With this 2024 Big Ten expansion, the conference has been planning to eliminate the divisions. With even more teams now looking to join in 2024, should the Big Ten divisions remain? The plan is to completely eliminate the East and West divisions, but if more teams are joining from drastically different locations, should they stay? Here is a look at if there should still be Big Ten divisions and some ideas for what could happen.
The Elimination of Big Ten Divisions
It seems odd to discuss bringing back divisions when it actually has not left yet. Once UCLA and USC were added to the Big Ten, the conference had a lot to figure out. Instead of being divided, the conference designated protected opponents beginning in 2024. Instead of taking the number one teams in each division, the top two teams will face each other for the Big Ten Championship Game.
Former Wisconsin WR Garrett Groshek (37) – Stacy Revere/Getty Images
There are definitely positives and negatives to this plan. On the one hand, the championship game will be an even matchup. The 2022 Championship Game was between Purdue and Michigan. The final score was 43-22, with Michigan taking the win. It did start close, but by the second half, there was a clear winner. The top two teams facing each other can almost guarantee a fun game for fans to watch.
The difficult part is that if there are two teams always winning, the matchup may get repetitive. The good news is other teams have been building strong teams, and it is very well possible by then, either Ohio State or Michigan could lose an extra game that knocks them out. This is a big what-if situation that will take a couple of years to determine. The focus should be that the elimination of Big Ten divisions could cause close championship games.
Penn State Nittany Lions QB Drew Allar (15) – Barry Reeger/AP Photo
What if the Big Ten Divisions Stay?
The entire setup will now be changing with the approval of the expansion. All reports indicate that Washington and Oregon are set to join the Big Ten in 2024 across all sports. This will naturally impact the planned opponents that the conference already released. The Big Ten will now need to add two more teams to the mix. This does not even include the rumors about FSU and Clemson. While those are just in the early rumors stage, the Big Ten may be smart to delay the release of 2024 opponents until that is figured out.
If the Big Ten divisions were to stay, it could possibly save on traveling costs. A big argument against this expansion is that they are adding West Coast schools. It is a solid argument, given the majority of the Big Ten would have to travel across the country if they had an away game against USC or UCLA. It still would not be easy, but if the Big West would add the new teams, it could help with traveling.
USC QB Caleb Williams (13) – Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo
Of course, then the issue with that is there would be more teams in the West than in the East division. Then the conference would need to move one of the original Big Ten West schools into the East, which would naturally cause issues. If the conference were to add FSU and Clemson, this is where the Big Ten divisions could definitely stay. Those two would be added to the East, keeping the two equal. The conference cannot plan this way, though, while those two schools are only in the early rumors stage and highly unlikely.
As of now, the Big Ten divisions are still set to be eliminated for the 2024 season. This is a lot of information for college football fans to take in, especially fans of the schools being added to the conference. College Football will be making major changes within the next couple of years. For now, all anyone can do is wait and voice their opinions on this expansion.
