B1G's new schedule protects its Playoff contenders. Should SEC be worried?
Last month, when the Big Ten announced that it was moving to a conference-only schedule due to COVID-19 pandemic, I wrote about the games I wanted to see added to the schedule.
In a 2020 college football season that still may not happen, I wanted the juiciest matchups possible because that was what I thought was best for us, the viewers. Since we are missing out on all these marquee nonconference games like Ohio State vs. Oregon, Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame and more, why not jam as much talent on the field at once?
How about Ohio State vs. Minnesota, with 2 potential Heisman contenders at quarterback and 2 1st-round wide receivers? Nope.
Or, Penn State vs. Wisconsin — 2 of the league’s premier programs that have met just once in the regular season since 2013? Nah.
OK, let’s line up Michigan and Nebraska against each other for a fun battle of 2 programs with proud tradition. Uh-uh.
Instead, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren went a much smarter route with the new schedule released Wednesday and did what was best for the conference, AKA the College Football Playoff contenders. If you look at the games added to the schedule for each of the league’s top programs, they are playing the bottom-feeders from the other side.
Ohio State added Purdue, Penn State got Illinois, Wisconsin will play Rutgers, Michigan added Northwestern and Iowa added Maryland. That’s kinda boring, huh? (Aside from Rondale Moore getting another game against Ohio State, of course.)
But that’s the point. Why make it any harder on your top teams to make a run and go to the CFP? In a 4-team CFP, 1 of the Power 5 leagues is always going to left out (and 2 leagues will be left out if Notre Dame makes a run or a league grabs 2 spots, like the SEC did in 2017). The goal of the regular season is to not be that 1 conference on the outside looking in, which means it’s important to have as few spoilers as possible, if you can manage it. Mission accomplished on that front.
The football schedule starts as early as the weekend of Sept. 5 with final games slated for Nov. 21 to align with academic calendars. The Big Ten Football Championship Game remains scheduled for Dec. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium, though it could be moved as late as Dec. 19. pic.twitter.com/vWp3OSifBc
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) August 5, 2020
The Big Ten has been criticized in the past for making it too difficult for its members. For one, moving from 8 conference games to 9 in 2016 is great for us, the viewer, but not as great for the league. A conference with 8 games has never missed the CFP, and many programs in the SEC and ACC will schedule 3 non-Power 5 programs instead of 2. That’s a huge advantage.
We’re still waiting on the SEC to release its updated schedule. Will the league seek to protect its Playoff contenders, too? Alabama, for instance, already is scheduled to face Georgia in a huge rotational crossover clash. Would the league add another blockbuster crossover to either team’s schedule?
I took the B1G’s unveiling as a tip of the cap to the contenders. Warren might as well have said, “I’m not going to stand in your way.” After all, he couldn’t stick Ohio State with Purdue and let Penn State battle Wisconsin. The schedules are always going to be a little unfair for someone during the normal rotation, but that’s OK because it evens out the next year. Since this is a special circumstance and won’t be evened out next year, he had to treat his contenders equally. It’s smart for business.
I also found it noteworthy that the schedules weren’t front-loaded with juicy matchups. When almost all of spring ball, offseason workouts and preseason practice have been wiped out, the top teams in the Big Ten aren’t squaring off with rivals in the opener, as many had clamored for, or other top-tier programs. Instead, the most intriguing game is probably Indiana at Wisconsin. It’s a solid matchup, but the schedule isn’t exactly starting off with a bang. And that’s OK. It’s smart. We don’t need Ohio State and Michigan to play right away (that’s slated for Oct. 24), or Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Remember last season when Ohio State played No. 9 Penn State, No. 10 Michigan and No. 9 Wisconsin in a 15-day span to close the regular season? By the time the Buckeyes played the Badgers in the Big Ten Championship Game, they looked a little worn down in sputtering to a 14-point halftime deficit. Fortunately for the Big Ten, they regrouped to score 27 unanswered points and reach the Playoff.
There are no such gauntlets on this year’s schedule. Ohio State has at least 1 week between its 3 toughest games of Michigan, Penn State and Iowa. Penn State’s toughest back-to-back is Indiana and Michigan. Wisconsin’s 4 toughest games (Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa) are all spaced out nicely. Granted, this could all change as soon as COVID-19 makes its way through the locker room, but on paper, it looks great.
