B1G meetings: No divisions, 18 games for hoops

CHICAGO -- Any changes to the Big Ten's basketball foundation will be subtle, not forceful, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said Wednesday.

"There's no appetite for regional divisions in basketball," Delany said. "I think 18 games is about right. I thought this year, as enjoyable as the season was, as competitive it was and as deep as it was, I thought players were really tired at the end of the year. I thought they got some of their legs back but they played so hard and each game was a physical and an emotional challenge and people were tired."

The league expands to 14 teams in 2014-15 when Maryland and Rutgers join the Big Ten. The annual set-up will include five double-play series and eight single-play match-ups. That's down from the current seven round-robins and four single-play games. Before Nebraska joined the league in 2011, each team played eight opponents twice and only two once.

Some schools are concerned about playing their rivalries less frequently in the new Big Ten. This year, for instance, Purdue and Indiana meet only once at West Lafayette. Many consider that series the league's best rivalry, and Indiana Athletics Director Fred Glass wants to protect it as an annual home-and-home.

"I talked to the commissioner and some of the other leadership in the conference about at least looking at whether we protect rivalries or assuring two games home and away for certain teams," Glass said. "Obviously, Indiana-Purdue, we're only going to be playing in Mackey this year. It's a rivalry all of our fans want to see. There's others around the conference."

Outside of Indiana-Purdue, most Big Ten schools boasts rivalries with multiple programs rather than with one clear absolute rival. Minnesota Athletics Director Norwood Teague said schools do want to incorporate as many round-robin regional rivalries into their schedule.

"It's important," he said. "Obviously we want to play as much regionality as we can."

Delany said he hasn't been involved in basketball scheduling discussions. Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith said it's likely the athletics directors will talk more about future basketball scheduling at their fall meetings.

It's a major issue for Glass, and he will continue to address it with his colleagues.

"I don't want to get ahead of ourselves too much. There could be competitive issues with that, parity issues, I get that," Glass said. "But I think we should at least look at protecting some of the rivalries around the conference in basketball home and away every year."

"I think we would try to preserve Michigan-Michigan State, Purdue-Indiana, but we really haven't talked about it yet," Purdue Athletics Director Morgan Burke.