Report: Big Ten football keeping East and West divisions for 2023

The Big Ten has two of the best teams in college football. Thanks to the conference’s decision to keep their current division alignment, they’re guaranteed not to meet in the Big Ten title game once again in 2023.

Per The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman, the conference contemplated moving away from their current East and West divisions in the final season before USC and UCLA are set to join in 2024. 

“Big Ten administrators and school officials include the desire to unveil one new system for USC and UCLA rather than in consecutive years,” the report says.

The Big 12 doesn’t have divisions and the Pac-12 removed them this offseason. In both cases, the top two teams at the end of the regular season meet in the conference championship game. No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan will likely finish as the top two teams in the Big Ten, but since both are in the same division, it will be a case of either/or instead of both/and when it comes to who makes the conference championship.

Dochterman points out in his piece that fact might be intentional on the part of the conference.

But the imbalance actually could help the league’s quest to potentially earn a second College Football Playoff bid … [I]f Ohio State and Michigan … don’t place twice, the loser could earn a CFP berth. If the Buckeyes and Wolverines have a rematch a week later … a double loser definitely would miss the CFP.

The Big Ten has four ranked teams in the latest Associated Press poll. The conference’s three highest-ranked teams all come from the East Division — including No. 13 Penn State — while No. 17 Illinois is the only West Division team to land in the rankings, and one of two teams with a winning record.

The argument for and against removing divisions makes sense. On the one hand, it’s a no-brainer to maximize the conference’s chances of having multiple teams qualify for the CFP. On the other hand, constantly putting out a subpar championship game in front of a national audience isn’t a good look.

When assessing the pros and cons, the conference made a decision that solidifies what the priority is. A conference championship is nice, but all eyes are on the playoff.