Back in the glory days of Legends and Leaders, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany made the ill-fated announcement that Michigan and Ohio State would not be in the same division. While it drew ire from fans reluctant to watch potential back-to-back editions of the league’s biggest rivalry, Delany found this setup necessary to keep competitive balance.
The Big Ten is back, despite including the Big Ten West
Ohio State won a championship. That’s great for the conference. But it just shows how lopsided the Big Ten’s divisions will continue to get in the future.
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As Michigan football struggled behind former “little brother” Michigan State, the Michigan-Ohio State championship game never materialized. And while the setup meant some lost rivalries, it achieved its goal of competitive balance. Most years, the divisions were relatively balanced. Even in 2012, when postseason bans made for lopsided records in the Big Ten Championship, underdog Wisconsin won.
But with the additions of Maryland and Rutgers, the Big Ten needed to realign. Geography won out. Michigan and Ohio State would be in the same division, along with Michigan State and Penn State.
Some argued the depth of the West would help counteract the top-heaviness of the East. After all, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern has each won double-digit games in a season since 2009.
This year, Ohio State and Michigan State were clearly the two best teams in the conference, and the West was competitive to the last game. The problem is, none of the West teams were close to the caliber of the top two in the East. Wisconsin lost, 59-0, to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship. Minnesota surprised, but was closer to average than to Ohio State. Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern disappointed.
Big Ten in Charge
Despite the gap, this year’s lack of balance was tolerable. But in the future, the gap promises to grow.
- Ohio State is everybody’s preseason No. 1 team. Given the impressive recruiting by Urban Meyer’s staff, the Buckeyes aren’t going anywhere.
- Michigan State might have lost two games, but they were to both National Championship participants. There’s enough back next year for the Spartans to be a top-10 team.
- The Jim Harbaugh hire shows the Wolverines’ commitment to winning. He already has a lot of talent to work with.
- Penn State struggled, but James Franklin is recruiting a talented program.
Compare that with the West.
- Wisconsin should be fine under Paul Chryst, despite yet another surprise coaching change.
- Mike Riley hasn’t proved to be a consistent winner, and now he’s going to try to install a pro-style offense in Lincoln with spread personnel.
- Iowa is recruiting poorly, and Kirk Ferentz hasn’t done anything to inspire confidence that he’ll innovate.
- The Gophers have had two straight 8-5 seasons, but given how they’re recruiting, it’s doubtful they’ll ever become elite.
- Northwestern has turned the first part of its best recruiting haul in school history into back-to-back 5-7 seasons.
Teams in the West don’t recruit hard enough and haven’t put the necessary resources toward assembling coaching staffs that can be successful, despite having some of the richest athletic departments in the country.
I wrote about the Big Ten problem at the beginning of the season:
Big Ten teams have also been unable to transition from the regional model of recruiting to the national model that the rest of the country has adapted to. Part of the reason for the conference’s recruiting woes is due to population trends, but the conference has added the recruiting rich areas of New Jersey and the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) with the additions of Rutgers and Maryland. Moreover, good coaches aren’t limited by geography, and the best southern teams have taken some of the top recruits from Big Ten country.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at what one of the top recruits in the country, Jashon Cornell (who chose Ohio State), said:
“The Big Ten needs to recruit harder. They need to really go after the recruits they really need,” Cornell said. “They have to hassle you a little bit, on you every single day. That makes recruits think the coaches really want me and I could go there because the coaches want me so bad. That’s what the SEC does.”
Ohio State, Michigan State, and Penn State’s 2015 recruiting classes all have higher average star ratings than any West teams (Michigan’s excluded because of how few recruits it has, due to the Hoke job rumors starting so early). All four East powers ranked ahead of the West teams in 2014.
A lack of program-building is no longer a Big Ten problem. It’s now a Big Ten West problem.
