Delany gets it right: B1G/Pac-12 announce scheduling agreement

One year ago, Jim Delany almost allowed the biggest blunder in Big 10 history when word leaked that the Michigan-Ohio State game was going to be moved from its traditional spot at the end of the regular season.  Hell, it was so bad, I immediately returned from blogging retirement to man the keyboard in protest of this boneheaded decision.  Thankfully, The Game stayed put (unfortunately for my productivity, I somehow kept blogging).

That hair and those eyebrows just
scream evil genius

Yesterday, Delany teamed up with his counterpart in the Pac-12, Commissioner Larry Scott, to announce "a collaborative effort to enhance long-term scheduling commitments between the two conferences across all sports amongst the 24 institutions."  And more football specific, starting in 2017, "the objective is to create an annual 12 inter-conference game schedule between the two conferences."

And just like that, the SEC's addition of Mizzou and Texas A&M seems so...quaint.  The Big East's addition of Boise State and...who again?... seems so 2011.  As Scott points out, the B1G and Pac-12 gain a lot of the upside of expansion (broader reach, new markets and recruiting areas( without actually expanding.  And with the conferences' TV deals with ESPN expiring in 2016, the BTN and the Pac-12 new network stand to make a financial killing.

The new scheduling means the B1G nine-game conference schedule that was being discussed is kaput.  And it also means replacing one non-conference with the new Pac-12 game (whether that "replaced" game is the annual crap-fest against some MAC or 1-AA school or ND remains to be seen.  I for one wouldn't mind showing ND the door, or at least not having that game every year). 

According to the Freep story on the announcement, "together, the Big Ten and Pac-12 encompass 15 states holding 43% of the nation's population and 22 of its top 50 television markets."  Not a bad national footprint and recruiting pitch.  Plus, it doesn't take much foresight to see this positions the B1G (and the Pac-12) as the leaders for any future shifts in the college football landscape.

So while last year during the M/OSU bruhaha, I hated Delany with the intensity of a thousand suns, today I must tip my maize and blue cap to him for getting so far out in front of the curve, the other conferences must now rethink their plans as the contemplate catching up.