Just when you think the news cycle is ready to settle down in college football, it doesn’t. It reminds us all that following Ohio State, the Big Ten, and college football, in general, is becoming more and more a year-round affair.
The latest development comes in a report (subscription may be required) from Scott Dochterman of The Athletic. In it, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta talks about the future of the Big Ten. Because of the changing landscape, Barta says the conference has been discussing eliminating divisions and moving to an eight-game conference schedule. The move would allow conference teams to schedule more out-of-conference games against the Pac-12 and ACC as part of an alliance the three struck earlier this year.
“We’ve had several conversations,” Barta told The Athletic. “One of the things that we’re watching is whether it’s related to The Alliance, which we’re talking through and/or, what gives us the best opportunity to have the most success in the College Football Playoff format?
“We’re wondering if we’re going to know what the format is before we have to make that decision. So, we’re kind of waiting to see where that lands. But we have had active conversations about the schedule beyond 2022.”
New College Football Playoff format influences Big Ten discussions on whether to eliminate divisions, remain status quo or drop to 8 league gameshttps://t.co/Y80rHSXYFy
— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) January 26, 2022
The report goes on to say that the changes could come as early as 2023. Currently, as most know, the conference is split into two divisions, the East and West. Teams play each team in its division, as well as three cross-over games, but the winner of each division meet in Indianapolis to play for the Big Ten championship.
Under the current structure, there is always the chance that perhaps the league’s second-best team gets left out of a shot at a conference championship because of the historical inequality between the two divisions. Just this past season, an Ohio State team with just one conference loss had to sit at home while a two-loss Iowa team met Michigan for the title. Without divisions, the two best teams in the standings could meet for the title not dissimilar to what the Big 12 does today.
Cutting the number of conference games by one would also still allow Big Ten teams to schedule the home games they need for much-needed revenue. A home or away game (presumably rotating) with either a Pac-12 or ACC team would seemingly replace what would normally be a conference home or away game. It’s all in an effort to make the conference stronger with where the playoff model is and might be heading according to Barta.
“Anything we do as a conference has to make our conference better, and so that’s the 10,000-foot principle that we’re operating from,” Barta said. “So, whatever we do in future scheduling, it has to make us better. What will make the Big Ten Conference even stronger? We’re very strong, but what would make us even stronger?”
This is certainly a very interesting development that we’ll have to stay on top of. I’d say we have time before this all gets going even further, but how swiftly rather significant changes get decided on and pushed along have changed in recent years.
More to come.
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