Scott Dochterman, college football reporter at The Athletic, joins Cheddar News to discuss the Big Ten considering changes to its divisions.

Between Bells

Big Ten Considering Changes To Divisions

Welcome back to Between Bells everyone. The future of college football may look very different. Big 10 is exploring the elimination of its east and West divisions in an attempt to keep things relevant and exciting In recent years the Big 10 championship games have been less appealing. And switching up the road to the championship could alter the course as it prepares for the eventual expansion of the college football playoffs. Joining us now to talk more about it scott dr Moran College football reporter at the athletic, thanks so much for joining us. Help us break down what exactly is going on here. What happens to these games and rivalries without divisions? Yeah, thanks for having me age. And I would say first of all that there had to be changes made. And so while they were changing, while they were investigating those changes, they decided to look at the landscape of the big 10 holistically and that included the imbalance between The east and the West Divisions and the Championship Games. You know, the east has won all eight between the two, the two segments of their league. Secondly, you're you're looking at the alliance between the Big 10, the A. C. C. The pac 12 and the opportunities to play each other in nonconference football. And then third, uh you know, the the chances to extend some of these rivalries but played some of the other games more, not less. So even if they may drop the number of the games from 9 to 8, they could cycle through some of these other games that are uh that get played on a less frequent basis such as indiana and Illinois haven't played in nine years in bloomington indiana and that, that used to be an annual series. So right now they're taking a look at this holistically and I think there's gonna be some changes made. Yes, scott appreciate that context. There of course nothing set in stone or confirmed at this point. If this does move forward, what do you think it really signals about college football? I think it really, it looks, first of all, you look at kind of the major media rights arrangements and that is, well, does the fact that the Big 10 go to market after this season? You know, what will some of the networks want? Will they prefer more regional games within the Big 10 or national games involving, say Big 10 schools, Ohio State and Michigan going west and playing a USC or going south and playing at Clemson And then also has to deal with the college football playoff, whether or not it will expand from 4 to 12 And how the big 10 reacts to that. Could it impact whether or not it has more teams competing in the college football playoff in the 12 team? Uh, you know, post season as opposed to the current four alignment? Yes, scott. If this would be a good thing for both fans and viewership moving forward, Why do you think it is that it hasn't been implemented yet because they're really uncertain that it is the best thing right now. I mean sometimes these rivalries, I mean the Big Ten's, the oldest league in collegiate sports. It's been around since 18 96 and some of the, the series have been around for 100 plus years that they've played annually. So whether or not they cut a game or two here for some of those teams that really matters. I mean, some of these games are three hours away from one campus to the other as opposed to playing another conference in another part of the country. So I think this is probably a challenge for them to kind of get their heads around, but also what they want to do is position themselves best both for when their media rights deals are coming up and also for the college football playoff and get as many teams as they can into it. Yeah, there are definitely going to be some changes from a business perspective, but when we talk about removing these divisions, what does that mean for the college athletes? It could mean a lot of different things. One that could play it more exciting or different in diverse climates. If you're in a team in Ohio or michigan you might be playing in southern California for a game each year. But if, but it also impacts the travel, your parents that maybe live nearby won't be able to travel as often or as regularly the different parts of the country as they have been when you're playing. Some of these teams that are nearby on a more frequent basis. So I mean the guts of the schedule is going to remain the same. But there there are the opportunities and especially with divisional play to kind of mix and match and it's exciting for some of these athletes to go to different destinations. But again, you know, the financial impact on families could be more challenging And Scott just about 30 seconds left with you next week, technically, national signing day. Which programs do you think are going to be the big winners of this class right now is in the, in the A. C. C. And it's picked up a lot of different commits here in the last few days and then, and then there are a few others, the Alabama's and, and Auburn should have a few more players joined its ranks this week. Alright, scott. Dr Moran, College football reporter at the Athletic. Thanks so much for joining us.