Big Ten Realignment

[behnke2017]

Legends and Leaders are no more, as the Big Ten will use geography to determine its new divisions and division names beginning in the 2014 season.

The Big Ten will replace Legends and Leaders with East and West when Maryland and Rutgers join the league in 2014, league sources told ESPN.

The proposed Big Ten West includes the six teams located in the Central time zone -- Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Wisconsin -- plus Purdue, sources said.

The proposed Big Ten East includes Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers.

"Just take a ruler and a map [and split the 14 teams]," a source said.

Big Ten presidents and chancellors are expected to approve the divisions and division names, along with a move to a nine-game conference schedule beginning in the 2016 season. The presidents and chancellors are expected to vote next week, a league source told ESPN.com.

ESPN.com reported last month that the divisions debate was down to whether Purdue or Indiana would go to the West. Purdue's campus is located west of Indiana's.

The Legends and Leaders divisions will remain for the 2013 season. The Legends: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern; the Leaders: Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin.

With the new division format, rivals Indiana and Purdue will be the only protected game between teams from the East and West divisions, ESPN.com reported last month.

A 10-game conference schedule, once considered by the league, is no longer a possibility because of the necessity of teams needing seven home games a year, a source said.

The Big Ten's initial division alignment for the 2011 season was based primarily on competitive balance rather than geography. Teams such as Wisconsin and Illinois were moved in the opposite division from some of their rivals, and several top rivalries, such as Michigan-Ohio State, were protected with crossover games.

When the Big Ten announced the Legends and Leaders names in 2010, it received some negative feedback.

In January, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told ESPN he was a "little surprised" by the backlash received when the division names were announced.

"I'm not sure it was a national survey [of people that didn't like the names], but people who hit the 'send' button," Delany said in January. "I don't take umbrage to negative reaction. I don't necessarily change when I hear it. I think on the other hand, we said we would test market it and we have for a couple of years. We have the opportunity to look at it again."

When initially deciding on Legends and Leaders, Delany said the Big Ten "didn't have great options."

"We weren't going to go with 'Bo or Woody,' 'Black or Blue,' or 'Plains or Lakes,'" Delany said. "Obviously we got some acceptance [with Legends and Leaders], but not as much as we would have liked."

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...st-sources-say

[behnke2017]

I like it. Far better than Legends & Leaders. Plus the geographic locations make sense.

[Mudvayne91]

I thought the names were rather stupid. I like the change as well.

[BCB mwat15]

The branding is obviously better than the ridiculous Legends and Leaders names; and as a fan of a team in the west, I'll be glad to get away from Ohio St and Michigan. That said, the divisions aren't balanced. The teams in the East will have a much tougher division schedule.

[behnke2017]

The branding is obviously better than the ridiculous Legends and Leaders names; and as a fan of a team in the west, I'll be glad to get away from Ohio St and Michigan. That said, the divisions aren't balanced. The teams in the East will have a much tougher division schedule.

It for surely isn't balanced. Indiana is so ****ed. All the other teams in that division are pretty good. The West looks like it will be Wisconsin or Nebraska each year. Iowa, Illinois, and Northwestern can have good years but they haven't been power teams like Wisconsin and Nebraska so they'll have to take advantage of a down year by those two.

[BCB mwat15]

^Agreed.

I think it looks like the B10 is getting back to the Big 2 and everyone else. Nebraska and Wisconsin have been the only teams with a legitimate chance to win the B10 every year and with Wisconsin going through a coaching change I don't think we can assume anything about them yet.

[behnke2017]

I don't think Alvarez would let them go too far off of what he established when he came in to turn the program around. Bielema wasn't a guy a lot of people liked coming into getting the job. From what I've heard the players have really taken to Andersen's approach so that should fare well.

[steelcityroller]

LOL Those might be the most unbalanced conference divisions of all the BCS conferences. Nebraska and Wisconsin are gonna have a cakewalk every year in conference play. Rutgers is the 5th best team in the East and they went 9-4 last year.

[Qwertys]

Yeah the divisions don't seemed balanced at all, I guess it's good for Wisconsin because it should give us a shot to make the BTCG almost every year.

[steelcityroller]

Yeah the divisions don't seemed balanced at all, I guess it's good for Wisconsin because it should give us a shot to make the BTCG almost every year.

Pretty much all you gotta do is beat Nebraska and you are in the Big 10 Championship

[B'sCeltsPatsSox]

I was going to say "small victory for common sense" until I saw how stacked the "East" division is compared to the "West".

[behnke2017]

I think they tried develop a balance with the original alignment but there wasn't much rhyme or reason to it like most other conferences use with their alignments. Makes more sense travel wise.

Option B...

North - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland
South - Nebraska, Iowa, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State

And with that you have the same thing just replace Wisconsin and Ohio State from E/W

Other option...
West - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Iowa, Northwestern
East - Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers

This one it looks like Ohio State should dominate every year.

You could take their original plan and switch Michigan State with Purdue and you're kind of in the same boat. Michigan State is better than Purdue but it's still Wisconsin-Nebraska and everyone else. They are only preserving one "rivalry" so instead of the Indiana teams it would be the Michigan teams in this case. One thing that teams like Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern and Iowa could use while recruiting is if they can get the right pieces in place they have a shot at getting to the Big Ten championship game. Indiana is the only team at a far disadvantage with this alignment.

[bigbangclock]

it is better to get rid of legends/leader names regardless of the alignment but the suggested alignment looks good to me.

[debo]

It for surely isn't balanced. Indiana is so ****ed. All the other teams in that division are pretty good. The West looks like it will be Wisconsin or Nebraska each year. Iowa, Illinois, and Northwestern can have good years but they haven't been power teams like Wisconsin and Nebraska so they'll have to take advantage of a down year by those two.

While NU will never be a powerhouse, I really don't think it's a stretch to think Coach Fitz can have that team competing for a West title every season. He's built an incredible program that's incredibly impressive for a school with really, really difficult entrance for student-athletes.

As a Wildcat fan, it's really exciting to see that a division title is a realistic possibility nearly every season.

[WorldChamps1908]

Wow..the East is so loaded.

Glad they shed those stupid divisional names..