Big Ten VS Power Conferences

Big Ten Vs ACC, Big 12, PAC 12 & SEC

The Big Ten is now a directionally driven, 2 division conference, identified by the headings of East & West. Personally, I prefered the Leaders (building for the future) & Legends (honoring the past). The ‘talking heads’ at ESPN were forever running their mouths about how “stupid’ those names were … wait a minute … those Guys & Gals often own the corner on stupid,  … now I get it … that’s why they think East & West are better identifiers … got it! That said, one has to like the creativity of the the Atlantic Coast Conference, their divisions are the  … Atlantic & Coastal … damn clever! Or how about the Mountain West Conference, they put their thinking caps on an came up the incredibly innovative divisionals tags of … Mountain & West … Wow … ESPN must have loved that kind of “out of the box thinking!” Look it, the Big Ten needed to sell the idea that they are shaping young minds toward the future (Leaders) by remembering their past (Legends)!  They really did a half-tailed job of selling,  … what I thought was a good idea! Oh well, enough about that … East & West forever baby!

Lets start in the Big Ten East, 7 teams reside on that side of the league, OSU, MSU, Michigan, PSU, Indiana, & new-comers Maryland and Rutgers! They play a total of 84 games (7 teams x 12 games) eight of the games are conference (8 x 7 = 56 Big Ten battles) leaving 4 non-conference games per team for the East to take on 28 possible Power Conference (PC) teams. Here is how they chose to schedule: 1) Ohio State plays one, Va Tech (ACC) @ home; 2) Michigan State takes on Oregon (PAC 12) in tree hugger-ville; 3) Michigan travels to God’s House to take on the Irish (IND) & welcomes the Utes (Utah, PAC 12) to the Big House; 4) Penn State does not play a PC opponent this year, although they do play Central Florida, AAC: American Athletic Conference (who did beat Baylor, 52-42, in the Fiesta Bowl last year), in Dublin Ireland; 5) Indiana heads to the “show me” state to take on Missouri (SEC); 6) Maryland challenges West Virginia (Big 12) @ home and then packs their bags for a trip to Syracuse (ACC); & 7) Rutgers heads west to take on Washington State (PAC 12) & its innovative HC, Mike Leach. The Big Ten East plays 8 PC’s or 29% of their Non-Conference (NC) schedule is against higher quality FBS programs. It should be noted, that the East plays only 4 teams from the FCS, in other words, only 14% of their NC schedule is played against Football Championship Subdivision opponents These FCS teams may only give up to 63 scholarships and they may give fewer if they chose to do so; The FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) programs have no such option, must give 85 full rides or lose their FBS classification! OSU, Michigan & PSU do not play an FCS program in 2014, while Maryland, MSU, Rutgers & Indiana play one each!

In the Big Ten West, descriptors are the same as above, 7 teams, 84 total games, 56 conference tilts, & 28 NC contests. So here is the West: 1) Wisconsin plays LSU (SEC) at a neutral site (Houston’s Reliant Stadium, now NRG Stadium); Nebraska welcomes Miami (ACC) to Lincoln; 3) Northwestern hosts Cal and then travels to South Bend to crusade against the Irish (IND); 4)  Iowa battles in-state rival, Iowa State (Big 12) @ home and then heads east to take on Pitt (ACC); Illinois journeys west to rangle with Washington (PAC 12); Minnesota heads south to test TCU (Big 12), & Purdue battles ND at a neutral site, Lucas Oil Field, in Indianapolis, as part of the Irish Shamrock Series! The Big 10’s West plays 9 of its 28 NC games against PC opponents or 32% of their non-conference schedule, contrasted with 7 games vs FCS squads or 25% of their NC dates!

The Big Ten numbers for 2014 are as follows; 14 teams, play 168 games, 112 conference battles,  with 56 NC dates to round off their schedules. The B-10 takes on 17 PC opponents (29% of its NC schedule), 9 on the road, 7 @ home & 2 at neutral sites! The conferences & the # of games they play against them are as follows: ACC,4 games; SEC, 2 battles; B-12, 3 tilts; PAC 12, 5 dates & ND, 3 meetings! So the Big Ten plays 17 games against Power Conferences & 11 vs FCS affiliates. As we enter the 4 team play-off Era, we are told that strength of schedule is a critical element for the selection committee, compare the B-10’s numbers with the SEC’s … it make for interesting conversation!

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