B1G notebook: 8-game sked to stick, new divisional realignment?

CHICAGO -- After two years of discussing the potential for more conference games, the Big Ten appears set to stay at eight league games for the long haul.

"I think we're of a unanimous mind to stay at eight games," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said Thursday at Big Ten Media Days.

After the league expanded to 12 schools with Nebraska's 2011 addition, Delany wanted to increase the league slate to nine games so the teams could "could play each other more, not less." Last August, the league approved a nine-game schedule over a reluctant batch of coaches.

Then in December, the league approved a multi-sport collaboration with the Pac-12, which would give every football team one Pac-12/Big Ten game per year. But the Pac-12 - which already plays nine league games - backed off the collaboration earlier this month.

"We are disappointed in the collaboration," Delany said. "We would have hoped that the collaboration would have given us an opportunity to do serious scheduling."

Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta worked at the University of Washington for six years and now enters his seventh leading Iowa. He was in favor of the Pac-12 collaboration.

"I loved the idea of two conferences who have a lot of similar values -- academically and athletically," Barta said. "Broad-based programming, the Rose Bowl is sort of the glue that holds it together and that's still true by the way.

"I'm just disappointed. I thought it would have been a great move. So now we have to regroup."

Weak non-conference scheduling was the impetus for the collaboration. Iowa traditionally schedules two high-major conference opponents each year. That won't happen this year and in 2013.

The Big Ten issued a moratorium on non-conference scheduling beyond 2016, but the league rescinded the moratorium Thursday. Both Delany and Barta support league schools scheduling stronger non-conference opponents because of the likely strength-of-schedule component with the upcoming four-team playoff.

"Whether it's nine games in the Big Ten, whether it's a partnership with the Pac-12 or whether it's some other mechanism that tries to strengthen and keep the regular football season relevant, that's what I'm in favor of," Barta said.

"I think we'll try to work with other conferences to figure out ways to enhance schedules in order to allow us to have additional opportunities to demonstrate strength," Delany said.

DIVISIONAL WOES

Just two years into its realignment, there's discussion that the Big Ten should revamp its divisional setup.

Penn State and Ohio State have bowl bans and are ineligible to win the Leaders Division title this year. That leaves just four teams -- Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana -- competing for a spot in the Big Ten championship game.

"Obviously that was the first thing that came into a lot of people's minds," Barta said. "But realistically, how would you do it this quickly? So the answer is, we're not planning to do that. There will be some competitive challenges there."

Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald suggested the league adjust its title-game qualifications for this season. Ohio State is eligible in 2013, while Penn State is banned until 2016. Northwestern competes in the Legends Division.

"From a macro and a big-picture standpoint, you know, maybe our division winner should automatically be in the championship," Fitzgerald said. "Then you take the other teams that are eligible and we put a committee together -- the 12 ADs, and Commissioner Delany as the 13th vote -- and kind of how we're doing the playoff. That would make a little bit of sense to me."

The divisions were determined by competitive equality based on data from 1993 through 2009. Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska and Penn State were considered first-tier programs with Wisconsin and Iowa the next tier. Through the realignment process, the top four were split into separate divisions as were Wisconsin and Iowa.

But there's a clear shift of programs since realignment. Wisconsin has advanced to back-to-back Rose Bowls, and Michigan State has produced the league's best record (14-2) over the last two seasons. With crippling NCAA sanctions  over the next five years, Penn State likely will not stay competitive for a significant period of time.

(Here's how I would change the divisions. North: Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Iowa, Nebraska. South: Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State. There would only be two protected annual crossover games: Michigan-Michigan State and Illinois-Northwestern.)