Thursday, September 02, 2010

Football is Back

And lots of it tonight. Many of the local high schools begin their seasons tonight, as do the Gophers, while the Vikings wrap up their preseason against somebody over at the Artist Formerly Known as the Metrodome.

Perhaps the most interesting development is the way the Big Ten decided to split their football programs into two divisions. One division is as follows:

Minnesota
Iowa
Nebraska
Michigan
Michigan State
Northwestern

The other is:

Indiana
Purdue
Illinois
Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin

When it comes to college football, I'm a Badger fan, so I'm a little disappointed that the Badgers didn't end up in the same division as Minnesota and Iowa. The alignment is designed for competitive balance and living in the same place with Ohio State and Penn State will be a challenge, but I think one that the Badgers can handle. Apparently the Badgers will continue to play the Gophers every year, even though they are in different divisions. They will rotate among the other schools, which means that some years they won't play Iowa. That's too bad, as the Iowa-Wisconsin rivalry is a good one and has been pretty entertaining since the Badgers returned to prominence in the 1990s. The other downside is that it's hard to get too excited about annual games against Indiana and Purdue. Maybe the Badger-Illini series will get more heated, too. There's always been ample reason to hate Illinois, the cheatin' weasels of the Big Ten.

I was also hoping that the Badgers would get to play Nebraska more often, but it turns out that might not happen. All of this could change if the Big Ten expands further, which is likely. The latest rumors are that the conference is looking east and thinking about Rutgers and Maryland. Both would make a lot of sense.

Meanwhile, look for more appearances from our resident prognosticator, Benster, in the coming weeks. He's a year older and has even more opinions than before. I know, I didn't think that was possible, either.

7 comments:

CousinDan 54915 said...

Do you know what the N on the Nebraska helmet stands for?

I can't believe they met the Big 10 academic standards.

Bike Bubba said...

Bizaare that they didn't take the natural dividing line in the middle of Lake Michigan......or do Michigan and MSU get to go west because Detroit and Minneapolis are both Delta hubs? I don't get it.

Bike Bubba said...

BTW, Cousin Dan, guess which school leads all D1 schools in Academic All Americans in football?

Yes, it's the newest member of the Big 10. It's certainly not, say, a certain school about half an hour west of Detroit on I-94 that still has "general studies" for its corn and navy footballers.

Mr. D said...

It's certainly not, say, a certain school about half an hour west of Detroit on I-94 that still has "general studies" for its corn and navy footballers.

Always trust a Spartan to know these things, right BB?

Actually, BB is right, Dan. Nebraska is safely within the confines of the AAU and has greatly improved its academic reputation over the last 25 years. There were other Big XII schools with equally good credentials (Mizzou and KU), but Nebraska has a national following, unlike the other two.

Anonymous said...

The Big Ten divides based on history and not reality. Michigan is assummed to be a big boy, when in the last several years, all they've been is a whipping boy.

Also, Nebraska is given more status than they deserve. Only recently has their program risen to anything remotely close to Top 25 Status. It will be interesting to see if they compete right away.

In end having Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin as your top 3 seems to trump Michigan, Iowa, and Nebraska. Perhaps the next tier balances things (Purdue, Indiana & Illinois vs. Northwestern, Michigan State & Minnesota), but if you ask me the Big Ten has screwed up Big Time.

Bike Bubba said...

Mr. D: :^).

(not that my Spartans are a lot to brag about, either, but GENERAL STUDIES? for cryin' out loud)

And regarding the Huskers being relative newcomers to prominence; well, if by "newcomers" you mean "must have a national championship before 1970," then maybe you're right. However, five national championships and close to 40 bowl games since that time would seem to cement their reputation as a historic football power.

(you can thank my experiences at Ski U for me being something of a diehard Huskers fan)

Bike Bubba said...

BTW, I'm not only a Spartan, but I was born 20 miles south of Columbus. So I've got multiple reasons to make fun of the corn and navy. :^)