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Any Michigan man will tell you, there is nothing quite like
beating Ohio State. Every Buckeye agrees, a win over that team from
up North is priority No. 1.


      Well, now Michigan and Ohio State could get two chances in a
season to beat their fiercest rival.


      What would Woody and Bo have thought of that? A rematch!


      The Big Ten announced its divisional breakdown for football
Wednesday night, and Ohio State and Michigan will be in different
six-team divisions when the league expands to 12 members in 2011.


      Neither division has been named, but they break down like this:
Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota and
Northwestern in one; Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Purdue and Indiana in the other.


      Commissioner Jim Delany said creating football divisions with
competitive balance was the top priority and No. 2 was maintaining
a cross-division rivalry game for each team.


      "We felt like we could do equal competition and tradition with
this move," Delany said.


      Michigan and Ohio State will be a cross-divisional rivalry and
continue to play each other each year in the Big Ten regular-season
finale, as they have since 1943. That means they could wind up
meeting again for the conference championship a week or two later.
Not in the Big House or the Horseshoe but on a neutral field. Maybe
even a domed stadium.


      "Basically, we decided to go with the final season date because
that was a way to maintain the tradition," Delany said. "The
conference has a wonderful history of not only rivalry games but
also trophy games."


      Big Ten teams will play eight conference games the next two
seasons, but that could increase in the future.


      "The athletic directors have the intention of exploring a ninth
conference game in 2015," Delany said.


      For now there are no plans for divisions in other sports. Delany
said he sees no benefit to basketball divisions, but if conference
leaders decide they want them, they would have to be drawn
differently.


      Nebraska will join the Big Ten as its 12th team next year,
allowing the conference to split into two divisions and add a
lucrative championship game. The first Big Ten football
championship game will be played in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil
Stadium, the indoor home of the NFL's Colts.


      The expansion put the conference in a delicate balancing act,
trying to add to its coffers without diminishing its rich
traditions, none bigger than Michigan vs. Ohio State.


      "I'm very pleased that we came out of this with protected
rivalries that will go on permanently with Ohio State and Michigan
State," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon told The
Associated Press. "We'll play Ohio State in the last game of the
regular season, following a tradition that has lasted for decades.
And if we both earn the right, we can play the Buckeyes again in
the Big Ten championship game."


      There was speculation the Michigan-Ohio State game could be
pushed out of its end-of-season spot, maybe even into October. It
sent some fans into an outrage and Delany said that was a factor in
the final decision.


      "We heard the fans, there's no doubt about their voices
mattered," Delany said.


      For years, the matchup known simply as "The Game" in Big Ten
country has been the conference's signature rivalry, one of the
most storied and tradition-rich in all of sports. The Buckeyes and
Wolverines have played 106 times since 1897.


      Twenty-two times "The Game" has determined whether Ohio State
or Michigan won the Big Ten championship.


      Never was the rivalry more intense or more significant than from
the late 1960s through the '70s, when Ohio State coach Woody Hayes
and Michigan coach Bo Schembechler waged what has been dubbed "the
Ten-Year War."


      While "The Game" will never be the same since the title won't
be at stake in the regular season, the league is still banking on
it to be a big deal. And then there's the tantalizing possibility
of even bigger TV ratings if the maize and blue meet the scarlet
and gray in the league championship less than a month later.


      "I think it's a great opportunity for both programs to win
divisions and be in the championship games," Ohio State athletic
director Gene Smith said on the Big Ten Network, "and if we do
play back to back, and if you look back over history quite frankly
it's rare that happens, if it does happen it's great for fans."


      Michigan-Ohio State wasn't the only tradition for Big Ten
officials to consider. No conference has more trophy games than the
Big Ten.


      Longtime rivals such as Iowa and Minnesota, Michigan and
Michigan State, and Purdue and Indiana wound up in the same
division. Wisconsin and Minnesota were split, but the Badgers and
Gophers will be cross-divisional rivals and play each season.


      That means Iowa can still square off each fall with Minnesota
for Floyd of Rosedale, a bronze statue of a pig, and Minnesota and
Michigan can now play for the Little Brown Jug every season.


      The other cross-divisional rivalries will be: Nebraska and Penn
State, pitting the Big Ten's two newest members; Indiana and
Michigan State, which play for the Brass Spittoon; and Iowa and
Purdue; and in-state rivals Illinois and Northwestern.


      Rivalries that took a hit were Iowa and Wisconsin, which play
for the Heartland Trophy, and Penn State and Michigan State, which
play for the Land Grant Trophy.

Gallery

Sports

The Big Ten announced its divisional breakdown for football
Wednesday night. Rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin will be in different
six-team divisions when the league expands to 12 members in 2011.

Big Ten creates divisions, splits rivals Minn., Wis.

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