Just as the SEC decided to announce its decision to move to nine conference games and the next four years of in-conference schedules, the Big Ten has decided to announce a “Rivalry Series” just a day before Week 5 kicks off. What?
As a storied conference, the Big Ten has plenty of rivalries interwoven throughout the conference. Some are newer, some are older than dirt itself. Some rivalries are known better than others, of course. For example, Ohio State vs. Michigan is “The Game,” whereas Ohio State vs. Illinois is the battle for the Illibuck trophy.
As a result, for some reason, the Big Ten has announced a “Rivalry Series” that will include football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball. The football pairing has been announced. The series features 17 games with all 18 teams featured at least once. Additionally, eight trophy games were highlighted:
- Saturday, September 27: Oregon at Penn State
- Saturday, October 18: Michigan State at Indiana (Old Brass Spittoon)
- Saturday, October 18: Purdue at Northwestern
- Saturday, October 18: Ohio State at Wisconsin
- Saturday, October 25: Minnesota at Iowa (Floyd of Rosedale)
- Saturday, October 25: Michigan at Michigan State (Paul Bunyan Trophy)
- Saturday, November 1: Penn State at Ohio State
- Saturday, November 8: Maryland at Rutgers
- Saturday, November 15: Penn State at Michigan State (Land-Grant Trophy)
- Saturday, November 22: Michigan at Maryland
- Saturday, November 22: Illinois at Wisconsin
- Saturday, November 22: USC at Oregon
- Friday, November 28: Iowa at Nebraska (Heroes Trophy)
- Friday, November 28: Indiana at Purdue (Old Oaken Bucket)
- Saturday, November 29: Northwestern at Illinois (Land of Lincoln Trophy)
- Saturday, November 29: UCLA at USC (Victory Bell)
- Saturday, November 29: Oregon at Washington
Also Read: Official Big Ten Football Social Media Accounts and Hashtags
The Big Ten Announces the ‘Rivalry Series’
Aside from the timing, which is suspect in itself, what is the point of creating a “Rivalry Series” for the Big Ten? What does it do for the conference that the schedule doesn’t already do?
There are some interesting choices there, to say the least. To start, Penn State considers itself #UNRIVALED. The Nittany Lions spent most of their history as an independent, so there is no long-standing, formal rivalry. One could argue that one team or another could be considered a rival, but either Penn State or the other team would deny it wholeheartedly. Despite that, Penn State is featured three times. In every area but the final scores, Penn State vs. Ohio State has been one of the most even matchups over the last decade-plus. Even then, that isn’t the most questionable.
Oregon and Penn State have played five times in all of history. Yes, this year, it’s a top-five matchup. It’s going to be a good game, but it feels like the Big Ten is trying to force the issue.
Why?
The Big Ten already has a “Rivalry Series”…it’s called the final week of the regular season. As a reminder, this is the lineup for November 28 and 29:
- Iowa at Nebraska
- Indiana at Purdue
- Penn State at Rutgers (not a rivalry)
- Oregon at Washington
- UCLA at USC
- Northwestern at Illinois
- Wisconsin at Minnesota
- Maryland at Michigan State (not a rivalry)
- Ohio State at Michigan
As we’ve already covered, Penn State has no formal rivals in the conference. Rutgers and Maryland are technically rivals, and Michigan State’s chief rival is Michigan (to be played on October 25).
So, of the seven actual rivalries listed, the “Rivalry Series” features all except Wisconsin-Minnesota and the biggest one of them all.
Sure, The Game doesn’t need more coverage; it’s pretty well known. But how can the Big Ten have something called the “Rivalry Series” and not have THE rivalry in the conference?
As of now, the conference has not expanded on the reasoning behind the series. It can be assumed that it’ll give a little context in the near future. For now, it seems…odd.
Main Image: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