Warren is acknowledging that this schedule release doesn’t mean there will be a season, and if there is, “It won’t be a straight line,” as he said on Big Ten Network on Wednesday morning. He has provided all of these schools maximum flexibility by matching up bye weeks and starting the season as originally planned on Labor Day Weekend, while others like the SEC, have opted to wait until late September.
Combined with the health guidelines he released Wednesday featuring two mandated COVID-19 tests per week, Warren is doing just about all he can to ensure the Big Ten is in the best possible position given the circumstances. This schedule reflects that.
I don’t keep up with the big10 much but if Wisky is any good it looks like they have the easiest path forward.
Why?
They don’t play oh st or pa st but oh st has a pretty easy path too I guess.
No Connor, the SEC does not need to “worry” about whichever BIG team will be eliminated in the first round. Thanks for playing, Connor.
Excellent point. Whether it’s Clemson, Bama, LSU, or Florida in the semi-final, Ohoho State is going to be watching the NCG on TV.
“Whether it’s Clemson, Bama, LSU, or Florida in the semi-final …”
Florida?
Lol.
What they are doing seems fairly obvious, but I don’t have a problem with it. I wouldn’t be surprised if they still mess it up somehow. Upsets still happen.
I still can’t believe that Ohio State’s permanent crossover game is against Illinois. At least the SEC pits the top programs against each other in the permanent crossover games.
Their permanent crossover is Michigan.. Every other team rotates.. Their last game against Illinois was 2017..
Michigan isn’t OSU’s permanent crossover, that would make too much sense. Mich, Mich St, Ohio St, & Penn St are all in the same division.
True.. But Illinois isn’t their cross over either.. I was thinking back when they had that jacked up divisional thing..
outside of indiana and purdue, there are no permanent cross over games in the big 10.
I may be wrong, but I don’t think the B10 does permanent crossovers for everyone. I think there are a few teams that have one if they have a rival in the other division, but the rest of the teams rotate every year.
I believe the B10 does a semi-permanent crossover, meaning that they switch them up every four years
I don’t care what they do
um.. Isn’t that kind of the job of the commissioner? To set up his conference for success?
Might the SEC do the same thing now?
Alabama & LSU–Add Vanderbilt and Missouri
Florida & Georgia–Add Arkansas and Mississippi State
Auburn–Add South Carolina and Tennessee
Texas A&M–Add Kentucky and Tennessee
Adding UK and UT to A&M isn’t doing the Aggies any favors. I’d be ok with it though.
I honestly would not mind A&M adding UT and UF. Jimbo, Pruitt and Mullen all 3rd year coaches.
You are right with that statement, but Vanderbilt and Missouri can only be added to two other teams’ schedules, so they are out. A&M already has South Carolina on its schedule, so that leaves the other four. UK & UT are weaker then UF & UGA.
Maybe O State can stay within four touchdowns of Purdue this time.
I’d worry about getting back to the playoffs, and then beating Ohio State since the Tide hasn’t done that..
:-O
Bama has won the NC twice since OSU won their last..Bama has actually been in the NC game 4 of the 6 years of the Playoff compared to one for OSU…
Right now OSU is a one hit wonder…
one hit wonder? not so much. Ohio State has been the most consistently good team in college football. there are no extended down periods or mike duboses, franchiones, or shula’s at Ohio State. Urban won a national championship, Tressel won a championship, and played for two others. john cooper finished the season ranked #2 twice. Earle Bruce came within 1 point of winning a national championship, Woody won 5 national championships, and before him Paul Brown (founder of the cincinnati bengals and cleveland browns) won a national championship for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State is anything but a one hit wonder.
if you’re referring specifically to the cfp, well, they were denied an opportunity to compete in 2015, 2017 and 2018. no way to know for sure how many cfp national championships they’d have if it were an 8 team playoff, but i think they’d have at least one more – 2015.
Well since the person I replied to is talking about the CFP why would I be talking something else? Also OSU has won the CFP one time correct?
They made the NCAA game during the CFP one time as well correct?
