The issue of having a 'weak' conference champion seems to have been exaggerated a lot lately. But I think this move away from division must be seen as necessary if you tie an automatic bid into the post-season to the conference championship. That all seems fine with me.
If Nebraska had kept being Nebraska when they joined the Big 10, I don't think the Big 10 would have had any worries here. You'd have Wisconsin and Nebraska vying for the division leader, with teams like Iowa and Northwestern trying to sneak in. Championship games between OSU vs Nebraska would have happened multiple times. That had the potential for a great rivalry.
Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin will lose the most with scuttling divisions. If the schedule is anywhere close to balanced (as in, Nebraska gets an equal share of (for example) Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana as much as Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State it will be fine. I don't really care what the rules are, but I'd like to see Nebraska vying for the championship game berth past the mid-point of the season.
One thing I'm a little disappointed about, is the auto-bid thing. Until you were mathematically eliminated from your division crown, you had a path to the national championship (theoretically, if they did auto slots for conference champs). But with no divisions, teams will get eliminated earlier in the year, making the drama of staying alive in the race less compelling.
Finally, even though there will be less OOC games, hopefully they can be scheduled against quality opponents if we're (eventually) shifting to auto bids for the conference champs. They won't be hurt by losing to a high quality OOC foe in September. Much rather see those games than Bethune Cookman. Maybe even the SEC would feel free to stop scheduling those late season scrimmage games.
If Nebraska had kept being Nebraska when they joined the Big 10, I don't think the Big 10 would have had any worries here. You'd have Wisconsin and Nebraska vying for the division leader, with teams like Iowa and Northwestern trying to sneak in. Championship games between OSU vs Nebraska would have happened multiple times. That had the potential for a great rivalry.
Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin will lose the most with scuttling divisions. If the schedule is anywhere close to balanced (as in, Nebraska gets an equal share of (for example) Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana as much as Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State it will be fine. I don't really care what the rules are, but I'd like to see Nebraska vying for the championship game berth past the mid-point of the season.
One thing I'm a little disappointed about, is the auto-bid thing. Until you were mathematically eliminated from your division crown, you had a path to the national championship (theoretically, if they did auto slots for conference champs). But with no divisions, teams will get eliminated earlier in the year, making the drama of staying alive in the race less compelling.
Finally, even though there will be less OOC games, hopefully they can be scheduled against quality opponents if we're (eventually) shifting to auto bids for the conference champs. They won't be hurt by losing to a high quality OOC foe in September. Much rather see those games than Bethune Cookman. Maybe even the SEC would feel free to stop scheduling those late season scrimmage games.