And unlike some of his other crusades, this one might leave a mark.
Delany pointed out that, starting with the 2016 season, Big Ten football schedules will move from eight to nine conference games and will mandate one Power 5 non-conference opponent. The other two non-conference opponents must be Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
In other words, no Jacksonville State (at Auburn Sept. 12) or Charleston Southern (at Alabama Nov. 21) or anyone else from the Football Championship Subdivision.
A year from now, the Big Ten will be the only Power 5 conference with all of these rugged scheduling components: Nine league games, at least one Power-5 non-conference opponent, all 12 regular-season games against FBS schools and a conference championship game.
“We think it’s what our fans want,” Delany said. “We think it’s what our players want. And we think it’s what the College Football Playoff committee wants.”
Not necessarily in that order, of course. And if you don’t think this is a sales pitch served to the selection committee that will be honed and repeated ad nauseam, with a side of sneer at the Big 12’s and the SEC’s scheduling, think again.
“I’m not sure that people have paid as much attention to the (College Football Playoff) guidelines for selection of teams,” Delany said. “There are about eight paragraphs that deal with the issue of when resumes look similar, similar record, similar resumes. Conference champions are going to get the first tiebreaker consideration. And strength of schedule is going to get the second.
“So if you start looking at schedules that have FCS teams that have some 20 fewer scholarships, I think that’s a consideration. I think, if you’re playing more conference games and you’re in a strong conference that, typically, is going to give you a stronger strength of schedule resume. I think winning a conference championship game gives you an advantage.”
If they weren’t paying attention before, Big Jim will make sure they’re paying attention now.
Will the SEC react? Probably not in the short run, anyway. But let’s see what happens after the first time the conference doesn’t have a representative in a four-team playoff field.
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UPDATE: It may be what the fans, the players and the selection committee wants, but…
Eh, don’t sweat it, fellas. It’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a bigger playoff field.
Get The Picture 
Other than the additional B1G game (which, most of the time, is like playing another MAC opponent), this won’t affect Tattoo U one bit. I don’t think they schedule FCS opponents. Once again, let’s add to the committee’s bias.
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Interpretation…”Our league sucks, top to bottom, and this is a necessary decision to stay relevant (cause osu beating the skirts off of the rest if the league won’t play too well three years from now).
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I don’t like Dealny of the B1G, but he’s ahead of the curve on this. The day will come, probably sooner rather than later, when two P5 conference champs are “tied” with the committee. The one with no FCS teams on it’s schedule is going to be picked over the one with a couple wins against Nobody College and Directional State University.
I think a bigger issue is that B1G program’s fans won’t have to sit through horrible games against FCS opponents. That is the main benefit I see with that policy.
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This. And for all the grousing about tOSU’s schedule last year, I have to admit they did beat some decent teams in the regular season and were obviously very convincing in the playoff. Not really their fault if some of their traditional rivals are havimg some off years.
Now excuse me, I have to take a shower.
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That loss at home to Va Tech looked worse and worse throughout the season. The committee basically ignored it because of tOSU’s brand over TCU.
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Exactly
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No worse than our two losses to 6-6 teams would have looked had we managed to win the East and the SEC. If we had won the SEC, I think TCU would have gotten in the playoff and we would have been left out. I see no way the committee would take a 3 loss Georgia team over TCU, we don’t have the brand to pull the tOSU thing off.
I don’t like Meyer or Delany or the the B1G in general, but there are a lot of television watchers who live in the Midwest. The committee is going to give them the benefit of the doubt.
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If we had won the SEC, we wouldn’t have deserved a berth with our record. I also don’t think the Buckeyes deserved a berth for their awful loss at home to VPI in combination with the weakness of the B1G overall.
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Agree on both points, but tOSU did what it took to silence their critics, they won the games that mattered and ended up as champions. I wonder what that’s like.
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Mizzou loses that friday, no way we lose to GT….that is my thinking anyways, not that any of it matters.
