July 21 – These days, “big” is much more accurate than the number in the name of the football conference that hosts Ohio State.
The Buckeyes are still part of the Big Ten, but this summer they are undergoing the most extensive membership change since their formation in 1896.
With all league members scheduled to be in Indianapolis this week for the league’s annual Football Media Days, here are 10 things you need to know about the new 18-team Big Ten:
1. The change isn’t new, but the league has never added so many teams at once.
The Universities of Chicago, Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Michigan joined together to form a new conference in 1896.
It grew to 10 teams with the addition of Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State and then expanded again with Michigan State in the 1950s (after Chicago deemphasized sports and left in the 40s). Penn State joined in the early 1990s, followed by Nebraska in 2011 and Maryland and Rutgers in 2014.
2. The old name may fit better now.
Because college football originated in Ivy League schools in the East (and East Coast newspapers still dominated the media landscape), what is now known as the Big Ten was called the Western Conference in its early years.
That nickname may have confused fans in later decades, but there is now an entire Western Wing, with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington becoming members this year.
3. New members mean a new scheduling format.
Of course, the league stopped playing a true round-robin schedule decades ago, but the old divisional alignments meant that some teams (like Ohio State and Iowa) faced each other relatively rarely.
To avoid this, the league will use what it calls the “Flex Protect Plus” model for scheduling because it protects historic rivalries like Ohio State-Michigan, Iowa-Wisconsin, Minnesota-Wisconsin, etc. another at least twice within a five-year period.
On the other hand, some notable competitive annual matchups, such as Ohio State-Penn State, will be played less frequently.
4. The conference championship game is also changing.
Indianapolis will still host the title game this year, as it has every season since the first in 2011, but it will no longer be a matchup of division champions because there are no divisions.
The top two teams in the final standings (likely after applying multiple tiebreakers) will meet to determine the Big Ten winner.
5. The new Big Ten hopes to place multiple teams in the expanded College Football Playoff each year.
As part of the CFP’s expansion to 12 teams this year, the six highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic bids, and the top four conference champions receive first-round byes. That means the Big Ten Championship Game will have a lot at stake, even if it’s a seemingly unnecessary rematch between teams that have already proven themselves to be the two best in the conference and worthy of the playoffs.
6. The conference has definitely gotten stronger.
A consensus preseason Top 25 list put together by Sporting News had at least seven Big Ten teams receiving votes: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Oregon, No. 9 Michigan, No. 10 Penn State, No. 23 USC with Washington and Iowa receiving wishes.
This means that the new additions have doubled the strength of the league, at least by that measure.
ESPN’s SP+ analytical rankings agree with Ohio State No. 2 in preseason projections, followed by Oregon (3), Michigan (6), Penn State (7), USC (21), Iowa (22), UCLA (26 ) and Wisconsin (27). ) among the top 30.
7. Both teams that played for the national championship in January are now members.
However, Michigan and Washington will be led by new coaches and will try to overcome heavy personnel losses.
With a talented defense still at his disposal and a knack for developing good offensive lines, Sherrone Moore thinks it will be easier to get his Wolverines back to the playoffs than Jedd Fisch, whose Huskies relied more on a high-powered offense that lost everyone.
8. The conference could be more offensive this fall.
That means scoring more points and not throwing more insults.
Oregon ranked second in the country in scoring at 44.2 points per game last season, while USC was right behind in third place, and SP+ projects both will have top-five offenses this fall despite having to sign new defenders.
They could immediately become the two best offenses in the Big Ten, as Ohio State fell to 44th in scoring last season, but hopes to bounce back under new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
10. Defense will probably still be a strong point.
Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa finished 1-4 in the country in scoring defense last season, and all four teams should be strong on that side of the ball again.
While USC and Washington struggled to stop teams, Oregon and UCLA ranked ninth and 14th, respectively, in points allowed last season, so newcomers should boost that side of the ball as well.
