ADVERTISEMENT

Should B1G Basketball Break Into Divisions?

Should Big Ten Go to Divisions for Basketball?

  • Yes, go to divisions with the current 20 game schedule.

    Votes: 6 15.0%
  • No divisions and keep play the same as now with 20-game schedule.

    Votes: 25 62.5%
  • No divisions, but go to 26 game full round robin Big Ten schedule.

    Votes: 6 15.0%
  • Yes divisions, but go to 26 game full round robin Big Ten schedule.

    Votes: 3 7.5%
  • Other (explain in post)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    40
  • Poll closed .

ohiovalleycat

Well-Known Member
Oct 7, 2007
739
426
63
Currently, the Big Ten basketball schedule involves playing 20 games with play against 7 teams involving home-and-home series for a for a total of 14 games plus playing one game against the other 6 teams split between 3 home and 3 away games. There are three in-state series that will be guaranteed home-and-homes: Illinois and Northwestern, Indiana and Purdue, and Michigan and Michigan State

In the Big Ten were to go to two 7-team divisions for basketball, teams could play their 12 games against their 6 division opponents (home and home) and then play one home-and-home series against a designated rival team in the other division for 2 more games and then play the other 6 non-division teams for 1 game split between 3 at home and 3 away to build the same 20 game conference schedule. There would still be room to allow for some protected rivalries with NU and Illinois being in the same division, Michigan and Michigan State being in the same division, and Indiana and Purdue being able to be assigned as each other cross-division rivalry to play a home-and-home series.

The benefits I see in going to divisions in basketball would be:
1. Intermediate Championships
A division championship would provide a meaningful intermediate goal for teams to reach. With 14 teams in the league, the difficulty in claiming a league championship is harder with more teams in the past. Wasn't it great for NU to win the 2018 Big Ten West title in football?
2. Conference Tournament Raised in Importance
The conference tournament would be more meaningful. Since the regular season would determine division championships, there would no longer be the potentially duplicative regular season and conference tournament champions. The actual single, definitive Big Ten champion would be the conference champion that won the Big Ten tournament.
3. Potentially Reduce Travel Time and Costs
More regional divisions and play might help reduce travel costs.

This thinking assumes the basketball divisions would be the same that are used for Big Ten football. Alternative basketball scheduling could include playing a full round robin schedule playing all other teams twice with or without divisions.

EAST
Rutgers
Maryland
Penn State
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Indiana

WEST
Nebraska
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois
Purdue
 
I see this lowering the importance of the BTT, potentially eliminating it for a 1 game or best of 3 type series between the two divisional champs.
 
I'm not sure, but I appreciate the effort that went into this question!

One thing that struck me is that your proposed divisions seemed to be pretty imbalanced. All of the heavy hitters are in the East. Nebraska is only P5 to have never won a game in the tournament and our futility is pretty well documented. You may need to switch us with Indiana to give it some balance. Also, makes sense to keep Purdue and Indiana in the same division if part of the goal is to cut down on travel costs.
 
I'm not sure, but I appreciate the effort that went into this question!

One thing that struck me is that your proposed divisions seemed to be pretty imbalanced. All of the heavy hitters are in the East. Nebraska is only P5 to have never won a game in the tournament and our futility is pretty well documented. You may need to switch us with Indiana to give it some balance. Also, makes sense to keep Purdue and Indiana in the same division if part of the goal is to cut down on travel costs.
The three preseason top 10 teams would be in the west in that proposal.
 
The three preseason top 10 teams would be in the west in that proposal.

Sure, for this one year. But from a historical perspective when is the last time Iowa finished in the top 10?What about Illinois? And for the record Michigan State is pre-season number 11. I cant' imagine any fan would look at these divisions and think that the West isn't going to be the easier draw for the short and medium term.
 
Nope. You need to play everyone at least once and then split the other games. I like seeing games against PSU and Maryland in person at home every other year. Maryland is a heck of a team to see in person. Even Rutgers, more so now, is an entertaining watch in person. It gives you a better perspective of the conference's teams. I see enough of the teams and their fans in the proposed west division in football. The conference makes enough $ and all the schools can fly privately. With the emphasis now on Zoom classes, make all the profs with athletes record their lectures and the student athlete does not miss the class. They can watch it on the plane or keep up with classes all day before the game. In the last ten years, only one proposed west division team won the B10 tournament and 4 were regular season champs. I think it puts the west teams in a more precarious position. I think the league should be a death march.
 
