Gene Smith is “OK with” not playing Penn State every year because he felt that matchup was more of a “competitive rivalry” than one with deeply rooted historic tradition.
If the Big Ten hadn’t had divisions, Ohio State would have missed just one Big Ten Championship Game in the last 10 years.
“Those two teams demonstrated through their body of work that they've earned an opportunity to compete in the championship game,” Smith said Thursday during an appearance on Big Ten Network. “When you run the gauntlet for the regular conference season and you end up being number one and number two in the standings, you've earned that right. So I’m excited about having no divisions. I think divisions served us well, in our history and our transition to this space.
Given that some schools have multiple protected rivalry games under the new model, it came as a bit of a surprise that Penn State – who does not have any protected rivals – was not also designated as an annual opponent for Ohio State. Smith, however, said he was fine with Ohio State no longer playing Penn State every year because he did not feel as though that matchup carried the same historic tradition as The Game or the other matchups that were protected.
Since Ohio State will still be playing Michigan during the final week of the regular season every year, there is now a very real possibility that the Buckeyes and Wolverines could play each other in back-to-back weeks if both teams qualify for the Big Ten Championship Game. That’s exactly what would have happened in each of the last two years after Michigan beat Ohio State in the regular-season finale, and it would have previously happened in 2018 as well had the conference been divisionless.
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