fan_from_texas;460398 wrote:I don't like the idea of a 9-game conference schedule. It's a gimmick that will eventually weaken the conference as a whole.
Think about it: the long-term success of a program team largely depends on (1) money and (2) ability to recruit (i.e. exposure, perception by recruits that the program is sound).
By playing more conference games, you reduce the total number of wins for the conference, and thus the total number of teams that can go to bowls. This lowers the amount of money to split up, reduces TV exposure, and reduces the perception of the teams being strong. I.e., you can look at a team this year and say, "well, they're 6-6, but it's in a tough conference with a lot of conference games, so they're stronger than an 8-4 team in a similarly situated BCS conference that played two additional patsies." But, generally, 5 years from now, no one looks back and thinks the 6-6 team is better. Over time, consistently going 8-4 in a BCS conference and going to bowl games will make a program better than one that started stronger but went 6-6 every year.
For a micro-example of this, look at the Ohio high school MAC. They've added traditional powerhouses (e.g., Versailles) under the guise of strengthening the conference. But because they play so many conference games, some schools can't make the playoffs, no matter what. Even if the individual games are, for a time, more competitive, over the time the conference as a whole does worse. Go look at the Versailles records before and after they joined the MAC. They went from being a powerhouse every single season to a 2-8 team. After a few years of being 2-8, the past glory fades.
I'm concerned that increasing the number of conference games for the B1- will result in lots of 6-6 teams that currently go 8-4 and end up in a decent bowl. This can't be a good thing for the long-term health of the conference.
I don't think a 9 game conference schedule would weaken the conference. Beating a team like Indiana, Northwestern, Illinois, or Minnesota should be expected if you are expecting to be a high caliber bowl team. And everyone has a scab on their schedule that they could afford to not play.
The MAC added Versailles and Anna and had 9 conference games and 1 non-conference game. They did this to make scheduling easier as each team only needed to find a week 1 opponent. They were gung ho for it at the time until they saw that instead of getting 5 teams into the playoffs they were only getting 4. Then they just dropped another conference game to squeeze one more team into the playoffs, leaving the league potentially meaningless (potential for no outright champ). I know I know, 'I'd rather win a state title'. But at the same time the Big 10 title will be settled on the field with both conference and league title games.
