Sid: Maturi says Gophs may not be in div with Iowa or UW

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BleedGopher

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Sid: Maturi says no sure bet that Gophs in div with Iowa or UW

"Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi is back from the Big Ten meetings in Chicago, where the big topic was how the conference will establish two divisions for football. He said it's no sure bet that the Gophers will be in the same division with either Iowa or Wisconsin or both, despite their longtime rivalries. Maturi said there are so many longtime rivalries among Big Ten teams that it will be impossible to keep them all with two six-team divisions, beginning in 2011 when Nebraska joins the conference."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/100086939.html?page=2&c=y

Go Gophers!!
 

If Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota aren't in the same decision, then it will be time to get organized and figure out how to stop the Big Ten from ruining two of its most historic and exciting rivalries. And although Michigan will likely be in the other division, with 9 conference games the Jug should be protected as well.

But until something actually happens, there's nothing to do except maybe email maturi.
 

The Jug hasn't been a "protected" rivalry for a long time now. This is the 2nd time we've taken a 2-year vacation from Michigan since 1998 by my count, and it hasn't been a legitimate rivalry in my lifetime.
 

That would be really stupid. A six-team West division should naturally have Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa together, plus Northwestern, Illinois and Nebraska; East would have Penn State, Ohio State, the two Michigans, Purdue and Indiana. Makes perfect sense: three really strong teams (at present) in each divison. But they have to get fancy on us...
 

BleedGopher said:
Maturi said there are so many longtime rivalries among Big Ten teams that it will be impossible to keep them all with two six-team divisions, beginning in 2011 when Nebraska joins the conference."
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Who the hell is he trying to kid? Align the division by geography and you've got nearly all the big rivalries kept intact.
 


I talked to the Strib sports editor and it turns out a portion of Sid's column was mistakenly left out. Here is the rest of it below:

While it's possible that the Gophers won't be in the same division with Wisconsin and Iowa, it is also possible that they will be in the same division.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney also spoke Monday about the importance of protecting the rivalries and traditions that have become such an integral part of Big Ten Athletics. Just ask Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne, who will be the first to tell you how important that is to consider when realigning a conference. When the Big 8 became the Big 12 awhile back, perhaps the conferences' best rivalry in Nebraska/Oklahoma was lost, as the teams no longer play each year.

In reality both scenarios are possible, because nobody knows what will happen yet. Delaney expects a decision to be made on realignment within 30-45 days.
 

The issue is that Iowa and Wisconsin might not be in the same division. Minnesota would be in the same division as one of the two.

The top teams are Ohio State, Nebraska, Penn State, and Michigan. The thought is that Iowa and Wisconsin need to be split up.
 

divisions can always be realigned later if the balance shifts ten years down the road or something. An east west split seems to make sense from both a football AND basketball standpoint and will for probably the next decade to say the least. Why not leave it as that now and if the balance shifts one way or the other do some rearranging then.
 

If we are not in the same division as Wisconsin and Iowa, Maturi should be fired. Then he should be tarred and feathered.
 



I don't think it's that big of a deal, one will be with us and one can be a protected rivalry-crossover game. Besides how great would it be to someday have the chance to play either one in a conference championship game!
 

josh087 said:
I talked to the Strib sports editor and it turns out a portion of Sid's column was mistakenly left out. Here is the rest of it below:

While it's possible that the Gophers won't be in the same division with Wisconsin and Iowa, it is also possible that they will be in the same division.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney also spoke Monday about the importance of protecting the rivalries and traditions that have become such an integral part of Big Ten Athletics. Just ask Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne, who will be the first to tell you how important that is to consider when realigning a conference. When the Big 8 became the Big 12 awhile back, perhaps the conferences' best rivalry in Nebraska/Oklahoma was lost, as the teams no longer play each year.

In reality both scenarios are possible, because nobody knows what will happen yet. Delaney expects a decision to be made on realignment within 30-45 days.
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That's seems far more accurate, but it won't lead to dozens of very predictable "then Maturi should be FIRED" web hits like the truncated version will which, for the Trib, is far more valuable.
 

Watch us get put in a division with OSU and PSU and then have a protected rivalry game with Michigan.
 

Ski-U-Mah24 said:
An east west split seems to make sense from both a football AND basketball standpoint and will for probably the next decade to say the least.
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Why would there be a division split for basketball?
 



