Around the Big Ten

[Mike]

Agreed. I'm anxious to see what the next abomination looks like.

[WM Wolverine]

They've pretty much everything down (for divisions) except for who of Indiana or Purdue ends up in the East. Sounds like they will be very few (hopefully none) OOD rivalry games other than Indiana/Purdue who will be split up between divisions. As soon as the divisions are set (later this month I heard), '14 schedule shouldn't be far behind...

'14 schedule is important as it's probably the only one there will be till the B10 adds Virginia & GT for '15. ;)

'16 or '17 is the year they'll go to 9+ conference games?

[entropy]

http://thegazette.com/2013/04/13/major-disparity-in-big-ten-football-ticket-revenue/

big ten football revenue

[Dr. Strangelove]

So...Michigan makes a lot of money. As in, a LOT of money.

[Mike]

Will Dave Brandon award himself the first ever Brandon Cup recognizing revenue excellence?

[hack]

LOL! Let's make it happen.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Divisions are set. Everything shaping up as predicted. Purdue is going west. 2014 schedules look like they will be announced next week

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/75170/b1g-goes-eastwest-for-proposed-divisions

[Pasadena Blue]

I am pretty sure this is the final new division format.

Legends/Leaders no more .... just B1G East and West.

The Game to become the B1G East championship as it should be.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9191768/big-ten-conference-realign-teams-replace-division-names-east-west-sources-say

[lineygoblue]

Its an alignment that makes sense, especially with the addition of Maryland and Rutgers.

I still don't like the 9 conference game thing because of the imbalance of home/away games. The years you have five conference away games are going to be tough.

[*JD*]

It's a good move.

That said, this will lend to more confusion for future Wolverines (students, players, fans) as to why the line in the song says "...Champions of the West".

[Rob F]

I'm absolutely THRILLED about our new rivalries with Rutgers and Maryland. NOT!!!!!

B1G should have stopped at 12 teams. $$$ rules, though, even if this $$$-grab is nothing more than speculative. Sure, the BigTenNetwork is a nice cash cow now, but with the constant evolution in the media from TV to other electronic devices, this business model they're using to anticipate future revenue might be antiquated in the blink of an eye.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Means more road trips to Washington DC and NYC rather than Iowa City and Champaign

[WM Wolverine]

What Dr. Strangelove said. I really like the rivalries with OSU, PSU & MSU, I'd even choose PSU as my 3rd favorite rivalry. Maryland/DC is a nice place to stay for a weekend and its too bad the family I had near DC (PSU fans actually from PA) moved away very recently...

Media coverage in Maryland/DC and Jersey/NYC, along with annual bouts against rivals Ohio & Pennsylvania are a boon. Leaves M shutout of Chicago and could hurt recruiting in Illinois and Chicago. Rutgers athletic department isn't of B10 quality but its facilities and athletics are trending up with its recent success in football. Hopefully the move to the B10 results in them investing their new B10 money in itself...

I didn't feel much connection with rivalries against Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue, NW. Nebraska would've been a nice rivalry to build and I liked the Illini rivalry but probably only because I have family from Illinois who I could talk smack too.

[entropy]

I will miss visiting Michigan each year for a game...

[DennisT]

We'll see you in Indianapolis often enough.