Big Ten Announces Conference Divisions For 2011

As the dust settles on the announcement of the Big Ten's new divisions, SB Nation's Big Ten bloggers have some strong opinions about the realignment of the conference:

• Black Shoe Diaries (Penn State):

My first reaction as a Penn State fan is: Awesome. We all know the bad blood between the Huskers and Nittany Lions from years ago, so it won't take long to revive those feelings again. And the national implications of this game will ensure there is usually something on the line when these two teams get together.

• Black Heart Gold Pants (Iowa): 

From the standpoint of competitive balance, these divisions fall in line with the idle chatter of the divisional alignment intelligentsia of the past few weeks. [...]  It preserves geographic and traditional ties, for the most part; Michigan State will still play Michigan, Iowa will still play Minnesota, and Purdue will still play Indiana in what I assume is a shirts-versus-skins basketball game in the parking lot outside Ross-Ade.

• Maize n Brew (Michigan):

I don't like it, but Ohio State vs. Michigan will remain at the end of the season.  Small win.  Michigan is in a much tougher conference, at least at first glance. 

• Sippin' On Purple (Northwestern):

In our first two years, we'll skip Ohio State - meaning the class of 2013 will graduate college without ever having seen the Buckeyes play the Wildcats, which is a real shame for kids who love seeing their team lose violently in football. I certainly won't miss them - as I'll always say, Ohio State is the one school whose name I see and it makes my bowels loosen a bit, in both basketball and football. I've seen too many terrifying things happen to Northwestern teams in too little time.

• Hammer and Rails:

I think one of the things that has bothered me in this whole divisional process is that people act like only six teams matter when it comes to the divisions. All the talk was how Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin would be divided. It was as if Purdue, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois, and Indiana were going to be relegated as afterthoughts that had no hope of contending no matter what. It was all about separating the "traditional" powers properly.

• Bucky's 5th Quarter:

From day one Jim Delany has said competitive balance would play a big part in forming the divisions. Well, it certainly did. Lindsey Willhite from the Daily Herald did the math and found that the two divisions' winning percentage since 1993 ARE BOTH .580. Talk about even. But did they really need to be even? The conference sacrificed rivalries and lower travel costs for both teams and fans by organizing the divisions the way they did.

 In a Wednesday night televised press conference, Big Ten officials revealed the new divisional alignments for the expanding conference. The lineups, much as previously speculated, shake out as follows:

• Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Northwestern.
• Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin.

One question that's been the subject of much hand-wringing has been put to rest: Ohio State and Michigan will keep their year-end date, and play every season, so now the argument moves on to what will become of the storied rivalry should the two teams ever have to meet again for the conference championship a week later. Thanks to the current state of Michigan football, however, that's an eventuality that's a long, long way from becoming an issue.

Michigan-based Associated Press writer Larry Lage tweets that Big Ten Traditionalist Armageddon might be averted, or at least mitigated.

AP: Big Ten divisions will be UM, Neb, Iowa, MSU, Minn, NW and OSU, PSU, Wisc, Ill, Pur, Ind w/ UM-OSU game as reg season finale

Those divisions have the same configuration as the ones ESPN's Andy Katz reported earlier. And though this scenario might appease traditionalists who wanted the Big Ten's signature matchup to stay where it has been, it could very well create a situation in which Michigan and Ohio State could play for the right to play in a Big Ten championship game—then meet one week later in that championship game.

It also sets up a rather easy division for Michigan State's vaunted basketball program, which wouldn't have Ohio State, Wisconsin, Illinois, or Indiana on its side of the conference.

And now the news comes fast and furious: ESPN's Andy Katz is reporting that Michigan and Ohio State will end up in different divisions, while CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd is citing a "breaking rumor" that the schools will be in the same division and have their game moved to earlier in the year.

Katz reports that sources tell him the new divisions will split up the two rivals.

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that the two divisions in the Big Ten will look like:

• Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota.

• And Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois.

Dodd, meanwhile, tweeted his "breaking rumor" and defended it.

There's no way of knowing who's right, but it should be noted that ESPN's report on BYU jumping ship from the Mountain West Conference had a Katz byline.

Tonight's announcement won't just be about divisions, it seems. Jeff Rabjohns of the Indianapolis Star tweets that a bit more will happen.

Big 10 divisions and '11, '12 schedules to be announced at 7 p.m. tonight on Big Ten Network.

This likely means that not only will we know the fate of rivalries like Michigan-Ohio State, we may have an inkling of what the possible rotation for inter-divisional games will be.