'Change is Coming': Tom Allen Envisions Big Ten Eliminating Division Structure
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Indiana will host Illinois on Sept. 2 to kick off its 2022 football season, representing the first time since 2017 that the Hoosiers and Illini match up in football. Despite sharing the same conference since 1899, the two schools have only played three times in the last decade.
When the Big Ten expanded to add Nebraska and Maryland in 2014, the former "Leaders and Legends" division structure was eliminated, making way for the current East and West divisions. And since this change, the conference has been definitively lopsided.
Across the last eight Big Ten football seasons, a member of the East division – Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State, specifically – has been crowned conference champion all eight years. Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State are also the only Big Ten teams to reach the College Football Playoff.
The games haven't been particularly close on a consistent basis, either. Ohio State defeated Wisconsin 59-0 in the first East versus West Big Ten championship game. But from 2015-2017, Michigan State, Penn State and Ohio State emerged victorious in one-possession games decided by a combined 16 points. The Buckeyes would go on to win the next three championships by scores of 45-24, 34-21 and 22-10, and Michigan took home the 2021 conference title in a 42-3 blowout of Iowa.
The Big Ten is expanding yet again by adding USC and UCLA in 2024, which could signal another change in conference structure. It would be easy to add one California team to the East and the other to the West, but the NCAA recently made a rule change that would give the Big Ten another option.
On May 18, 2022, the NCAA Division I Council voted to eliminate division requirements for conferences to decide championship game participants. This rule change would allow the Big Ten to eliminate its division structure, send its best two teams to the conference championship game and create a schedule where teams play each other an equal amount of times across the board.
At Big Ten Media Days on July 26 in Indianapolis, Ind., Indiana coach Tom Allen was asked if doing away with divisions is something he'd like to see the Big Ten explore.
"It looks like that’s probably the direction things are going," Allen said. "I don’t know when, but I do think it’s going to happen."
From Allen and Indiana's perspective, this change appears beneficial. As it stands, Indiana plays Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State – the only Big Ten conference champions since the creation of East and West divisions – every year.
Switching to a conference structure like the Big Ten has in basketball would theoretically make Indiana's schedule less daunting on a year-to-year basis. The Hoosiers wouldn't be matched up with the aforementioned four teams every season, instead meeting some current Big Ten West opponents they've played less frequently in recent years.
"I think when it does happen, it will be very healthy for our whole conference to have an equitable schedule where everybody plays everybody the same amount of times in that regard. We’ll see when it happens, but change is coming for sure and that’s part of it.”
Here's a breakdown of each Big Ten team's record since 2014, listed as "Team: overall record, record in bowl games"
Big Ten East
- Ohio State: 93-11, 7-3
- Michigan: 66-31, 1-5
- Penn State: 67-34, 3-4
- Michigan State: 63-35, 4-2
- Indiana: 42-53, 0-4
- Maryland: 37-55, 1-2
- Rutgers: 29-66, 1-1
- Total: 397-285, 23-21
Big Ten West
- Wisconsin: 76-26, 7-1
- Iowa: 70-31, 3-4
- Minnesota: 58-39, 5-1
- Northwestern: 54-44, 4-1
- Nebraska: 43-52, 1-2
- Purdue: 36-57, 2-1
- Illinois: 33-61, 0-2
- Total: 370-310, 22-12
