Sam McLaurin commits to Illinois
Sam McLaurin commits to Illinois
Rayvonte Rice commits to Illinois
Rayvonte Rice commits to Illinois
Illini football recruiting
Illini football recruiting
John Groce's 2012-2013 Illinois basketball team
2012-2013 Illini basketball
Illini basketball recruiting
Illini hoops recruiting
Whitney Mercilus, Jeff Allen, A.J. Jenkins, Derek Dimke in the 2012 NFL Draft
Illini in the NFL Draft

Ohio St should be the Illini's other protected rival; notes on Big Ten football scheduling

Big Ten conference
With Big Ten play starting tomorrow, let's take a quick look at how conference scheduling works. The college football regular season is 14-15 weeks long, starting on either the last weekend of August or the first weekend of September, extending through to the first weekend of December. Teams can play up to 12 regular season games (not including conference championships), the exception being if they play at Hawaii (off the mainland) then they are allowed up to 13 contests.

Big Ten conference play is a block of 9 weeks, beginning at the end of September or the start of October. Each team plays 8 games (4 home, 4 away), with a bye week. By now we all should know that the Illini play Western Michigan in Detroit (!!!) November 8 during their Big Ten bye.

The Big Ten preferred completion date to conference play is the weekend before Thanksgiving (insert joke about Big Ten teams in bowls on 50-day layoffs), although from time to time due to calendar issues it gets pushed to Thanksgiving weekend.

Protected rivalries

In 1997 the Big Ten began the "protected rivalries" scheduling scheme, which mandates that you're stuck with two teams every season in football no matter if you're their rival or not.

The Illini's protected rivals are Northwestern (makes sense) and Indiana (makes no sense). Keeping the in-state series intact is a no-brainer, the Illini have played the Wildcats 101 times—more than any other opponent. On the other hand Illinois and Indiana have played on only 64 occasions, which ranks 7th on the Illini's list of game played against.

The Illini's 2nd protected rival should be Ohio St. The Illini and Buckeyes have played 94 times—second only to Northwestern—and until recently had an impressive consecutive streak going: 89-straight contests from 1914 to 2002.

Unfortunately when this scheme was cooked up in the mid-1990s Illinois was bottoming out under Lou Tepper and Penn St was a national power. Thus, a make-believe rivalry was born between Ohio St and Penn St.

Big Ten protected rivalries

Team Protected rivals
Illinois Indiana, Northwestern
Indiana Illinois, Purdue
Iowa Minnesota, Wisconsin
Michigan Michigan St, Ohio St
Michigan St Michigan, Penn St
Minnesota Iowa, Wisconsin
Northwestern        Illinois, Purdue
Ohio St Michigan, Penn St
Penn St Michigan St, Ohio St
Purdue Indiana, Northwestern
Wisconsin Iowa, Minnesota

With the 8-game schedule in an 11-team league, the Big Ten has a 2-year rotation of 2 teams that are not on a league member's conference schedule. Ohio St is next off the schedule in 2011-2012 (booo!).

Big Ten teams off Illinois' schedule

Seasons Teams not on schedule
1997-1998        Michigan, Minnesota
1999-2000 Purdue, Wisconsin
2001-2002 Iowa, Michigan St
2003-2004 Ohio St, Penn St
2005-2006 Michigan, Minnesota
2007-2008 Michigan St, Purdue
2009-2010 Iowa, Wisconsin
2011-2012 Minnesota, Ohio St

Thread

Filed under: Illini Football, Ohio State Buckeyes

 

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2012 Illini Football Schedule

DateOpponentTime/TV
Sat, Sept 1Western Michigan 
Sat, Sept 8at Arizona State 
Sat, Sept 15Charleston Southern 
Sat, Sept 22Louisiana Tech7:00pm BTN
Sat, Sept 29Penn State 
Sat, Oct 6at Wisconsin2:30pm ABC
Sat, Oct 13at Michigan2:30pm ABC
Sat, Oct 20---Bye--- 
Sat, Oct 27Indiana
Homecoming
11:00am
Sat, Nov 3at Ohio State 
Sat, Nov 10Minnesota 
Sat, Nov 17Purdue 
Sat, Nov 24at Northwestern 
All times CT. Game times & TV will be added when announced.

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