I still don't get the rationale of some here.

It seems like the Big Ten might put Penn State in the West and still many on this board would prefer a WI, IA, PSU, NE division along with a permanant crossover game against Michigan. Each year we will be lucky to win 1 of those games.

I'd much rather have a better record than preserve rivalries with a higher probability of losing. If Penn State goes west the best option is to move Wisconsin east from a balance standpoint.
 

I don't really understand how Minnesota would be excluded from a division with both Iowa and Wisconsin. Geographically, that makes absolutely no sense unless we are the team that's getting swapped out east, which would be a bunch of crap.
 

FishingMN said:
I still don't get the rationale of some here.

It seems like the Big Ten might put Penn State in the West and still many on this board would prefer a WI, IA, PSU, NE division along with a permanant crossover game against Michigan. Each year we will be lucky to win 1 of those games.

I'd much rather have a better record than preserve rivalries with a higher probability of losing. If Penn State goes west the best option is to move Wisconsin east from a balance standpoint.
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An east/west split preserves rivalries as best as possible. There is not split that will preserve them all. The east/west split also creates balance. Moving Penn State to the west makes the west brutal. A permanent crossover game with Michigan makes it incredibly brutal. We'd play 5 of the top 6 teams each year, and all 6 top teams on average every other year. A team like Indiana could play as few as three of the top 6, 5 of them at the most.

The percieved dominance of the east is OSU. You can't balance out for one team, it's not possible. A loss to OSU is still only one loss.
 

How many here think Joel Maturi has any pull at all during these meetings?
 

The Gophers will play the Badgers and Hawkeyes every year. The games themselves will be protected. However, there's a good chance that all three will not be in a the same division. Iowa and Wisconsin will likely be split up. But, we'll play them every year.

In fact, once the 9-game schedule comes into play, we'll play all but two teams every year with protected games with IA and WI. So nothing really will have changed, other than who we're fighting for a division title (and that likely won't include one of IA or WI, not both).
 

He had better have some pull!! He represents 1/12 of the league in those meetings. Not saying that in reality he has more pull than Mich or OSU ADs, but he better have something to say!

I'll be severely disappointed if the divisions are all jumbled up like that. Let's hope common sense wins out in the end....
 

jovs said:
The top teams are Ohio State, Nebraska, Penn State, and Michigan. The thought is that Iowa and Wisconsin need to be split up.
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Since 1993 (when PSU joined, and Delany's reference point, not mine) the difference in winning between the two combinations of OSU/PSU/Mich and Iowa/UW/Nebraska isn't significant. Certainly not significant enough to override the obvious geographic divisions.
 

This is just the way Joel Maturi plays the game. He is using Sid to float a few gloom and doom trial balloons so everyone will be relieved when the real stuff comes out. Do you think for one second that Joel Maturi does not know how this is going to come out? If he does not know, who does?
 

Gopherhurrin said:
This is just the way Joel Maturi plays the game. He is using Sid to float a few gloom and doom trial balloons so everyone will be relieved when the real stuff comes out. Do you think for one second that Joel Maturi does not know how this is going to come out? If he does not know, who does?
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He probably doesn't have a clue. This is a man who's still working on a simple contract extension for Tubby Smith that was first discussed in March. If they left it up the UM AD, they wouldn't announce the divisions until the day before the first game next year. Afterall, why make a decision until you have to?
 

The Big Ten should have the courage to just be the Big Ten. Every team should play every other team. Then hope for a good bowl game match-up with a team from another power conference. No ravalries would be lost that way. I'm really not all that excited about a conference championship game in Indy or Detroit or Green Bay or Chicago. If Notre Dame is no longer on the drawing board, just leave things the way things are now. Play a couple of non-conference games to get to the 13 game regular seson and hope for a fun bowl match-up. That will make for one great home and away schedule every year. With 11 Big Ten games for every Big Ten member, the Big Ten network will thrive. Who cares what the SEC does? Be strong enough and brave enough to be the Big Ten and do it like no other conference does.
 

imthewalrus said:
The Big Ten should have the courage to just be the Big Ten. Every team should play every other team. Then hope for a good bowl game match-up with a team from another power conference. No ravalries would be lost that way. I'm really not all that excited about a conference championship game in Indy or Detroit or Green Bay or Chicago. If Notre Dame is no longer on the drawing board, just leave things the way things are now. Play a couple of non-conference games to get to the 13 game regular seson and hope for a fun bowl match-up. That will make for one great home and away schedule every year. With 11 Big Ten games for every Big Ten member, the Big Ten network will thrive. Who cares what the SEC does? Be strong enough and brave enough to be the Big Ten and do it like no other conference does.
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There will be a conference championship game. You leave too much money on the table by not doing so. That was the entire point of adding Nebraska. This wasn't about "copying the SEC" or anything like that. It's all about the Benjamins.
 

