MAC (Miami of Ohio) and 2 from C-USA (Central Florida & UAB)
In 2012 the Leaders Division will play 72 games, 48 are conference contests, 6 outings are with BCS opponents (PAC 12 3, ACC 1, B-East 1, & ND 1); 14 games are against FBS teams (MAC 6, C-USA 4, WAC 2, Independent 2) and 4 FCS squads (Big South 1, MVC 2, & OVC 1)
Legends Division:
1) Iowa plays 12 games 8 conference, 1 game against a BCS Conference affiliate from the Big 12 (Iowa State), 2 FBS opponents from the MAC (Northern Illinois & Central Michigan) and 1 game vs FCS against the MVC (Northern Iowa)
2) Minnesota plays 12 games; 8 conference, 1 BCS Conference foe from the Big East (Syracuse), 2 FBS opponents, one from the MWC (UNLV) & one from the MAC (Western Michigan) and 1 FCS team from the CAA ( New Hampshire)
3) Michigan plays 12 games; 8 conferences, 2 BCS affiliates one from the SEC (Alabama) & an Independent (Notre Dame) and 2 FBS opponents, one from the MAC (Massachusetts) & one from the MWC (Air Force).
4) Michigan State plays 12 games; 8 conference, 1 BCS opponent, an Independent (Notre Dame) and 3 FBS teams, 2 from the MAC (Eastern Michigan & Central Michigan) & one from the MWC (Boise State)
5) Nebraska plays 12 games, 8 conference contests, 1 BCS Conference team from the PAC 12 (UCLA), 2 FBS Opponents, one from C-USA ( Southern Miss) & one from the SBC (Arkansas State) and 1 FCS team from the Big Sky ( Idaho State)
6) Northwestern plays 12 games, 8 conference, 3 BCS Conference affiliates, 1 from the ACC (Boston College), 1 from the Big East (Syracuse) & 1 from the SEC (Vanderbilt) and 1 FCS opponent from the MVC (South Dakota)
In 2012 the Legends Division will play 72 games, 48 are conference contests, 9 of the contests are against BCS opponents (SEC 2, ND 2, B-East 2, ACC 1, PAC 12 1, & Big 12 1 ); 11 games are against FBS teams (MAC 6, MWC 3, C-USA 1, SBC 1) and 4 FCS squads (Big South 1, MVC 2, & OVC 1)
On the surface, it appears the Legends have taken on the more challenging schedule. They play 9 games vs BCS opponents to the Leaders 6 outings.
Michigan’s taking on Alabama is with out question the toughest game either division has scheduled.
The conference the Big Ten plays the most is the MAC (12 games) 6 games will be played by each division.
The Big Ten vs BCS Conferences breakdown is as follows: PAC 12 4 games, ND 3 contests, Big East 3 outings, ACC 2 games, SEC 2 meetings, and Big 12 1 game.
Finally the team with the toughest schedule in the Big Ten for 2012 is Michigan! Those dopes scheduled non conference games against Alabama, Notre Dame, and Air Force fully cognizant of the fact that divisional foes; Nebraska, Michigan State & Iowa are sharping their samurai swords in full anticipation of Wolverine Week! And oh yeah, don’t forget about Ohio State and Urban Meyer awaiting the wolves at the Horseshoe.
The establishing of divisions in the Big Ten has intensified the competition and energized the fan base. These divisional races should be fun to follow, look for Ohio State to win the Leaders ( but remember, they are on probation and can’t go anywhere) so Wisconsin represents the the Leaders Division in Indy.
If Michigan survives its early non conference games without injury, this race should come down to two games for the wolves; @ Nebraska and then the home game with MSU.
I believe Michigan will find a way to Indy and then the poundings that they have given out and received during this most challenging season will be brought to the surface by the Wisconsin O-Line & their vaunted run game. The Badgers win their second straight Big Ten Title, even though they will be the second best team in the conference
OSU will field the best team the Big Ten has to offer in 2012. Just the way I see it!
Share on Twitter
Share on Facebook
Subscribe