Around the Big Ten

[Dr. Strangelove]

If markets weren't a consideration I kind of wish we could've added Pitt and West Virginia.

Ohio State
Penn State
Pitt
West Virginia
Rutgers
Maryland
Indiana
Purdue

Nebraska
Michigan
MSU
Illinois
Northwestern
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin

[hack]

Agreed. And then built on that by subtracting Pitt, West Virginia, Rutgers and Maryland.

[Dr. Strangelove]

TV ratings were just a little bit below the SEC's...but on the other hand, the B1G title game, ACC title game, and Pac12 title game were all on at the same time...plus Texas-Baylor.

This year's Big10 title game sold out and it was the highest-rated non-bowl ever on Fox

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013/12/cfb-week-15-overnights-sec-big-ten-title-games-big-acc-hits-high/

[Mike]

I watched every second of my two most bitter rivals play. So yeah, I can see how that game rated well. Haha.

[WM Wolverine]

Bowl match-ups don't look that bad for the B10 considering they have 2 BCS teams... B10 probably should win 3 of the 7...

Clemson got a lot of credit for beating Georgia then didn't play much of anyone else other than their two losses; SC & FSU; Ohio should take care of business in the Orange Bowl... Iowa has their work cut out for them against LSU... Don't know what to think of KSU, didn't see them at all this season. Probably a coin flip game... Georgia returning some guys from injury hurts the Huskers chances... Syracuse is awful, Minnesota should handle them pretty well in the Texas Bowl... Wisky vs SC is a good match-up for the Citrus Bowl though I'd give a slight edge to SC...

As far as B10 'rep', I think B10 needs to do well in their top 3 bowls; Orange, Rose & Citrus. Win 2 and the B10 looks pretty good regardless of the other games, win just 1 and they better do very well in their other bowls... Iowa & Nebraska both play 'up' against SEC squads, that need to at least be competitive... If those two lose as expected it requires M to do well in the Copper Bowl & Minnesota to take care of Syracuse as they should.

[Hannibal]

The Buffalo stuff is hilarious.

Buffalo gets you into the lucrative Toronto-Hamilton-Buffalo triangle!

Don't laugh. You know in your heart that Jim Delaney is perfectly capable of doing this.

[Mike]

An international flavor. I like it! Can we get Tim Horton's involved somehow?

[hack]

Yes. The Big Ten's new three-down-football-only members will be grouped into the Frosting Division and the Sprinkles Division.

[Hannibal]

http://thebiglead.com/2013/12/18/the...les-are-awful/#

There is No Reason to Buy a Big Ten Football Season Ticket In 2014 Because the Schedules Are Awful

The Big Ten enters a new, 14-team era in 2014. The conference, with a fair bit of cynicism, opted for lucrative television markets with Maryland and Rutgers over football prowess (66th and 93rd in SRS respectively). These additions will only dilute the Big Ten’s underwhelming conference schedules further. Paired with soft non-conference schedules optimized for ease and home revenue, Big Ten teams are offering no reason beyond blind loyalty for their fans to buy season tickets.

Big Ten home slates for 2014 are bleak. We bolded games against marquee conference opponents for next year (Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin) and against big name BCS conference teams. Six teams had either one or no such game on the schedule.


Illinois: Youngstown State, Western Kentucky, Texas State, Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa, Penn State
Indiana: Indiana State, Maryland, North Texas, Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue
Michigan: Appalachian State, Miami (Ohio), Utah, Minnesota, Penn State, Indiana, Maryland
Minnesota: Eastern Illinois, Middle Tennessee, San Jose State, Northwestern, Purdue, Iowa, Ohio State
Nebraska: Florida Atlantic, McNeese State, Miami (Florida), Illinois, Rutgers, Purdue, Minnesota
Wisconsin: Western Illinois, Bowling Green, South Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Minnesota


Michigan’s best home game in 2014 is … Utah. There is not one game worthy of marking up the pricing. Michigan State has Michigan and … yawn. Their second best game is Minnesota. Nebraska fans may feel fortunate the team scheduled Miami. Wisconsin fans will hope Nebraska is competent next year.

A further six Big Ten teams will spoil fans with not one but two marquee pairings.
Iowa: Northern Iowa, Ball State, Iowa State, Indiana, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Nebraska
Maryland: James Madison, West Virginia, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State, Rutgers
Ohio State: Virginia Tech, Kent State, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan
Penn State: Akron, UMass, Northwestern, Ohio State, Maryland, Temple, Michigan State
Purdue: Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Southern Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Northwestern
Rutgers: Howard, Penn State, Tulane, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana

Iowa hosts Wisconsin and Nebraska, after fans warm up with Northern Iowa, Ball State, Iowa State, Indiana and Northwestern. Ohio State has two home games in danger of being competitive.

