New Hampshire DB Jake Kiley Commits to Penn State
July 26, 2011 – | No Comment

States like New Hampshire are often overlooked by college recruiters scouring the northeast. With a population of a little over 1.3 million (barely 14.5% of the population of New York City), the talent pool in …

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Big Ten heralds new era, set for divisional play

Submitted by on April 7, 2011No Comment
Penn State will have to wait til '14 for another win at the Big House
In less than 5 months, the new look Big Ten will finally begin football play on September 3rd. And though the schedule has already been set for the 2011 and 12′ seasons, there was much speculation as to which teams would rotate off Penn State’s schedule following 2012 especially if the Big Ten doesn’t move to a 9 game schedule by then.

As it stands, the 8 game setup would force 3 cross-divisional Big Ten opponents off each Big Ten team’s schedule each season. For Penn State, that means missing the Wolverines, Gophers and Spartans from the 2011 and 12 schedule. A 9 game schedule would allow Big Ten teams to play more cross-divisional opponents than the current 8 game setup.

But a 9 game schedule also means an odd number of home and away conference games depending on odd or even years which would greatly affect Big Ten team’s ability to schedule marquee non-conference opponents. In alternating years, teams would have either 4 or 5 home games out of the 9 game conference slate. Penn State needs at to schedule at least 7 home games each season in order to create enough revenue to meet the annual athletic budget.

“We need the money from these home games and couldn’t do it with just six,” said associate athletic director for football Fran Ganter. “We would probably have to cut a sport if we didn’t have that seventh game.”

Simply put, a 9 game schedule especially immediately imposed would be a logistical nightmare. Consider that alot of marquee non-conference opponents are scheduled well in advance in anticipation to having 4 home dates in a 8 game conference schedule. Ohio State even has agreements with marquee opponents in place for as late as 2019. To suddenly saddle them 9 conference games where on 4 are played at home would be financially crippling.

It seems as if the Big Ten is well aware of the financial burden the looming 9 game schedule would bring. The conference released the official conference schedules for the next four seasons and the 8 game schedule is here to stay. Until 2014 at least.

With Nebraska set to join the Big Ten, the inaugural season of divisional play and new-look conference schedules will begin this fall. Each team will be required to play the remaining five teams in their respective division. For Penn State, that means playing the remaining 5 opponents in the Leaders division, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin on an annual basis.

Additionally, there will be three crossover games against teams in the other division, with one contest marked as a guaranteed matchup. The Big Ten has selected Nebraska to be Penn State’s crossover rival, ensuring that the two programs will clash on a yearly basis. The other 2 rotating crossover games however will change on a bi-yearly basis.

2011 2012 2013 2014 Record since ’93
Leaders Division
ILLINOIS Home Away Home Away 11-3
INDIANA Away Home Away Home 14-0
OHIO STATE Away Home Away Home 6-12
PURDUE Home Away Home Away 10-2
WISCONSIN Away Home Away Home 6-6
Legend Division
Nebraska* Home Away Home Away N/A
Iowa Home Away 5-9
Northwestern Away Home 11-3
Michigan Home Away 6-10
Minnesota Away Home 8-4
Michigan State 13-5

*Protected cross-divisional rival

For the next two seasons Iowa and Northwestern will be Penn State’s non-protected cross-divisional opponents forcing Michigan, Minnesota and Michigan State off the Lion’s schedule. The Hawkeyes and Wildcats will rotate off our schedule in 2013, to be replaced by Michigan and Minnesota.

That 9 game conference schedule just can’t come soon enough. Having Nebraska as our protected cross-divisional rival, Penn State is guaranteed to face the gauntlet of Ohio State, Wisconsin and Nebraska on an annual basis, then when you add Iowa in 2011/2012 and Michigan in 2013/14 to that list you are talking about a murders row of conference opponents. Meanwhile some teams will manage to avoid playing Ohio State and Wisconsin altogether. So much for maintaining competitive balance.

Silver lining though, the released schedule also means the Nittany Lions will not be facing the Spartans for at least the next 4 years, possibly longer once the official schedules are released past 2015. The four-year breaks are unavoidable for the Big Ten, given the eight conference games, one protected crossover, five division games and two rotating crossover games during each season.  This 4 year hiatus for each team can be avoided once the Big Ten moves to a 9 game schedule.

But in the meantime, good riddance to the Land Grant Trophy!

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