During the Big Ten’s media days earlier this month, commissioner Jim Delany made it perfectly clear exactly where he stood on the argument between an eight-game and a nine-game conference schedule.
“[Member schools] have to… do everything we can to play each other more, not less.” Additionally, Delany said that “I think it’s what our fans want, it’s what the athletes want. … To be honest with you, I don’t think the nonconference games we’ve seen since we’ve added a 12th game [have been all that great].”
Based on Delany’s words from Tuesday night, however, just don’t look for the nine-game Big Ten slate — if it becomes a reality — to happen any time in the near future.
Speaking to the Omaha World-Herald, Delany said that he’s “sure we won’t have a ninth game over the next four years“, meaning the earliest the conference would expand their schedule would be 2015.
“We’re really studying it,” Delany said of the expanded league schedule, “and I don’t think we’ll be prepared to commit, but I think we’ll have it framed up and be able to describe what it is we would like to do if certain things could get agreed on.”
Delany also reiterated two key points he’s made over and over since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in June.
One, the timeline for dividing the conference into two six-team divisions remains on track for late August/early September — “I think within 30 days we’re going to be able to have our divisions.” — and, two, that geography will continue to be a distant third when it comes to exactly how the divisions will be set — “We are aware of geography, but we’re not going to be driven by it.”
I reiterate the fact that their OOC schedule has to get easier because that 9 game schedule could mean a loss of one or two bowl spots from the past.
As for divisions, East/West still makes sense. With the current powers that be, it will be 3 and 3 in each division and if Michigan makes a comeback soon, it would be 4/3, no matter how you split them up.
I said weeks ago—9 games hurt financially. The schools lose a home game every other yr.
That is millions of dollars. This is all about the $$$–that’s why they went to 12 teams & a conf championship game = more $$$.
Like it or not all big time schools need that money so the 3 cupcakes & 1 H&H will be the norm in the Big 10 & the SEC.
Now the Big 12 minus 2 will have to go out and get more big games because Oklahoma & Texas
will have 5 or 6 cupcakes in their conference every season. They will have to boost their strength of schedule—thus Texas scheduling Notre Dame.
Delaney will get voted down as he has already—the Big 10 will never go to 9 games.
Divisions will not necessarily be totally geographic as there are schools lobbying for a slightly diff setup.
[...] One of the topics that will be the subject of much debate at this week’s annual conference spring meetings, the West Lafayette Journal and Courier reports, will be future conference football schedules. The Big Ten has already announced those slates through the 2014 season, and it was thought at the time of Nebraska’s addition to the conference that a nine-game schedule could occur as early as 2015. [...]