Win5002
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RE: The B1G has to gently redo division to get more Strength in the West
(08-29-2018 09:14 PM)GE and MTS Wrote: (08-29-2018 05:12 PM)Win5002 Wrote: (08-15-2018 11:45 AM)panite Wrote: I'd leave it alone. You have Ohio ST, Michigan, Michigan ST, and Penn ST constantly knocking each other off in the top of the east. Once Nebraska gets back to the days of old you have Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska knocking each other off for the western division. I would go back to 8 conference games though so the mid level and bottom dwellers in the conference have a better chance to become bowl eligible. If the B-10 is worried about strength of schedule rips for the National Championship Playoff spots let the top teams in the conference schedule at least 2 OOC top quality teams from other P5 conferences for strength of schedule reasons instead of beating up bottom dwellers with in conference in their opposing divisions. If they win those OOC games they might even knock the other conferences out of the playoffs with head to head quality wins on the field.
Your not factoring in the importance of West teams getting exposure in the better recruiting states. Wisconsin has done excellent but will be hard pressed to continue their play in the current west setup and Nebraska will have a hard time getting back to their status.
You need to put PSU, Neb., Iowa, Maryland and Rutgers in the same division to balance out the recuiting. I think people underestimate the value New Jersey and Maryland/DC areas have had in helping PSU regain their previous blueblood status. Its also what would give Nebraska and Iowa some years a fair chance, unless you want the east to always have the better team coming out which devalues the Nebraska brand to the league and leaves them as an outlier.
division 1: PSU, Neb., Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland & Rutgers
division 2: OSU, Mich., MSU, Northwestern, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue
***Or you could flip Wisconsin & MSU and lock in some rivals such as Mich vs MSU, OSU vs PSU, IA vs Wisconsin or Mn.
If the rules were changed about divisions and we had one league standings and locked in 4 games and rotated other teams(maybe even at different frequencies such as some 1 out of 2 years some 1 out of 3 years you would have a better league setup). But we know the B1G blocked the ACC from being able to set things up like they wanted so I don't know if that could get changed in the future.
If the B1G wants to get OU I think they need to think of something creative like this because OU would be stupid to come to the B1G and be left on a western island like Nebraska has been. The only way that works is if Texas comes to and Texas isn't coming without at least 2 more regional partners they like(and that's not Rice or Kansas for that matter). Texas will absolutely not be the southern most team in a northern league while A&M plays in the SEC it would be suicide.
The western schools should hire coaches who have pipelines to better recruiting areas like Frost at Nebraska. We'll see if that pays off but I thought it was a grand slam hire. Wisconsin hired a Wisconsin guy which recruits Wisconsin-type players. Lovie Smith was an NFL guy without recruiting experience. Fleck and Brohm look promising. Iowa is what it is. Most Maryland and New Jersey kids won't want to go there even if they were in the same division due to the distance from home.
Adding Oklahoma would help open the door to the state of Texas; even more if Texas was included. That's where the western schools should direct their attention to. As for UT: it's way better to be the southern most school in a conference than the northern most. There are more recruits from southern states where the weather is better.
Actually I disagree with both your points. So Frost is going to pull in a bunch of kids from Florida and those kids will want to come to Nebraska but other west schools can't develop a pipeline to New Jersey or Maryland if they were in their division playing them? Those two ideas contradict each other. Iowa matter of fact had a big pipeline of players that came from New Jersey in the Hayden Fry years, it was a long list of players it was a lot bigger list than the players they pulled out of Texas where Fry was from.
To the last comment, if you are the southern most school yes you have recruits in your area but you are competing with other southern schools for the recruits. In the example of Texas, schools such as A&M, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, etc will use the fact you are a southern school playing in a yankee conference. Sure both schools have some marquee games but don't forget the top matchups against Alabama, LSU, Florida & Georgia and maybe A&M because they are in state will have more appeal than Michigan, Ohio St. & Penn St., possibly a Wisconsin, (Nebraska if they can get back to their status) due to where they are located. Then when you go to the secondary matchups of Arkansas, Ole Miss, Tennessee, South Carolina etc. I think it becomes even more in their favor over Iowa, MSU, Northwestern, Purdue, etc. Those secondary games don't have the appeal the top games do but geography fixes some of that.
That is why Texas needs to be able to at least pick two other partners besides OU. But Texas would open up a huge number of recruits to the league as well as viewership, plus the B1G would regain a true blue blood rivalry in the sport with OU vs Neb so giving Nebraska a better chance to succeed is like getting another team in the expansion. BTW, disclosure I'm not a Nebraska fan.
While I don't think it would happen if I was the B1G I would try Texas, A&M, OU & Arkansas since A&M sought membership once, swing for the fences! If that didn't work and probably wouldn't UT, OU, TT & Houston.
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