Nope. You need to play everyone at least once and then split the other games. I like seeing games against PSU and Maryland in person at home every other year. Maryland is a heck of a team to see in person. Even Rutgers, more so now, is an entertaining watch in person. It gives you a better perspective of the conference's teams. I see enough of the teams and their fans in the proposed west division in football. The conference makes enough $ and all the schools can fly privately. With the emphasis now on Zoom classes, make all the profs with athletes record their lectures and the student athlete does not miss the class. They can watch it on the plane or keep up with classes all day before the game. In the last ten years, only one proposed west division team won the B10 tournament and 4 were regular season champs. I think it puts the west teams in a more precarious position. I think the league should be a death march.
There's pretty much no way you can configure the schedule that'd make the Big Ten anything BUT a death march. Year in, year out, top to bottom, consistently the best (or at least #1A) conference in the country. There are no nights off in the Big Ten; rarely can other conferences say that.
 
Nope. You need to play everyone at least once and then split the other games. I like seeing games against PSU and Maryland in person at home every other year. Maryland is a heck of a team to see in person. Even Rutgers, more so now, is an entertaining watch in person. It gives you a better perspective of the conference's teams. I see enough of the teams and their fans in the proposed west division in football. The conference makes enough $ and all the schools can fly privately. With the emphasis now on Zoom classes, make all the profs with athletes record their lectures and the student athlete does not miss the class. They can watch it on the plane or keep up with classes all day before the game. In the last ten years, only one proposed west division team won the B10 tournament and 4 were regular season champs. I think it puts the west teams in a more precarious position. I think the league should be a death march.
Play everyone!
 
Sure, for this one year. But from a historical perspective when is the last time Iowa finished in the top 10?What about Illinois? And for the record Michigan State is pre-season number 11. I cant' imagine any fan would look at these divisions and think that the West isn't going to be the easier draw for the short and medium term.

If we’re talking truly historical, Illinois and Purdue more than carry their own weight, and by this point you could argue Wisconsin does, too. Additionally, I know I’m biased, but I wouldn’t predict Illinois, Iowa or Wisconsin to regress very far in coming years ... those divisions might have been unbalanced in 2012 or something, but OSU seems to have regressed back to their mean from the Matta years, IU is pretty much coasting on name recognition alone, Michigan is arguably a step down from the Belein years and doesn’t have the natural staying power of MSU, etc. The East would be better overall, but it’s pretty close, actually. The West would just have a weaker lower tier, IMO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: No Chores
In the last 20 years for the East
Michigan State has 7 final fours;
Michigan has 2;
Maryland has 2;
Ohio State has 2
Indiana has 1

In the West:
Wisconsin has 2 and Illinois has 1. And that's it. Nebraska and Northwestern have combined for 1 win in the tournament all time.

Iowa and Illinois are on the upswing but I think every coach in the league would rather go through the West than the East.
 
Michigan is arguably a step down from the Belein years and doesn’t have the natural staying power of MSU, etc.

What natural staying power does MSU have that Michigan lacks? Michigan has appeared in 7 different title games spread out over 5 different decades by 4 different coaches (MSU 3 times in 2 decades by 2 coaches). MSU is basically Izzo. Other than one Magic Johnson powered title under Jud Heathcote they have had relatively little success when coached by anyone other than Izzo. There is little in their history to suggest they will continue winning at a high level after Izzo retires in a few years.

I mean Izzo is great. One of the best coaches of all time. But he turns 66 this upcoming season.
 
I'm not sure, but I appreciate the effort that went into this question!

One thing that struck me is that your proposed divisions seemed to be pretty imbalanced. All of the heavy hitters are in the East. Nebraska is only P5 to have never won a game in the tournament and our futility is pretty well documented. You may need to switch us with Indiana to give it some balance. Also, makes sense to keep Purdue and Indiana in the same division if part of the goal is to cut down on travel costs.
This was Discussion Section politics...the basketball forum discussion was going dark, so I had to contribute something to give a spark. I think the divisions could be modified, however. For example, I saw one division format for the Big Ten that was North/South with the Upper Midwest in the North and the Lower Midwest and East in the South. North = Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State. South = Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers.
 
This was Discussion Section politics...the basketball forum discussion was going dark, so I had to contribute something to give a spark. I think the divisions could be modified, however. For example, I saw one division format for the Big Ten that was North/South with the Upper Midwest in the North and the Lower Midwest and East in the South. North = Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State. South = Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers.
I can see it for football but no reason to do it in basketball. There are 32 D-1 Basketball conferences. A quick check shows only the MAC with divisions. None of the power conferences do.
 
ADVERTISEMENT