What the Big Ten's new schedules mean for Northwestern

[lou v]

What the Big Ten's new schedules mean for Northwestern

Breaking down Northwestern's outlook after the Big Ten released the conference matchups for 2024 and 2025.

northwestern.rivals.com

 

[stpaulcat]

Lou V: "The pathway back to even the top half of the conference will be a lot more difficult."

But sweeter when it happens. The cynical view would be that this scheduling plan is designed to keep the big boys on top.

 

[Sheffielder]

I think the elimination of divisions in the long run will become a serious point of contention for many programs and their fanbases.

Perhaps less so for a program like Northwestern (although let's face it...our two division titles of the past few years would not exist under these terms)...now you have to consider the Blue Bloods of the Big Ten and the SEC for that matter - it is realistic to imagine that some of the USCs, Michigans, Floridas, Texases, and Oklahomas may go 20+ years without a conference championship, and not even a division title banner to hang in the stadium as a consolation.

I get the strategy - ensure more schools from the conference have a better chance at making the playoffs...and the existence of Divisions doesn't help that...but I think they boost to fan pride, fundraising and other things that will noticeably take a hit over time. We'll see.

 

[BosCat]

I think the elimination of divisions in the long run will become a serious point of contention for many programs and their fanbases.

Perhaps less so for a program like Northwestern (although let's face it...our two division titles of the past few years would not exist under these terms)...now you have to consider the Blue Bloods of the Big Ten and the SEC for that matter - it is realistic to imagine that some of the USCs, Michigans, Floridas, Texases, and Oklahomas may go 20+ years without a conference championship, and not even a division title banner to hang in the stadium as a consolation.

I get the strategy - ensure more schools from the conference have a better chance at making the playoffs...and the existence of Divisions doesn't help that...but I think they boost to fan pride, fundraising and other things that will noticeably take a hit over time. We'll see.

My question:
Name the first future former B1G West team to make (not win, just make) the conf title game. When?

 

[phatcat]

"The yet-to-be-finalized plan is to play at Soldier Field until the end of the Chicago Cubs season, and then play at Wrigley Field for the remainder of the schedule."

Yuk

 

[stpaulcat]

"The yet-to-be-finalized plan is to play at Soldier Field until the end of the Chicago Cubs season, and then play at Wrigley Field for the remainder of the schedule."

Yuk

Can NU get enough bodies in Soldier Field seats so these don't feel like high school games? Maybe play Nebraska every home game?

 

[Sheffielder]

"The yet-to-be-finalized plan is to play at Soldier Field until the end of the Chicago Cubs season, and then play at Wrigley Field for the remainder of the schedule."

Yuk

First of all, kudos to @lou v for breaking this news (at least this is the first I've seen/heard in the way of a "plan").

For my purposes, this works out pretty well. My friend/fellow STH lives a few blocks from Wrigley. Maybe not the most ideal place for football, but personally convenient to me and I think it yields a chance to pickup some new fans into the novelty of Wrigley football.

Honestly, I hate Soldier Field with a passion - huge hassle getting there, and getting in/out...I figured it would be a foregone conclusion that we'd play there the whole season, so this was actually good news to me.

 

[phatcat]

First of all, kudos to @lou v for breaking this news (at least this is the first I've seen/heard in the way of a "plan").

For my purposes, this works out pretty well. My friend/fellow STH lives a few blocks from Wrigley. Maybe not the most ideal place for football, but personally convenient to me and I think it yields a chance to pickup some new fans into the novelty of Wrigley football.

Honestly, I hate Soldier Field with a passion - huge hassle getting there, and getting in/out...I figured it would be a foregone conclusion that we'd play there the whole season, so this was actually good news to me.

For Wrigley, I guess I can park at the Skokie Swift Station and go to the red line at Howard but that also 45 mins to the trip. And outbound, yuk

Soldier Field? Wow. That will be pretty bad

 

[AdamOnFirst]

My question:
Name the first future former B1G West team to make (not win, just make) the conf title game. When?

Nebraska is always scary with their NIL and Wisconsin has had lots of talent and no QB for years. Probably that.

 

[The Purple Knight]

What the Big Ten's new schedules mean for Northwestern

Breaking down Northwestern's outlook after the Big Ten released the conference matchups for 2024 and 2025.

northwestern.rivals.com

It’s bad! Will be much harder to make the BigTen championship game.

 

[NURoseBowl]

My question:
Name the first future former B1G West team to make (not win, just make) the conf title game. When?

I'll go Wisconsin, a long time from now.

 

[Jaguar 88]

Lou V: "The pathway back to even the top half of the conference will be a lot more difficult."

But sweeter when it happens. The cynical view would be that this scheduling plan is designed to keep the big boys on top.

It has been all about the money, nothing but the money for almost three decades, and even then some could argue longer than that. The Big Boys bring in the big bucks, and now you will have a future mega conference with more Big Boys coming in. NU can't compete in terms of both TV revenue, and on the field at the moment. It will get darker before things get better. An innovative new HC needs to be brought in before that happens. Fitz doesn't have the offensive scheme or the players to right the ship at the moment. Three star players aren't going to cut it with USC and UCLA coming aboard, and who knows what ACC teams we will finally land in the B1G. The competition just got a huge upgrade.

 

[Catreporter]

Big test for Fitz this year. He's earned a lot of slack with his success, but you can't live in the past and the Big Ten has just gotten a lot tougher going forward with USC and UCLA in the mix. It's really a new era of college football right now and Northwestern, always at a disadvantage anyway, now has an even bigger hill to climb just to stay competitive. Not sure we'll ever get back to the BIG championship game under this new format. Then again, half a dozen other schools never made it there even once during the old era.