Big Ten announces switch to East and West divisions
PARK RIDGE, Ill. (AP) -- No more "Legends.'' And no more "Leaders.''
The Big Ten is giving them the boot and following a more traditional route for its division names.
The conference is going with "East'' and "West'' instead and switching to a nine-game scheduling format after presidents and chancellors approved the moves on Sunday.
The new division alignments will begin in 2014 when Rutgers and Maryland join the conference, meaning "Legends'' and "Leaders'' will be a thing of the past. That will probably come as good news for fans who have criticized those names ever since the league unveiled them in 2010. To many, they were confusing and didn't help identify where teams play, but that won't be an issue any more.
Besides the new division alignment, teams will go from playing eight conference games to nine in 2016.
"Big Ten directors of athletics concluded four months of study and deliberation with unanimous approval of a future football structure that preserved rivalries and created divisions based on their primary principle of East/West geography,'' commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement. "The directors of athletics also relied on the results of a fan survey commissioned by BTN last December to arrive at their recommendation, which is consistent with the public sentiment expressed in the poll.''
Read more: PARK RIDGE, Ill. (AP) -- No more "Legends.'' And no more "Leaders.''
The Big Ten is giving them the boot and following a more traditional route for its division names.
The conference is going with "East'' and "West'' instead and switching to a nine-game scheduling format after presidents and chancellors approved the moves on Sunday.
The new division alignments will begin in 2014 when Rutgers and Maryland join the conference, meaning "Legends'' and "Leaders'' will be a thing of the past. That will probably come as good news for fans who have criticized those names ever since the league unveiled them in 2010. To many, they were confusing and didn't help identify where teams play, but that won't be an issue any more.
Besides the new division alignment, teams will go from playing eight conference games to nine in 2016.
"Big Ten directors of athletics concluded four months of study and deliberation with unanimous approval of a future football structure that preserved rivalries and created divisions based on their primary principle of East/West geography,'' commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement. "The directors of athletics also relied on the results of a fan survey commissioned by BTN last December to arrive at their recommendation, which is consistent with the public sentiment expressed in the poll.''
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130428/big-ten-divisions.ap/#ixzz2RnDtOtc0
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