It's believed two six-team divisions is the preferred format, but Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez recently told the Wisconsin State Journal that three four-team divisions is a possibility.
Did he actually say that, because barring a rule change, it's not actually possible, not if we want to have a championship game.
This much is certain: The Big Ten is likely to divide based on competitive balance, protecting rivalries and geography. The league now has four schools that have won national titles in football: Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Nebraska.
I see he forgets one team which has won national titles in Football, Minnesota. 50 years ago. But that is WITHIN THE 50 YEAR TIME FRAME HE RAVES ABOUT!!!
Maybe our last national title doesn't tell you anything about what to expect out of Minnesota. Fair enough. Neither do these other teams national titles. They don't tell you what to expect out of these teams for the forseeable future.
"I want competitive parity. I want to protect the rivalries," Burke said. "I don't know how we'll frame it but we won't look at last year's win-loss record. I would look at 50 years worth of data and almost seed the conference. If there's a small percentage point between Purdue and Wisconsin, maybe you look at geography.
50 years. 50 years. What do the events of 50 years ago have to do with how teams will be now or for the forseeable future? Why not invite Princeton, if we look back far enough, they were great! Why aren't Badger fans pissed? It hurts to say it, but Wisconsin has been a whole lot better than just a small percentage better than Purdue for a considerable length of time.
"We now have four national brands. You ought to put two in one division and two in the other. I don't want a kid to go through their college career and never see a Big Ten campus. I want to them to play in Madison. I want them to play in Lincoln."
Expansion has reprecussions. With 12 teams, you can have everyone play at least once in each stadium, but only if there are no protected cross-division rivalries. Further expansion means that some campuses you will never visit. It's just the nature of the beast.
But we do get a rare bit of honesty, that it is about branding, not about competitive balance.