No matter how many excuses you want to make they are a one hit wonder..
yeah, but even if you’re limiting it to the cfp era, it’s still doesn’t fit.
the cfp has only been around 6 years now, and only 4 schools have won it. Ohio State is one of those 4.
not to mention, over those 6 years, the Buckeyes have won 4 conference titles. they have a 75-8 record. in addition to winning the first ever cfp national championship game, they’ve won the sugar bowl, the fiesta bowl, the cotton bowl, and the rose bowl. they’ve beaten an sec champion (bama), a big 12 champion (oklahoma), the pac12 champion 3 times (oregon, usc and washington), and a top 10 notre dame squad.
they may have only won one of those six cfp titles, but calling them a one hit wonder gives a false impression.
It doesn’t give a false anything… It’s a fact they’ve won the CFP once. Nobody cares they won their conference or a bowl game…
One hit wonder..
all right then, there are 126 0-fer teams, 2 1-hit teams, and 2 2-hit teams.
the list of teams with hits is pretty exclusive, and the Buckeyes are in the club.
it’s all about perspective.
Congratulations on being a fan of a one hit wonder..
congrats on being a 2-hit wonder. we’ll just overlook the fact that there’s an asterisk next to both of them.
I just went and looked… No asterisk at all in the NCAA record book..
Try again one hit wonder…
they’re there, deuce, look harder.
if you need me to find them for you, you just let me know.
It’s ok.. There is nothing wrong with OSU being a one hit wonder… I mean it’s not like you can change it…
If it makes you feel better you can print out the record book and write a two in crayon… LMAO.. Dumba$$
you can LYDAO all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that your use of the term is inaccurate. the term ‘one hit wonder’ is used to describe a musical act that has success with one song, and then fades away into obscurity. that certainly does not describe Ohio State.
i know it probably helps your self esteem to look down on a team like Ohio State, who does not yet have 2 cfp championships. especially considering the outcome of that game between the Buckeyes and tide, during the first cfp. i’m sure it probably still stings, and calling Ohio State a ‘one hit wonder’ probably helps you sleep at night. so you just keep on doin’ you, lil’ trooper. you go ahead and say your prayers to darling nicki, snuggle way down in your warm blanky, and drift off to sleep, secure in the thought that Ohio State has one less cfp championship than your tide. rockabye baby.
It must feel great to be a “consistently good” team without much to show for it beyond wins over a has-been rival.
nothing to show for it? you should check out the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. it’s stacked floor to ceiling with national championship trophies, a whole bunch of rose, sugar, orange, fiesta and cotton bowl trophies (and some trophies from a few lesser bowls), 39 big 10 championship trophies, 7 heisman trophies, and a ton of other individual trophies.
that’s an awful lot of hardware for ‘nothing to show for it’.
they’re also the winningest program in college football history, and that has-been rival is number two (although to be fair, i’m ok with calling them has-beens, or any other negative name you want to call them).
You mean that one game back in 2014? Was it? On another note, was that a Tennessee fan?
ZING! there are still players on this year’s team, who were on that 2018 team. they haven’t forgotten. i suspect these Buckeyes are going to want to bring some pain to west lafayette.
Many Buckeyes here — is this one of those cross-over articles on the Big-10 version of Saturday Down South? Written by Conor’s son Ryan no less?
Anyways, welcome Buckeyes!
*brother
Sorry — need edit feature here in the comment sections…
It could be because so many of these Yankees have moved out of the Marxist Midwest to escape tyranny. The Union of Soviet Socialist Kasichs sent many Buckeyes to the Hickory nation.
These people are okay. They have this funny habit of marching around in script form to remember what state they came from, but sousaphones are outlawed south of Cincinnati, so they cannot do any dotting.
Because there are even more Yankees wearing maize and blue in these here parts of rural Williamson County, TN, we need substantial numbers of Buckeyes to make sure we don’t have to initiate Wolverine hunting season.
I expect a lot of Gophers will be showing up in this zip code soon, since their Great White North isn’t so great now that it has become the new Siberia.
LH61, so that’s where they went. wolverines are all but extinct up here. the hunting grounds are getting pretty lean.
and for the record, there are a lot of us up here fighting the good fight to keep the great state of Ohio red. a blue Ohio would be sad in more ways than one.
I’m going to close my eyes and imagine what its like to be a blue blood program that says things like “bring some pain to West Lafayette”.
What’s the surprise?? They already play 9 conf gms so each tm is only adding 1 additional gm. Pretty stupid/naive to think they’d be having contenders play each other above what they already got.
