As of now, I am in favor of Ohio State and Michigan playing in different divisions.
The Game has already been the B1G Championship Game. The Game has decided the B1G Championship - 22 times. The Game has passed that audition.
People love to invoke the glory of The Ten Year War. Guess what? Each of "Those Games" decided the B1G Championship.
Putting both teams in the same division eliminates that possibility and - over time - will diminish, The Game.
I'm not immovable, however. I can see virtues in the opposing opinion, which many of you have effectively and vigorously, expressed. I'm also reserving some wiggle room, pending the likelihood the Buckeyes and Wolverines face each other in the B1G CG, in 2013. Were it to happen, just what would that be like? I want to see: 1.) how the 2 fanbases handle it; 2.) how the B1G promotes it; 3.) how Fox covers it and 4.) how the wider sports world reacts to it.
Ohio State-Michigan: The Game - B1G Championship Edition, would be truly historic.
Jim Delaney has floated his share of trial balloons, since expansion began. Most infamously, he dared to suggest The Game might be scheduled earlier in the regular season, to avoid playing The Game and The Game - B1G Championship Edition, on back-to-back Saturdays. There was an uproar and he acknowledged it. I believe Jim Delaney is a provocateur. He has to be. His athletic conference is a B1G act.
Ultimately, I see Delaney preserving the annual possibility of Ohio State-Michigan: The B1G Championship Edition. For starters, he wants to avoid embarrassments, like this:
It's inevitable the league will expand to 16, if not 20, teams. This will produce the perfect rationale to keep Ohio State and Michigan separate, because the B1G [and its media partner(s)] will make lots more money.
4 pods will create the need for a B1G semifinal and if Ohio State and Michigan are involved, Delaney gets a one-week buffer between The Game and the B1G CG. The two teams' presence in the championship game, would amount to two weeks of huge PR and tons of revenue for The B1G. Ohio State and Michigan meeting in the B1G CG means a national ratings champion and even more money. Delaney cannot pass up preserving this possibility.
The Game. It means everything. It means more than a rivalry. It means a ton of money for The B1G.
Note - Nielsen Ratings for both B1G CG's:
2011: FOX (7.08 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) tipped the ratings scales on Saturday with its coverage of "College Football: Big Ten Championship Game" (7.08 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) and, a huge drop-off
2012: FOX (5.02 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) topped the demo charts on Saturday with its coverage of the "Big Ten Football Championship: Nebraska vs. Wisconsin" (5.02 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1).
Nope. He might make it like bowl games work now where the teams have to buy their allotment of tickets even if they don't sell them all. But even selling 40k+ tickets at the prices they charge, they aren't losing money, trust me.
Delany will want to avoid OSU and/or Michigan resting starters because both have clinched the B1G game and therefore The Game being replayed makes the regular season version pointless.
The schools will want to avoid this because ticket sales will lag for watching the regular season version if there is a repeat performance the following week.
A rematch in the Championship game will be rare, but it won't always mean two exciting rivalry games. Also, it will mean with Michigan in the other division or pod, we will either have to guarantee them as a cross-divisonal game which would mean we play the other teams in the other division less often (Nebraska or MSU or NW only every 6yrs) OR if they aren't a protected rival, there will be years we don't play them, which is unacceptable.
Same division is the best way to go.
“Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.” - Woody
With Ohio State and M*chigan being in the same division the game will only be played once a year. Also to address your point about the game deciding the B1G champion, it would be a similar situation if the winner of the game is named the winner of their division and earns a berth in the B1G championship game. Now lets imagine a scenario where they are in seperate divisions and both Ohio State and Michigan have already clinched a spot in the championship game going into the game at the end of the season. The game would have no effect on the B1G season at all. It would only be about the second matchup. The first one wouldn't matter. And finaly to address your point about attendance, I think both of our fanbases travel well enough to pack Lucas Oil Stadium on their own. Nebraska and Wisconsin have a pretty good drive trying to get to Indy.
IIRC, the game sold out last summer. Ticket brokers took the bath, not B1G. Plus ticket sales are the cherry on the sundae. TV rights from Fox exceed $25M.