[NU Sports] Big Ten Divisions appear to be firming up

[Jonathan Hodges]

Here's the most recent update with the best guess divisions from ESPN's Adam
Rittenberg:

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/14936/division-dominoes-wisconsin-iowa-to-split

Division #1: Michigan/MSU/Iowa/Nebraska/Illinois/NU
Division #2: OSU/PSU/Wisconsin/Minnesota/Purdue/Indiana

Basically the only things that seem pretty sure right now are that
OSU/Michigan will be split (and PSU/Nebraska will each be placed with one of
them) and Iowa/Wisconsin will be split.

My fear, like others on the list, is that NU will be placed with OSU and
PSU, the two teams that the 'Cats have had the hardest time with since '95.
Everything else is basically a wash (I am confident the NU/Illinois rivalry
game will continue and I would also like to see NU get to continue playing
Iowa so our winning ways can continue as well).

Jonathan

On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 2:26 AM, Mike Nolan <nolan at romaine.tssi.com> wrote:

> Based on various stories circulating and a report on ESPN, it looks like
> the
> Big Ten's divisional structure is pretty close to set.  If so, it may
> leak out soon.
>
> So far it looks like Michigan and Ohio State will be in opposite divisions.
> That suggests that Nebraska and Penn State will also be in opposite
> divisions,
> because those are the top 4 teams over the last 20-30 years.
>
> ESPN is reporting that Iowa and Wisconsin will be in different divisions,
> too.
> That news appears to have been confirmed by Barry Alvarez, along with a
> strong
> hint that Northwestern and Illinois will be in opposite divisions.  Alvarez
> also
> said that the Big Ten will go to a nine-game conference schedule in 2015.
>
> I think it is a virtual certainty that Nebraska and Iowa will be in the
> same division.
>
> Here's my latest guess of how the teams will split up
> based on these reports.
>
>   Division X              Division Y
>
>   Michigan                Ohio State
> *  Nebraska                Penn State
>   Iowa                    Wisconsin
>   Purdue                  Indiana
>   llinois                 Northwestern
> *  Minnesota               Michigan State
>
> The two lines marked with asterisks are ones that I think could go
> either way, but if one flips then I suspect the other one will too.
> --
> Mike Nolan
>
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