The Big Ten will realign into two divisions when Nebraska joins as the 12th team in 2011. We know that Michigan and Ohio St. will be in separate divisions to set up the super-title game.  (Having that once every ten years is certainly worth giving up a meaningful game every year.)  It has also been reported that Wisconsin and Iowa will be separated as well. Assuming the divisions aren’t arbitrary and have some geographic orientation, those two conditions suggest a North-South rather than East-West divide.

If the Big Ten uses North and South divisions, the alignment could look like this.

North: Michigan, Michigan St., Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn St. Wisconsin
South: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue

Each division would have three of the big schools (Mich, Penn St, Wisc vs. OSU, Nebraska, Iowa).  They would be reasonably balanced.  Given the system, they will need to be.

Unlike the SEC or the Big 12, cross-divisional games won’t count in the standings, unless needed for a tie-breaker. So, beyond national title implications, Michigan-Ohio St. will be an empty exhibition, a de facto non-conference game. Big Ten teams will also play another inconsequential conference game when the league season expands to nine game schedule.

If the cross-divisional games counted, it would give a larger sample size to get the best teams and it would as closely resemble the current Big Ten season as possible while allowing for a title game. Not making them count would add spice to the division matchups, but at the cost of gutting rivalries and making nearly half the conference games irrelevant.

The Big Ten is gutting its conference season and its most famous rivalry to aggrandize its new title game which might be good, but probably will be overshadowed by those of better conferences.  Even the dream Michigan-Ohio St. matchup would net each school around $150,000, at best.

Tradition on the field has been problematic for the Big Ten. Tradition off the field is the only thing keeping the conference relevant. Destroying tradition seems short-sighted, unnecessary and cruel. Sometimes the smartest men in the room can be profoundly foolish.