Shufflin’ the deck: Winners and losers of Big Ten’s football schedule reveal
The Big Ten revealed the specifics of its 10- game, conference- only schedule over breakfast Wednesday morning in a special broadcast on its flagship television network.
The format is simple enough. Each team will play its six division foes and four from the other side of the conference. As such, each team picked up a “crossover” game, meaning it crossed conference lines to add an opponent not originally on the schedule.
Naturally, some teams fared better than others, and for a few coaches, well, that morning coffee likely didn’t taste as crisp as usual.
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Winner: Wisconsin
The rich get richer. The Badgers’ original schedule was already favorable, dodging East heavyweights Ohio State and Penn State.
There’s no doubt Wisconsin fans had a little extra bounce in their step Wednesday morning when schedule- makers added Rutgers as a replacement from a group that included the Buckeyes, Nittany Lions and Michigan State.
For good measure, the game is in Madison, Wisconsin, where the Badgers are 16-2 against league teams since 2016. The West is the Badgers’ race to lose.
Winner: Big Ten fans
Big Ten football isn’t for everyone. The league’s rugged, between- the- tackles style is better suited for a trained Midwestern eye than a Clemson fan looking for a game to watch on a fall Saturday afternoon when the Tigers are off.
So, for those fans who don’t mind running the ball, you’re in for a ride. Sure, we’ll miss out on fun nonconference games like Ohio State vs. Oregon and Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame, but we also won’t have to sit through the Buckeyes beating Miami (Ohio) by 71 points, or Penn State breezing past Idaho by 72 like we did last season.
The Buckeyes squaring up against Illinois on the first Thursday of September?
That’s never sounded so nice.
Loser: Maryland
Let your eyes travel down Maryland’s column on the conference’s snappy schedule grid graphic and try not to wince before reaching the end. Good luck.
Maryland can thank its geography for already having Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan on its prepandemic schedule. It can thank the schedule-makers for a brutal draw.
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The Terrapins’ candidates for replacement games, from worst 2019 record to best, included Nebraska, Purdue, Illinois and Iowa.
The Hawkeyes it is. And it’s Week 1. Oh, and it’s on the road.
Loser: Purdue
There’s no such thing as a good time to add Ohio State to your schedule. But as the punctuation mark on a season- opening stretch that begins with Michigan and Iowa? That’s almost cruel.
In a Zoom conference call after the schedule release, Purdue coach Jeff Brohm told local media he was “excited” for his team to play “three of the top elite teams in the country in the first three weeks.”
We totally believe you, Mr. Brohm.
Winner: Nebraska
The Huskers’ original schedule boasted one of the most vicious four-week stretches in not only the conference, but the country, too.
The new-look schedule wasn’t going to fix that, as Nebraska still has the gantlet of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio State waiting for it beginning Week 3.
The reshuff led schedule does offer Scott Frost and company — and every other league team — an extra bye week that will benefit the Huskers perhaps more than anyone else.
Plus, the Huskers’ crossover game is against Michigan State, which is a better option than the Spartans’ neighbor.
Not to mention NU now takes on a woeful Rutgers team to open the season, followed by Illinois, offering a reasonable chance to start 2- 0 before entering the ringer.