Gopherhurrin said:
This is just the way Joel Maturi plays the game. He is using Sid to float a few gloom and doom trial balloons so everyone will be relieved when the real stuff comes out. Do you think for one second that Joel Maturi does not know how this is going to come out? If he does not know, who does?
Click to expand...

No one truly does know yet. The Big Ten ADs/Presidents/Commissioner are still discussing 3-4 different divisional alignments. He knows one or two of those include the idea that Wis, IA, and MN are not all in the same division. Over the next 35-40 days, they will continue to study, analyze, etc. They will then come up with the one they like the best.

Personally, I think they should do a straight East-West split, but it is clear they are not going to do that. Delaney does not want that and that's final. Too much "star power" (PSU, OSU, MICH) in the East and too much "ordinary" (IA, NEB, WIS) in the West in a straight split in Delaney's mind.
 

imthewalrus said:
The Big Ten should have the courage to just be the Big Ten. Every team should play every other team. Then hope for a good bowl game match-up with a team from another power conference. No ravalries would be lost that way. I'm really not all that excited about a conference championship game in Indy or Detroit or Green Bay or Chicago. If Notre Dame is no longer on the drawing board, just leave things the way things are now. Play a couple of non-conference games to get to the 13 game regular seson and hope for a fun bowl match-up. That will make for one great home and away schedule every year. With 11 Big Ten games for every Big Ten member, the Big Ten network will thrive. Who cares what the SEC does? Be strong enough and brave enough to be the Big Ten and do it like no other conference does.
Click to expand...

They've already got a championship planned. They announced its location for the 2011 season yesterday. Ship has sailed. That aside, you aren't allowed to have a 13 game regular season unless you are playing Hawaii. You are allowed to stage a championship game if you have 12 teams. So while the conf title game is already a lock, there was never a chance for a 13 game regular season featuring another B10 game.
 

I'm sure that Mr. Maturi is doing all he can to put the Gophers in the worst possible situation.
 

There will be a 13 game schedule. The non-revenue and the title ix sports eat too many resources not to demand more from the money maker...football. The stadiums are built and are in place. The Big Ten Network is in place extra conference games would generate a lot of money for the Big Ten Network to split with the greedy and needy athletic directors and non-revenue and title ix coaches.

I'm not saying the Big Ten schedule thing will ever happen, but, it would make a lot of financial sense, and season ticket holders like me would not be so tired of watch non-Big Ten games for my ticket money. I don't care if they play USC or any other "big name" out of conference foe. I only care about teams from other major conferences during bowl season. Non-conference games feel too much like nfl pre-season exhibitions. I would much prefer to see the Gophers play every other Big Ten team. I guess I'm just a die-hard Big Ten Fan. If I could I would want all Big Ten all the time.
 

tjgopher said:
No one truly does know yet. The Big Ten ADs/Presidents/Commissioner are still discussing 3-4 different divisional alignments. He knows one or two of those include the idea that Wis, IA, and MN are not all in the same division. Over the next 35-40 days, they will continue to study, analyze, etc. They will then come up with the one they like the best.

Personally, I think they should do a straight East-West split, but it is clear they are not going to do that. Delaney does not want that and that's final. Too much "star power" (PSU, OSU, MICH) in the East and too much "ordinary" (IA, NEB, WIS) in the West in a straight split in Delaney's mind.
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I may be wrong on this tj, but doesn't Delaney report to the school presidents. If that's correct, then if all school presidents (with input from their AD's and coaches) say they want a basic East/West split, then that's what will happen. I don't think Delaney has the power to institute his vision. He doesn't have that power.
 

GophBen said:
If we are not in the same division as Wisconsin and Iowa, Maturi should be fired. Then he should be tarred and feathered.
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He maybe should be tarred and feathered anyway, even if he isn't fired, just to see how he explains it away.
 

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