Updated: Big Ten football schedules
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Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany pleads innocent.
He told The World-Herald on Wednesday night that Nebraska's powerhouse schedule in its first year of Big Ten competition isn't the league's idea of rookie hazing.
“Not at all,'' Delany said.
Yet that impression arose quickly when the 2011 and 2012 Big Ten football schedules were revealed.
The Huskers' first Big Ten game ever is Oct. 1, 2011, at Wisconsin, which is a preseason Top 15 pick this year. The next week is a home game with Ohio State, touted now as a national title threat.
And in November are back-to-back road games against longtime powers Michigan and Penn State. Oh, and the following week is Iowa, another Top 25 team.
Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne, care to share your first reaction?
“Whoa! What are we doing here?'' he said on the Big Ten Network.
Osborne said later Wednesday night on his Husker Sports Network show that the schedule essentially was handed to him complete. He offered a few comments.
“But it was a done deal,'' he said. “They told me I didn't have a vote anyway.
“It isn't like they've been in any way nasty. It's just the way it is. Until next July 1, we're not a voting member of the Big Ten.''
Delany said there was no intent to send a message to Nebraska.
“I think it's a very challenging schedule,'' he said. “But they wanted to be in the league in 2011, and we did back flips to make it happen.
“This was not an easy logistical task. We had to use algorithms and hand-changing in order to achieve it. We welcome them in. There's no message, other than, ‘We want you in.' These are going to be some fabulous games.''
In an analysis of records since 1993 — the year Penn State joined as a competing member — the four schools that emerged as leaders were Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan.
The mission, Delany said, was to split that top grouping of schools two and two, then work from there in aligning divisions.
Nebraska got paired with Michigan, but will also play Penn State every year in a “protected-crossover'' game.
Under the Big Ten's 5-2-1 scheduling model, each school will have five games inside the division, two from the other division and one permanent foe from the opposite division.
Coincidentally, when the Big 12 was formed, Nebraska proposed a 5-2-1 scheduling model in an attempt to save its annual rivalry with Oklahoma. The idea failed, and a 5-3 model was adopted.
Nebraska's other foes in its as-yet unnamed division are Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State and Northwestern.
The other division is Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue and Illinois.
These are football-only divisions. Delany said he sees no compelling reason for divisions in basketball, though “I could change on a dime'' if coaches and administrators want it.
For now, Big Ten basketball teams will play an 18-game league schedule, with seven home-and-home matchups and four single games.
In football, every school asked for assistance in trying to finesse some current commitments in 2011 and 2012. Delany said Nebraska wanted a bye on Oct. 15, 2011, and got it “for getting some academic stuff done.''
“If you're in the top grouping, it's going to be a challenging schedule,'' Delany said. “And then some of that challenge rotates off after two years.''
Other Big Ten items Delany addressed:
• The Ohio State-Michigan game will remain on the league's final weekend. There was discussion about playing it earlier in November, but negative fan reaction played a part in rethinking it.
• In the next 90 days, the Big Ten plans to reveal a new logo and names for the divisions.
• Just because the first Big Ten football championship will be played in a dome (Dec. 3, 2011, in Indianapolis), “we're not closing the door on outdoor football.''
• Out of 12 “trophy games'' in Big Ten football, nine were preserved in the new schedules.
Contact the writer:
444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com
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• Live Chat: The World-Herald's Dirk Chatelain logs on at 10 a.m. Thursday to answer questions about the Big Ten divisions, conference schedules and more. Also, join the discussion on the Big Red Today forums.
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