When it comes to the Big Ten's new world and Ohio State vs. Michigan, the goal should be protecting and preserving the rivalry, says Doug Lesmerises.
It's hard not to suspect that Big Ten power brokers believe that Ohio State vs. Michigan could once again be a match of the titans in a championship-game scenario. But is that just living in the past and ruining the modern-day value of the game?GUESSING AT THE BIG DIVIDE
Here’s one example of how Big Ten divisions could be determined if Ohio State and Michigan are on opposite sides. Penn State and Nebraska, as other members of the best four teams since 1993, would likely be split as well, with Wisconsin and Iowa separated as the fifth and sixth teams in that time period.
Hayes Division: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Minnesota, Indiana
Schembechler Division: Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Illinois
THE WHAT-IF CHAMPS
Given the breakdown above, here’s what Big Ten Championship games would have been if Nebraska had joined the conference and the title game created in 1993:
1993: Ohio State/Wisconsin vs. Nebraska
1994: Penn State vs. Nebraska
1995: Ohio State vs. Northwestern/Nebraska
1996: Ohio State vs. Northwestern/Nebraska
1997: Penn State vs. Michigan/Nebraska
1998: Ohio State/Wisconsin vs. Michigan
1999: Wisconsin vs. Michigan State
2000: Purdue vs. Northwestern/Nebraska
2001: Ohio State vs. Illinois/Nebraska
2002: Ohio State vs. Iowa
2003: Ohio State vs. Michigan
2004: Wisconsin vs. Michigan
2005: Penn State vs. Michigan
2006: Ohio State vs. Michigan
2007: Ohio State vs. Michigan
2008: Penn State vs. Michigan State
2009: Ohio State vs. Iowa
OSU-Michigan title matchups: 2007, 2006, 2003, 1998 (maybe)
Potential title game appearances: Ohio State 10, Michigan 7, Nebraska 7, Penn State 4, Wisconsin 4, Northwestern 3, Iowa 2, Michigan State 2, Purdue 1, Illinois 1
— Doug Lesmerises
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The idea of placing Ohio State and Michigan in separate Big Ten divisions focuses on maximizing and monetizing the greatest rivalry in college football.
In reality, the goal should be protecting and preserving the rivalry. Because, if you haven't noticed, it's not 1975.
By trying to create a world where the Buckeyes and Wolverines can meet in the new Big Ten Championship, the conference could cripple what is a rivalry that isn't quite what it used to be.
The Big Ten should announce its division pairings sometime in September, and the idea of placing Michigan and Ohio State in opposite divisions has been gaining steam, with everyone from Ohio State coach Jim Tressel to Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith to Michigan athletic director David Brandon laying groundwork for that possibility.
"One of the best things that could happen, in my opinion in a given season, would be the opportunity to play Ohio State twice," Brandon told Michigan radio station WTKA last week.
To do that, the decision-makers seem ready to sacrifice the tradition of Ohio State and Michigan playing to end the regular season, as they've done since 1935. That would be changed to avoid a scenario where the teams meet to end the regular season and then again seven days later in the title game. The prevailing wisdom under the new schedule is for teams to end the regular season against divisional opponents to eliminate that possibility.
Here's the secret which no one is talking about: If the Buckeyes and Wolverines are in separate divisions, meeting in the championship will be a rarity, likely nothing more than a once-every-four-years occurrence. Meanwhile, matching up the Buckeyes and Wolverines at, say, the end of October will lessen a regular-season showdown that has rarely featured two of America's best teams for the last two decades.
At the current rate, Ohio State-Michigan in the middle of the season could start to feel too much like Ohio State-Purdue.
Take one division template, which features Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin on one side and Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa on the other. If the Big Ten had added Nebraska along with the Nittany Lions in 1993 and split into divisions then, the Buckeyes and Wolverines would have met in the title game either three or four times in the last 17 years.
The reality of a Big Ten that has developed competitive parity over the last 20 years is that OSU-Michigan still means everything to fans of both programs and college football, but is not always a deciding event in the league standings.
Is that a payoff that demands altering the conference's marquee matchup?
In a college football universe where the balance of power is shifting south, it's foolhardy to think Ohio State and Michigan will continue to exist simultaneously as elite programs. With Michigan struggling under Rich Rodriguez, Nebraska back on track under Bo Pelini, Penn State facing change whenever Joe Paterno leaves the sideline and Iowa and Wisconsin both competitive, the future Big Ten isn't going to be the Big Two and the Little Ten, as it may have been in the past.
Then look at the game itself. Since 1988, the series has been a lopsided mess, first the Wolverines winning 10 of 13, and now the Buckeyes taking eight of the last nine. In that 22-year timeframe, both teams have entered the game ranked in the top 15 just five times.
During the Ten Year War between Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler from 1969 through 1978, both Ohio State and Michigan were ranked in the top 15 in eight of those 10 games. The series was nearly even, Michigan holding a 5-4-1 edge.
That's the game that conference powers want more of. That's the game that they want to see in the Big Ten Championship. That game is gone.
What's left is Ohio State vs. Michigan. What's left is a game that goes beyond the records, that defines the season for both teams, that allows one team the delicious opportunity to play spoiler, that in good years could serve as an ideal de facto conference semifinal and that allows fans to recharge their animosity over a full season, building to the one game that matters more than any other.
"That's like the opera to me, the crescendo comes at the end," said former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce, who went 5-4 against Michigan in his nine years. "I've been with Ohio State since 1949, and I believe that game is The game. Everything should be built around that for us."
Everyone is saying that in the new Big Ten, Michigan and Ohio State are guaranteed to continue playing every year. That's like ensuring there will be 10 yards required for a first down and the Ohio State band will continue to dot the i. It's a given.
The error is assuming that's enough. Change is necessary and often beneficial. But this change would be an avoidable choice. Separating Ohio State and Michigan isn't a must. Putting Nebraska and Penn State together opposite the Buckeyes and Wolverines, or Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin in the West with Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State in the East, are other options.
Yes, plenty of other rivalries are played in the middle of the season. This rivalry deserves to be the exception. It may need to be the exception.
Ohio State ends practice with its Maize and Blue period, the players breaking into position groups to work on individual drills to get better for the Wolverines, "The Victors" blaring over speakers as reporters watched last week. I asked Ohio State linebacker Ross Homan if that period of practice would be eliminated if the Buckeyes and Wolverines played in the middle of the season and were possibly done for the year.
"No, you can prepare for Michigan all-year round," Homan said.
So next season, imagine Ohio State and Michigan meeting on Oct. 22, 2011. After another win, with their record at 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation, the Buckeyes hit the practice field the next week -- and end again with the Maize and Blue period, getting ready for Michigan in 2012.
That's what this game is. And that's why it deserves to be protected, not exploited.