Big Ten to play more conference football games

Big Ten Septembers are loaded with quasi-exhibitions that frustrate TV partners and put casual fans to sleep.

For every Notre Dame-Michigan, there are 10 Idaho State-Nebraskas.

That?s going to change ? as early as 2014.

After spending Monday in meetings with coaches and athletic directors at conference headquarters in Park Ridge, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany told the Tribune the status quo of eight conference games ?is not even on the table right now.?

It will be nine or 10, with the decision to be made this spring.

?The thinking is we like to play each other, and those are not hollow words,? Delany said. ?We are getting larger (with Rutgers and Maryland), and we want to bind the conference together.?

Also of significance: More night games are likely for November, and conference play will begin earlier. In 2012, no Big Ten games were played until Week 5.

?This is a new day,? Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips said. ?You have to get out of your comfort zone.?

Coaches have come out against a nine-game schedule because it means half the teams will play five home games and half will play four. But it?s not as if the current schedule is equitable.

Purdue?s protected crossover rival is Indiana, which has had one winning season since 1995. Michigan plays Ohio State every year, and vice versa.

The new seven-team divisions will reflect geography, with some ADs pushing for ?East? and ?West? to replace the much-maligned ?Legends? and ?Leaders.?

Central time zone schools Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Northwestern could be joined by Indiana, Purdue, Michigan or Michigan State. Delany said the conference would try to ?figure out a way? to maintain rivalries between in-state schools.

A nine-game slate with 14 teams would create 63 conference games, a significant boost in inventory from 48 for a conference about to begin negotiations on a new TV deal. (The ABC/ESPN contract, worth $100 million per year, expires after the 2016 season.) A 10-game slate would yield 70 conference games.

University officials will debate the impact a 10-game schedule would have on the nonconference slate before coming to a decision, likely in May.

Also at the meetings, Big Ten coaches voted to table three NCAA proposals that would allow any staff members to bombard recruits with unlimited calls and text messages.

Northwestern?s Pat Fitzgerald said the coaches were ?unified? in seeking more time to analyze the ramifications of the legislation, set to take effect Aug. 1.

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tgreenstein@tribune.com

Twitter @TeddyGreenstein

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-big-ten-conference-football-20130211,0,613988.story?track=rss

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