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The Omaha World-Herald's Dirk Chatelain rounds up opinions from around the nation on the Big Ten's divisional alignment plan.
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.com
(Jim) Delany might have had to enter the Witness Protection Program had The Game been moved from its spot on the final regular-season Saturday. Athletic Directors Gene Smith (Ohio State) and Dave Brandon (Michigan) might have had to join him, too.
The Ohio State-Michigan game belongs in late November, period.
... That said, there are some potential problems of having a cross-division game on the final regular-season Saturday. What if both Ohio State and Michigan have the division titles wrapped up before The Game? Will The Game lose significance if a rematch in the league championship is possible the very next week? And what about the division races as a whole? Ideally, these two races could be decided within the division on the final Saturday of November.
... My main concern with this setup is what happens when Michigan gets back to being Michigan. You’ve got three potential powers in Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa, alongside two programs in Northwestern and Michigan State that are finding consistency under relatively new coaches. Minnesota needs to step up its game in a hurry.
... Nebraska has to be pleased with its position. The Huskers get a border rivalry against Iowa that will be huge (Farmageddon, baby), and they renew a regional rivalry with Minnesota. They also face Penn State every year, renewing a great series. Plus, Michigan will be on the schedule each season. The only downside is that Nebraska could go several years without facing Ohio State. Nebraska closes the 2011 season with games at Penn State, at Michigan and against Iowa in Lincoln. Welcome to the Big Ten, Big Red.
... I doubt Iowa, Michigan State, Purdue and Indiana are thrilled with their protected crossover games, but not everyone comes out of this satisfied. For Iowa fans, you get Nebraska every year and the Floyd of Rosedale game. Michigan State still gets to play archrival Michigan every year, plus a marquee game against Nebraska. Purdue and Indiana have the Bucket game protected through the division. Purdue maintains a trophy game with Illinois, and Indiana still faces the Illini every year in a good regional matchup.
... I’m a little surprised that the Big Ten didn’t go with Penn State-Nebraska ahead of Iowa-Nebraska on the final regular-season Saturday. It speaks to how big the league thinks the Nebraska-Iowa rivalry will be.
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Bob Wojnowski, Detroit News:
Supporters of the old guard, Michigan and Ohio State, flexed some old muscle to win a decent compromise, and thank goodness for that victory. The Wolverines and Buckeyes still will play in November on the final weekend of the regular season, under Blue and Gray skies, as they have every year since 1943, as they should. The stakes will still be high but it’ll be different, and that part is unfortunate.
Michigan and Ohio State are in separate divisions, which means that they could meet in the conference championship the following week. That certainly changes the dynamic of a winner-take-all rivalry, but I’ll grudgingly admit this: The occasional possibility of back-to-back late-season encounters is better than one clash on some random Saturday in November, the scenario floated by Big Ten operatives.
Michigan and Ohio State fans railed loudly against it, and good for them for attempting to preserve the tradition and pressuring the conference to listen. It did, sort of.
... On the plus side: Nebraska’s husky Cornhuskers will show up in Ann Arbor or East Lansing every other year, and that’ll be compelling. In fact, gulp hard, Michigan will close 2011 with home games against Nebraska and Ohio State.
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Tom Oates, Wisconsin State Journal:
When it was announced that Nebraska would become the 12th member of the mathematically challenged Big Ten in 2011, it looked like a win-win situation for the University of Wisconsin.
... Unfortunately, what appeared to be a win-win situation for UW instead turned into one giant loss.
... Only one school in its division — Illinois — is in a state that shares a border with Wisconsin. So much for rivalries and road games that fans can easily drive to. But that’s not even the worst part.
Historically, there are four schools that raise the blood pressure of UW football fans just by showing up at Camp Randall Stadium. In no particular order, they are Ohio State, Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa.
Starting next year, only one of the four will be in UW’s division. And in any given year, only two of the four are guaranteed to be on UW’s schedule. In fact, Iowa and Michigan will be off UW’s schedule in 2011 and 2012.
... But for a conference that stubbornly clings to its outdated name, the Big Ten failed to recognize UW’s white-hot rivalry with Iowa. Minnesota will remain UW’s protected rival, but the Badgers’ game with Iowa, which had been protected in the past, will lose all of its steam.
... Whatever the reason, Wednesday was not a good day for Badgers fans. UW’s top two rivals were put in another division, and the Badgers will play glamour teams such as Michigan and Nebraska only four times every 10 years. Who knew that competitive balance would come at such a price?
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Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune:
The tug o’ war ended Wednesday, and it was nearly impossible to identify a loser.
For 30 days, Big Ten schools fought for their best interests, engaging in a sometimes contentious battle with their fan bases while Commissioner Jim Delany refused to stray from his goal of creating divisions marked by “competitive equality.”
... While Michigan and Ohio State wanted the chance to meet for a Rose Bowl, Michigan State wanted to skirmish with Michigan for smaller stakes.
“We wanted to play Michigan for a division title,” Spartans Athletic Director Mark Hollis said.
Voila. Michigan and Michigan State reside in the same, yet-to-be-named division.
Northwestern officials also are thrilled with the new set-up — and not because the Wildcats’ protected rival, Illinois, has had one winning season since 2002.
Northwestern will play Nebraska every season in an NU vs. NU game that Athletic Director Jim Phillips said will “provide another huge injection into what we are doing in the marketing of Northwestern athletics.”
Phillips already is preparing mentally for the insanity of Oct. 20, 2012, the day the Big Red will visit Evanston.
Phillips knows that he better have some trash talk ready for his neighbor, a rabid Nebraska fan named Tom Ricketts. Same guy whose family owns the Cubs.
“Tom lives four blocks from Ryan Field,” Phillips said. “He has promised that we’ll shut the neighborhood down that day.”
... Wisconsin fans also got something of a raw deal. The Badgers lost their Heartland Trophy game with Iowa, won’t hook up Northwestern until 2013, and Badgers coach Bret Bielema struck out on his request for an end-of-season rivalry with Nebraska. The Badgers’ protected game is against Minnesota.
But, in what smells like a consolation prize, the men with the “W” on their helmets will host Nebraska in the Cornhuskers’ Big Ten debut on Oct. 1, 2011.
“We’ll be part of history,” Bielema said.
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