Penn State football: would removing divisions help PSU?
What could a division-less Big Ten look like?
If the Big Ten removed divisions, the conference rankings would look much different than they have in years past. Programs like Iowa, Wisconsin, and others would be forced to play a more grueling schedule; meanwhile, teams like Penn State and Michigan State may not have to see Ohio State during the regular season annually.
Are there flaws that would need to be worked out? Yes, unquestionably. However, the programs chasing Ohio State’s tail would benefit significantly from a chance to not see all the dominant programs in the same season.
During the 2021 Penn State football season, the Nittany Lions were forced to play on the road at Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan State, and Ohio State, on top of facing Auburn and Michigan at home. Meanwhile, in the west, the only effective programs that Minnesota faced were Ohio State, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
While some scheduling issues are natural, any Big Ten east team would kill for a Big Ten west schedule year in and year out.
On the flip side, this also could create the same issue. If “pods” or some form of uniform scheduling system is not brought into place, a single Big Ten team may end up facing all of the best Big Ten teams–whether at home or on the road–in the same season.
Regardless, scheduling issues are easy to solve in modern college football, so this should not be holding the Big Ten back from tearing down its divisions.
Conference title games
The biggest question surrounding division-less conferences is the conference championship games. In the case of the Big Ten, it would likely be best to follow the PAC-12: send the best two teams (with the best in-conference records) to the title game.
Who wouldn’t want a repeat of ‘The Game’ or to witness the second matchup of Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin, etc., against Ohio State or anyone else in the Big Ten title game? In years like 2017, a second matchup with Ohio State may have ended very differently for the Nittany Lions and would give Penn State more opportunities to earn a conference title.
This could also be a move that levels the playing field for the Big Ten nationally. For example, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State must face the gauntlet of the Big Ten east every year; meanwhile, schools like Clemson and Notre Dame play a much easier schedule and have a better shot at the playoff.