Michigan Football: Why Big Ten/Pac-12 Series Cancellation Is Bad for Wolverines

The Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences tried to make things work, but could not come to an agreement when meetings were all said and done. The two powerhouse conferences were planning on scheduling a round-robin football schedule that would include a total of 12 games a year between both conferences, and it would begin in 2017.

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A great effort was made by both conference staffs to create football schedules that would address the variety of complexities, but in the end, we were just not able to do so. While everyone at the Big Ten is disappointed by the news, we look forward to continuing the historic partnership that we have with the Pac-12 and to working together on other matters in the future. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said. (Via ESPN)

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The biggest losers in this case are of course the fans. Who would not have liked to see USC and Michigan battle it out during the regular season? How about Ohio State and Oregon? It would have really added some spark to the college football regular season for many years to come.

But the second biggest loser in this cancellation, would have to be the Michigan Wolverines. Adding a team such as a USC or Oregon would have really added some strength to the Wolverines schedule, which of course would have increased the programs chances of clinching a playoff bid, when the playoff format kicks in starting in 2014.

Now the question is, where do the Wolverines go from here?

The Big Ten was previously talking about expanding to a nine game conference schedule before these talks began with the Pac-12. It's very possible that the Big Ten will go with its original plan, now that the two conferences couldn't come to an agreement. But adding a team such as Indiana, Illinois or Purdue likely won't do much to the strength of schedule.

There is a possibility that the Big Ten could try and find another conference to partner with, but who would be willing to do so, and what's the likelihood of that happening if the conference is already set on increasing the conference schedule to nine games?

It will be interesting to see what the backup plan for the Big Ten now is, although I'm not sure plan B is going to be better than the plan that recently fell through the cracks.