In the Big Ten football standings, Michigan is second from the bottom in the East. Iowa is second from the top in the West. And yet the schools have been matched up this weekend to wrap the Big Ten season.
It’s unclear exactly why, but there are some theories.
When the conference announced on Sep. 16 that the season would in fact be played, Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin’s athletic director and the co-chair of the league’s scheduling committee, unveiled the format for “champions week.”
In addition to the top teams from each division playing for the Big Ten championship, Alvarez said, “the teams from the East and the West will match up and play one another — 2 vs. 2, 3 vs. 3, 4 vs. 4, et cetera” in the ninth and final week of the season.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Alvarez said later that day that those matchups could be adjusted to avoid rematches.
The adjustments went beyond that.
On Saturday, Ohio State and Northwestern will play for the Big Ten title, though even that required the Big Ten to reverse field on its initial six-game requirement.
The other matchups did not go according to Alvarez’s plan. Indiana, No. 2 in the East, is playing fifth-place Purdue. Maryland and Michigan State, both in the East, will play each other. And the 2-4 Wolverines will play 6-2 Iowa on Saturday night.
Maintaining rivalries appear to be a big reason.
Using winning percentage to determine the order of the standings, Indiana should have played Iowa. But the Hoosiers’ in-state rivalry with Purdue, scheduled for last Saturday, was canceled due to COVID issues at both programs. The Big Ten is providing a second chance. (And, perhaps, avoiding two cancellations should both teams still not be cleared to play.)
The Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry was also canceled this year. Those teams are matched up as well this Saturday. Given that they’re both in the West, their pairing necessitated an all-East matchup, throwing competitiveness, based on standings at least, out the window.
Michigan finished sixth in the East. Illinois and Nebraska, both at 2-5, had the worst winning percentage in the West; Illinois gets the tiebreaker due to its victory over the Cornhuskers.
The Wolverines haven’t played either of those teams yet, but scheduling one of those matchups would force a rematch elsewhere. For example, Penn State, fourth in the East, already played Iowa.
The Big Ten did not release any information beyond the matchups and a conference spokesperson did not respond to MLive’s request for clarification on the matchups.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, when asked if he was given any reasoning as to why his team was playing Iowa, did not provide a specific answer.
“My thoughts are always: The schedule is made. You know the time, you know the place, you know the opponent, and then you prepare for the game,” Harbaugh said.
Senior defensive lineman Carlo Kemp said he and his teammates are excited for the game. While Michigan played Iowa last season in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines last went to Iowa City in 2016. Kemp was a freshman then, but it appears Chris Evans is the only current Wolverine who played in that game.
“Let’s do it,” Kemp said of his reaction to facing Iowa. “It’s a great opportunity, a great challenge that we have with this last game of the season. I don’t think you’d want it any other way.”
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