Btw, I don’t agree with the writer about the quality of gms in the B10. There’s OSU clearly ahead of everyone then PSU and maybe Wisconsin. Minn was a surprise last yr and Mich has been average at best for a long time. Nothing to see here…..
^^This^^
playing that school up north in october and iowa on the final week of the season is surreal.
at this point, i’ll take whatever college football i can get, but playing the skunk weasels in october doesn’t feel right. i understand why they did it, but it’s going to feel weird. especially with no fans in the stands.
Skunk weasels, LOL. Took me a second. Things you don’t read much on SDS.
No fans in the stand? Has the B10 announced that already? I just find it hard to believe there won’t be any fans at a college football game.
it wasn’t the big 10 making that call. the university was going to allow 20% capacity, but the Ohio department of health nixed that for all sports, including the browns and bengals. the governor hasn’t overruled them, and unfortunately, it sounds like he won’t. some big 10 states are allowing fans, as of right now anyway.
Well I guess the riots/couch burning/car flipping will take place before the game now…
Who cares what the Big 10 does?
Playing more good teams does increase the wear and tear on a team. It does not necessarily increase injuries but does potentially tire a team by the end of the season (I’ve never seen any data, but I alway worry about the opposite on injuries: that playing cupcakes increases the odds of injuries from low hits, crackbacks, etc.).
Wear and tear is probably a non-issue with the delay before the CFP games. I also think this is offset a bit by sunbelt teams as a group probably being a bit better conditioned from playing in warmer weather.
So the only real issue with tougher scheduling is increasing the odds of an upset loss. Be interesting to see if the CFP committee penalizes conferences that avoid good on good matchups.
“Be interesting to see if the CFP committee penalizes conferences that avoid good on good matchups.”
Wait, WHAT? CFP Committee not favor the Buckeyes?? Hush your mouth!
Actually I give the CFP committee more credit than that, just tired of “The” Ohio State coasting to the playoffs … like Clemson.
coasting into the playoffs, what? the Buckeyes were robbed of the opportunity to get into the cfp in 2015, 2017 and 2018. and at worst, the big 10 is the second best conference. playing at penn st, xichigan, msu (when dantonio had it rolling), wisconsin, and iowa is no picnic. there’s nothing even remotely close to that in the acc. making it through the big 10 is a war of attrition, and the fact that Ohio State has won 4 conference titles in the cfp era, speaks to how consistently great they are. in comparison to the big 10, outside of clemson, the acc might as well be the mac.
Holy ****. You think not choking against teams with dramatically less talent and resources is a war of attrition? You think MSU was ever “rolling”? I swear, the things Buckeyes have to convince themselves are true to stay sane is mind boggling.
i can see you’re not really familiar with the big 10.
it’s not too hard to convince anyone of anything. you just have to look at the numbers. the big 10 shares revenue, so all big 10 programs have pretty good resources. as far as talent, that’s a function of recruiting by the coaches hired by the school. some schools made better decisions with their hiring than others. that happens in every conference though.
the big 10 features some of the biggest, loudest stadiums in the country. playing in a whiteout at penn st, or at wisconsin, or xichigan, or iowa, or nebraska, or michigan st is extremely loud, with electric atmospheres. even games against a purdue, northwestern or indiana can be very physical. the big 10 brand of football is physical and hard hitting, and it takes a physical toll. that toll adds up over the course of the season. that’s why i call it a war of attrition. that is a very apt description.
as for michigan state, while dantonio was there, they were a power run team, with big offensive lines, and aggressive defenses. between 2010 and 2017, they won at least 10 games 6 times, and they won 3 big 10 championships. they finished ranked in the top 15 all six of those years, including ending the 2013 season ranked #3. for most schools, that’d be considered ‘rolling’.
Nash…I’m with you on this one. We are the SEC & are not worried.
I’m not convinced there will be a playoff this year. We might get the regular season and Conference championships in, but a postseason seems very unlikely at this point.
I’m so tired of the 8 or 9 game garbage. Ohio State plays 9 conference games that include such powerhouses as Rutgers & Maryland. Most SEC teams have used the extra game to play teams that are typically above average. I hope the SEC follows the same path and helps the contenders.
Do you consider Arkansas a power house? Vandy and Missouri? Also sec schools don’t typically playable extra game against an above average opponent. It’s the 8 conference games, 1 P5 opponent and then 3 cupcakes for most teams.