RE: If the B1G really adds Texas, who is #16? or will there be more?
Think there is less than nothing to these rumors. Everyone is set till the grant of rights come close to expiring next decade and this isn't any different than the hundreds of other fake expansion rumors that have spread.
For fun though, if Texas was coming, I agree that pods are the way to do it though. In theory, while I don't care for adding more powerful football schools (it's getting way too hard to win a conference championship), my first natural instinct is Oklahoma. They are a rival of both Nebraska and Texas and if you'd actually ever pull this off, you'd need a partner Texas wanted.
I agree pods would be necessary with a 16 team conference, but they are really hard to do. A couple thoughts on the pods:
1. With 9 conference games, 4 rotating pods, and no locked crossovers, you'd play your 3 pod mates every year and everyone else 1/2 the time. You add in a locked crossover out of pod (meaning out of division at least 2 out of 3 years, possibly 3 out of 3 depending on set-up), and you play everyone else less. No locked crossovers are definitely ideal if it can be managed.
2. I would despise any set-up which had Ohio State in an east pod without any traditional opponents and I can imagine most long time fan bases would probably feel the same way about being in a pod without any traditional opponents.
3. Keeping rivalries and competitive balance is key.
With those thoughts in mind, I'd probably do the following:
Pod A
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Rutgers
Pod B
Nebraska
Oklahoma (locked crossover with Texas)
Indiana
Purdue
Pod C
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Penn State
Maryland
Pod D
Iowa
Texas (locked crossover with Oklahoma)
Illinois
Northwestern
I don't really like this set-up, but I think it's the best we could do with those 16 teams. I didn't want to lock any teams, but did lock Texas/Oklahoma as it would obviously be necessary to keep. That would mean everyone out of their pods would play Texas and Oklahoma a little less than 50% of the time and everyone else out of their pod a little more than 50%.
Set-up: Pods rotate to form 2 different divisions every year. For scheduling ease, you could keep A and B always separate (as well as C and D), but use your crossover games to play the pod you are not in a division with. It wouldn't be necessary though as the pod strength is fairly spread out.
Advantages:
1. Decent set of season ending games: Ohio State/Michigan, Nebraska/Oklahoma, Indiana/Purdue, Illinois/Northwestern, Wisconsin/Minnesota. The rest would probably rotate depending on schedule, but you could lock the other pod mates (Penn State/Maryland, Texas/Iowa, Michigan State/Rutgers)
2. Big names are divided. Of the big 6 (Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska), every division as 1 or 2 of them. The divisions that only get 1, end up with Iowa or Wisconsin.
3. Puts emphasis back on Nebraska/Oklahoma.
4. Allows playing everyone regularly
5. No division is all newbies. At least 2 legacy members from 10 team set-up in every division.
6. Most rivalries preserved. All that aren't, are at least every other year.
Disadvantages:
1. Only a little to do with geography and rotating divisions might not be taken well.
2. Messes up a few rivalries/big games. In particular, Iowa is separated from both Wisconsin and Minnesota (will play one every year though). Also Penn State is separated from Rutgers and Ohio State and Purdue from Illinois.
(This post was last modified: 08-05-2013 10:49 PM by ohio1317.)
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