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Posted on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 2:02 p.m.

Big Ten to announce division alignment tonight on the Big Ten Network

By Pete Bigelow

Big Ten officials will unveil the conference’s new divisions at 7 p.m. today on the Big Ten Network, the conference announced in a release this afternoon.

The show also will be streamed on BigTenNetwork.com.

Several divisional scenarios have been reported, but the one common theme among the various possibilities is that every school will need to make some concessions.

At noon Wednesday, Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez said he had not yet learned the specifics of the plan. No matter where the Wolverines land, he’s supportive of the new arrangement.

“It’s a hard thing to get everybody to agree 100 percent, and that would be a tremendous challenge,” Rodriguez said. “From what I understand, they will try, and probably already have, come up with a good plan to try and keep traditional rivalries intact.

“That’s a good thing, and it looks like they’ll be able to do that.”

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon is scheduled to be on the show. Also scheduled to be on the show: Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, Nebraska's Tom Osborne, Michigan State's Mark Hollis and Ohio State's Gene Smith.

Comments

3 And Out

Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 5:24 p.m.

Its a pretty even split...Michigan has to play Neb which seems to be back....and Iowa usually is pretty good...Sparty usually stinks but lately with RR there, have been beating us...NW can be pesky...and Minnesota keeps the Little Brown Jug in the division... Id argue that Michigan's division is more physical than the other one too

Lokalisierung

Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 3:06 p.m.

Looks to me that UofM got the easier division than OSU.

jameslucas

Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 2:41 p.m.

THE GAME had hell of a run, now when Michigan and Ohio State play in the future we can talk about tradition. Maybe start a trophy, maybe talk about how it is the sixth most important game of the year for both Michigan and Ohio State? Importance of football games when Big Ten is split into divisions: 1.The Division Games 2.The Non Division Conference Games 3.The Non-Conference Game

Lokalisierung

Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 2:19 p.m.

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that the two divisions in the Big Ten will look like: Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois.

Steve the Wookiee

Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 2 p.m.

The divisions have already been shown on ESPN.

Macabre Sunset

Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 1:50 p.m.

I'm fine with divisions. I like the idea of UM/OSU in opposite divisions with The Game a protected rivalry. I don't see why that precludes playing The Game in mid-November. People keep repeating that like there's something wrong with a rematch two weeks later. Not that it would happen all that often. Last season, there were two rematches of week 17 games in the NFL one week later in the wild card games, and no one seemed to mind in the slightest. There won't apparently be nine conference games (a great idea) until 2015.

Lokalisierung

Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 1:17 p.m.

So they can have a championship game like the rest of the country.

ferdcom

Wed, Sep 1, 2010 : 1:14 p.m.

If every school is playing nine conference games, why do they need any divisions?