The two schools that offer three marquee opponents are Michigan State and Northwestern.

Michigan State: Jacksonville State, Wyoming, Eastern Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio State,Rutgers
Northwestern: California, Northern Illinois, Western Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois


But, lest you get too excited, Northwestern balances that extravagance by charging you for Cal (0-11 vs. FBS in 2012) and three games against teams from Illinois. Michigan State balanced with three cupcakes.

Fan apathy has become an issue in college sports, even at the biggest and most successful programs. Too often, this problem is attributed to the character and fickleness of fans, rather than the product offered on the field. Teams in the Big Ten and elsewhere have chased TV revenue, gate revenue and individual bowl bonuses, while viewing fan support as a given. They are coasting on loyalty and tradition, while offering a spectacle woefully ill-prepared for a rational entertainment marketplace.

Cynicism is bred by exploitation. Empty crowd shots may be rife at Big Ten stadiums next year. It’s not because of smartphones or PS4s. It’s because a vast swath of games, far more than 20 or even 10 years ago, suck. Hope the Big Ten network checks are worth it.

[Hannibal]

Fan apathy has become an issue in college sports, even at the biggest and most successful programs. Too often, this problem is attributed to the character and fickleness of fans, rather than the product offered on the field. Teams in the Big Ten and elsewhere have chased TV revenue, gate revenue and individual bowl bonuses, while viewing fan support as a given. They are coasting on loyalty and tradition, while offering a spectacle woefully ill-prepared for a rational entertainment marketplace.

Cynicism is bred by exploitation. Empty crowd shots may be rife at Big Ten stadiums next year. It’s not because of smartphones or PS4s. It’s because a vast swath of games, far more than 20 or even 10 years ago, suck. Hope the Big Ten network checks are worth it.

[Dr. Strangelove]

The next two years will be mediocre until the 9-game schedule and parity-based scheduling begin in 2016.

Of course, it helps the author's point when you don't count Penn State or Iowa as good games. I'm not sure why the hell Michigan counts as a MARQUEE GAME but Iowa and PSU don't

[Hannibal]

You can make a pretty good case for Iowa. They are at least on par with Michigan.

Penn State -- probably not in their current form. At least not for informed college football fans that don't have an emotional attachment to that contest.

[Dr. Strangelove]

IMO Penn State still counts because of the name. It's seems to me he's only including Michigan because well...it's Michigan. So PSU probably deserves to be considered too. I doubt fans at Rutgers or Maryland are apathetic to be hosting Penn State. Or Maryland hosting West Virginia for the last time.

2014 is interesting...I didn't realize so many of the big OOC games were on the road. That's just bad timing.

Illinois @ Washington
Indiana @ Missouri
Iowa @ Pitt
Michigan @ Notre Dame
MSU @ Oregon
Minnesota @ TCU
Northwestern @ Notre Dame
Purdue @ Notre Dame
Wisconsin v LSU @ Houston

[Dr. Strangelove]

I don't think there's a big difference between schedules today and schedules 10-15 years ago.

There IS a differences between now and 20-25 years ago though. At least the non-conference portion. OTOH, that may be balanced by there being more parity in the conference today than in the 70's and 80's.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Home Schedules in 2015

Teams with NO marquee home games

Iowa: Illinois State, Pittsburgh, North Texas, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Purdue (okay this is pretty bad)

Teams with ONE marquee home game

Penn State: Buffalo, Rutgers, San Diego State, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, TBA
Wisconsin: Miami-OH, Troy, Hawaii, Iowa, Purdue, Rutgers, Northwestern

Teams with TWO marquee home games

Michigan: Oregon State, UNLV, BYU, Northwestern, Michigan State, Rutgers, Ohio State
Michigan State: Oregon, Air Force, Central Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, Maryland, Penn State
Ohio State: Hawaii, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Maryland, Penn State, Minnesota, Michigan State
Purdue: Indiana State, Notre Dame, Bowling Green, Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana

Teams with THREE marquee home games

Illinois: Kent State, Western Illinois, MTSU, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Northwestern
Indiana: Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, Ohio State, Rutgers, Iowa, Michigan
Maryland: Richmond, Bowling Green, South Florida, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana
Minnesota: TCU, Kent State, Ohio, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin
Nebraska: BYU, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan State, Iowa
Northwestern: Stanford, Eastern Illinois, Ball State, Minnesota, Iowa, Penn State, Purdue
Rutgers: Norfolk State, Washington State, Kansas, Michigan State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Maryland

This being said...I think Michigan's schedule has some extra appeal by having two decent teams (OregonSt and BYU) if not exactly big draws. Same goes for Rutgers playing two teams on about the same footing from other major confs