Big Ten Divisions set.

[Condem]

From very reliable sources, it will look like this:

Hayes Division
Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Purdue
Indiana

Schembechler Division
Michigan
Michigan State
Nebraska
Iowa
Illinois
Northwestern.

All that remains is some tinkering with the schedules.

[happyiowan]

1. You left out the part about "protected rivalries"

Please, please, please let ours be Wisconsin. Then again, if they aren't I can return to rooting for them every game of the regular season.

[El Supremo]

3. I just read that Wisconsin is bribing UTEP to come and get beaten.

It isn't nearly the amount that Ohio State is paying Colorado.

What's with this Big 10-11-12? They need victories that bad?

[happyiowan]

4. The Big Ten is so full of awesome teams

they need a couple of weeks rest. And it costs aplenty to find someone willing to play against their awesomeness. But you knew that.

[madinmaryland]

5. Easy there, Condem. That's a bit over the top for even you!

[El Supremo]

14. Then other teams should be so awed by the Big 10 that...

they should be excited to make the trip and have some of the awesomeness rub off.

[MadBadger]

8. Teams always do that. They pay lower level teams to come play at their stadium

Why else would those teams ever play there?

[madinmaryland]

2. Can you two just keep it in the bedroom. Disgusting.

You do make a good point there, Con. Just one mistake. It should be the Hayes Division East and the Hayes Division West. Schembechler is just a Hayes wannabe.

Someday we can name them the Hayes Division and the Tressel Division!

:D

[Condem]

6. Sorry, lads.

The 2010 Orange Bowl is on BTN. I haven't seen the replay, yet. What a night!!

[madinmaryland]

7. In HD, no less!

:woohoo:

[Capt. America]

9. I watched it too. I watched all of last year's Big 10 bowl games and we,

as a conference, almost ran the table. Northwestern should have won their game. Just the fact that the 5th-6th best Big 10 team took the vaunted SEC number 4 to OT is validation enough.

On a separate note, how did the scheduling gods give Iowa home games against OSU, PSU and Whisky? Did your AD give Delaney a hand job?

[Condem]

11. Last I looked, Capt. , we played these teams on the road last year.

And Michigan State on the road back to back.

[Upton]

13. Until last year

the Big Ten hadn't had a winning bowl record since 2002. The conference is going to need a lot more than one winning year to validate anything..

[Condem]

16. Geez, Upton.

Who ARE those lads on the espn.com cover?? Are they from the PAC-10?? http://espn.go.com/

[JonLP24]

17. Couple of Big Ten guys

Hey I found an article earlier I found interesting. I had second thoughts about posting it but ended up not to.

Here it is.

Even Without Brandon Wegher, Iowa Hawkeyes Deep at Running Back

Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz told ESPN.com on Thursday that sophomore running back Brandon Wegher still isn't practicing with the team.

No indication has been given that he will return for the 2010 season. Wegher opened preseason camp with the rest of the team but left several days later for undisclosed personal reasons.

The sophomore from Dakota Dunes, South Dakota has not been back to practice since. Though reported to still be enrolled at the University of Iowa, it is unclear whether or not he started classes with the rest of the students earlier this week.

"He isn't here, and we have to operate as if he's not going to be here this year," Ferentz told ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg. "If he chooses to come back, that'd be wonderful, but we've had a lot of time elapse."

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/439753-iowa-hawkeyes-deep-at-running-back-even-without-brandon-wegher

[Condem]

18. Not a lot to talk about, Jon...

...Got his South Dakotan girlfriend pregnant and his grades suck. Other than that, everything is hunky dory.

[Upton]

19. I don't see any guys on any cover

maybe ESPN changed it. Anyway, what does that have to do with my point? Here's all the relevant information you should need:

2003: 3-5
2004: 3-3
2005: 3-4
2006: 2-5
2007: 3-5
2008: 1-6

[Elwood P Dowd]

21. Auburn was not Number 4 in the SEC last year.

They were 3-5 in the league and Number 5 in the SEC West. The reason they were selected for the Tampa bowl was ticket sales.

[Capt. America]

10. YUCK!!!! YUCK!!!! I want Michigan in the same division, don't ruin The Game you douchbags.

[Upton]

12. With the divisions set up like that

there's a distinct possibility that Ohio State and Michigan will play twice in some years...the protected rivalry and the conference championship game. This will no doubt have the effect of eventually watering down the rivalry that all the Big Ten fans speak so highly about...

It is exactly this kind of problem that the Pac-10 is trying to address as they look at their realignment possibilities...that of splitting into two divisions but keeping the vibrancy of the rivalries alive.

[KamaAina]

15. Hayes and Schembechler themselves are doubtless rolling in their respective graves

:eyes:

[Condem]

20. Live on the BTN tomorrow. 7:00 EST

https://twitter.com/TomDienhart

[Condem]

22. Rittenberg just confirmed it.

Announcement today.