Komet posted:

Questions:

How long can the Big Ten continue with its current conference alignment? Maybe Minnesota will surprise Wisconsin and win the west (doubt it), but there's no real competition in the west.

The east has the best team in the league in Ohio State, then Penn State and Michigan (we'll see who #2 is after Saturday), and a Michigan State team that has real problems this year, but has been great in the recent past. Then they also have two dogshit teams in Maryland and Rutgers. Something has to give soon in order for the divisions to remain competitive and engaging. I think the Big Ten expected Nebraska to turn the corner by now, but they haven't. Will they ever?

I still think Maryland has upside in football (don't know about Locksley long term) and is competitive in other sports, and there's still significant revenue in the DMV for the Maryland fanbase. However, it's hard to see Rutgers as anything other than a routine 0-9 doormat. Indiana was bad for a long time and other teams like Illinois and Purdue have had some bad stints in recent years, but Rutgers has no history in the conference and they don't have much of a fanbase. How long can the Big Ten continue with this Rutgers charade? I'd trade Rutgers for WVU in a heart beat. Or VT. But I think WVU would gladly leave the Big XII to play more regional games.