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PTC, I agree with you. I think we throttle tech if Missouri had lost on Friday. I still don’t think we would have been in the playoff if we had beaten Alabama with the 2 losses we had.
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Your point about national brand may well be true – I was hoping TCU would get in myself and would have been rooting for them to take it all, but you can make the quality wins / quality losses argument to favor either team. TCU had some squeakers and their schedule was probably worse than tOSU.
My main point was it feels like every year people say Ohio State has an easy schedule, but the Big 10 has some traditionally tough outs in Nebraska, Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin – and now one of them is now going to be somebody’s 9th game every year.
Ohio State’s schedule was a bit soft in 2014, ranked #32 to close out the regular season, but because of the cfp they closed with the 2nd hardest schedule nationally and went 14-1, winning it all.
Regardless of their resume (which I admit was very, very borderline), it’s hard to argue the cfpc made a mistake by including the team who beat the #1 and #2 teams to become the eventual national champs. The whole thing is too subjective.
I will now stop defending the Auburn of the Midwest. Sheesh.
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B1G coaches voted 14-0 against the 9 game schedule
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2016, eh? Sounds like a good year to go to 8 teams. Hope it happens just to screw Delany. Another year like 2014 ought to do it.
I’ll predict that, after grinding it out and sustaining more injuries, Delany will have coaches in the Uppa U.S. yelling “Uppa u ‘s!” at Delany beginning in 2016. Hope they schedule 5 yrs out.
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I don’t think fans or committee members will ever draw much of a distinction between FCS schools and non-Power 5 FBS teams. Nor should they. They are both competing with vastly inferior resources to the Power 5.
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I agree and that’s why the Power 5 should break away to form their own governing structure and organization.
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Kudos to the Big 10 for this move.
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That’s because the Little 12 only has 2, maybe 3 teams if the Wolverines climb back up under Harbaugh.
No Gauntlet to run there. Hell – I’d rather play one of those teams than Ga Southern.
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Funny you should bring that up. I think the SEC ought to work out a deal where SEC teams play B1G teams as OOC opponents on a rotating basis. It makes perfect sense for both conferences. It gives both conferences credibility for playing at least one tough OOC opponent each year and the SEC would likely win most of the games. Look at UGA. We play Tech from the ACC every year. Add a rotating Big 10 team (one year Indiana, the next Purdue, the next Michigan, etc.). It could be home and away for each team (which would take 28 years to complete) or Indiana at home, then Purdue away, then Michigan at home, etc. (which would take 14 years to complete).
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14-0 against! Wasn’t the SEC coaches vote in Destin last year 13-1 against the nine game schedule? Saban was the only 1 in favor I think. These coaches really love that 1 extra powder puff team don’t they?
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Yes, probably because playing an easy game the week before a rivalry game is almost as good as a week off. Off weeks clearly impact how you do the following week in the important game so why not save your good players and schemes for the games that matter. Who do you want to protect a program and it’s players….the team coaches or the prick in the oak paneled office? How does a Commissioner keep his job if he just ignores the wishes of the coaches in his conference. Why would anyone think that Delany has any individual team’s best interest at heart ? This man is evil and only worried about expanding his own power base. Screw the coaches ,players and the fans of Appalachian State and Georgia Southern who occasionally get to experience a miracle . Until UGA stops selling out all it’s home games,including La.-Monroe , I think it behooves the university and it’s players to stick with 8 games . Give this a couple years in the Big 10 and see if it actually works out the way Delany thinks it will. Given the man’s track record I expect the law of unintended consequences will probably remain,as it always does, in full force an effect.
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Georgia already isn’t selling out some of those games.
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Big XII already plays 9 league games and most have at least 1 P5 OOC. Last year TCU waxed Minnesota, which didnt seem to help their cause oddly enough.
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“Mr. Delaney…why not just make 10 louder?”
“This on goes to 11…”
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