Notre Dame screws over the Big 10 again

Huh? Well, had Notre Dame elected to join the Big Ten about 5 years ago, the Big 10 would have expanded to 12 teams. This would have permitted the conference to be split into two divisions with 6 teams and created a Conference Championship game. This would have been, most likely, between Ohio State and Michigan - giving Michigan their second shot at OSU.

Had Notre Dame joined the conference, this is how I anticipate the Big Ten would have been split itself up - by a North - South split:

Big Ten - North
Michigan
Wisconsin
Penn State
Minnesota
Michigan State
Iowa

Big Ten - South
Ohio State
Notre Dame
Purdue
Indiana
Northwestern
Illinois

Eight (8) conference games would be split this way: Five (5) games against team in your division, three (3) games against teams in the other division. The three inter-division games would be scheduled as follows:

• One (1) game against team in same positional standing from previous year (i.e. 2nd place in North plays 2nd place in South);
• One (1) game against inter-conference rival;
• One (1) game rotated against remaining four (4) inter-division teams.

Lining up the inter-conference rival is the most interesting. Here is what I would propose:

• Michigan (North) v. Ohio State (South) - The Game
• Michigan State (North) v. Notre Dame (South)
• Iowa (North) v. Illinois (South)
• Wisconsin (North) v. Northwestern (South)
• Minnesota (North) v. Indiana (South)
• Penn State (North) v. Purdue (South)

The only other possibility would have been to split it East - West. As you will see, that would result in a very interesting division:

Big Ten - East
Ohio State
Michigan
Notre Dame
Penn State
Purdue
Michigan State

Big Ten - West
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Indiana
Iowa
Northwestern
Illinois

As you can see, that would make for a pretty intense Eastern Division. Inter-conference rivalry game:

• Ohio State (East) v. Illinois (West) - Illibuck
• Michigan (East) v. Minnesota (West) - Little Brown Jug
• Notre Dame (East) v. Northwestern (West) - Shillelagh
• Penn State (East) v. Iowa (West)
• Purdue (East) v. Indiana (West) - Old Oaken Bucket
• Michigan State (East) v. Wisconsin (West)

I like the second split better, for it reduces the amount of travel amongst the teams (especially for Penn State). However, it creates a log jam of NCAA football powerhouses into one division: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Notre Dame. It also leaves the Western division looking a little weak - Wisconsin and Iowa are the only perennial conference hopefuls.