We told you last week that the NCAA has approved changes effective immediately relaxing restrictions on FBS conference championship games. Basically, conference championship games no longer require participants to be from separate divisions. The Pac-12 made changes soon after the NCAA’s ruling and now it looks like the Big Ten will follow suit.
Matt Charboneau of the Detroit News reported that Michigan State athletic director, Alan Haller has said that Big Ten realignment is being discussed and that changes could be coming soon. “Changes” could mean a plethora of things, but most believe it could lead to the elimination of divisions.
MSU AD Alan Haller at the DEC meeting says Big Ten realignment is being discussed. Said he expects changes are coming.
— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) May 23, 2022
The Big Ten introduced divisions in 2011 when it adopted a conference championship game. The divisions were originally named Leaders and Legends with no attention to geographical locations. After much backlash, the conference realigned in 2014 to more traditional East and West divisions.
While we’re not sure exactly what these changes will equate to, it sounds like it’s going to happen sooner rather than later. We’ll keep you up to speed as those changes are made known.
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