Big Ten Re-Alignment Needs To Keep Ohio State and Michigan Together

While Jim Delany leads the Big Ten toward its first football championship game, scheduled to start in 2011, it's doubtful he'll make the mistake of disregarding the tradition of the Ohio State-Michigan game.

In order to preserve the greatest rivalry in college sports, Delany should see the need to keep both schools in the same division of the new Big Ten.

Delany has indicated that while not exactly sure about how the Big Ten's 12 football teams will be divided, he expects to announce his plans relatively soon.

Keeping Ohio State and Michigan in the same division will allow "The Game" to be played in its usual final regular season position, and will keep the rivalry as strong as ever.

When the SEC went to their Conference Championship Game in 1994 they made sure that Auburn and Alabama would continue to meet in the Iron Bowl every year.  It's still the huge game it's always been even though one of these teams usually has a chance to play in the SEC Championship Game.

Why Splitting Up Michigan and Ohio State Won't Work

Splitting up Ohio State and Michigan into rival divisions would be a huge mistake and here are four scenarios that support this opinion:

1.  They may not play each other. 

Can you imagine a football season in which Ohio State and Michigan don't play each other?

"The Game" has been played at the end of the regular season for over 70 years and has usually determined directly, or indirectly, the champion of the Big Ten.

It's also had a huge influence on determining the National Championship on many occasions.

This is simply the most intense rivalry in college football and maybe all of American sports.  Any attempt to lessen its tradition by not allowing the teams to play every year would be detrimental to the Big Ten and college football.

2.  They may not meet on the last day of the regular season. 

If the two were put into different divisions, there is always the possibility that the commissioner would stress the desire for divisional rivalries to meet in the last regular season game.

Playing on any other day would naturally ruin the tradition and aura of "The Game."

3.  They could play two successive games against. 

If the teams were in opposite divisions there would also be a chance they would play in two successive games at the end of the year.

If the commissioner split them up, but allowed them to play in a non-divisional game on the last day of the regular season, it's possible that both teams could meet in the Big Ten Conference Championship game as well.

Would this lessen the importance and tradition of their regular season matchup?  It probably would especially if it was a foregone conclusion that both were guaranteed a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game.

4.  They could meet three times. 

Though highly unlikely, there is always a chance that the two could meet in a regular season non-divisional game, the Big Ten Championship, and the National championship Game.

Is this situation totally nonsensical?  No, they almost met in the 2006 National Championship Game.

At the end of the 2006 regular season Ohio State was undefeated and was guaranteed a spot in the BCS Championship Game.  Michigan and Florida, the two teams with the strongest chance to get the opportunity to play Ohio Sate both had one loss.

Florida, with the help of some Urban Meyer politicking, ultimately was selected and went on to defeat Ohio State and win the 2006 National Championship.

What will the two divisions look like?

At this time it's hard to tell how the Big Ten will divide itself to form two divisions that hopefully will be of equal strength.

With Michigan and Ohio State in one division, it looks like the two other teams with the strongest reputation as football powers are Penn State and Nebraska.

To balance out the two divisions this would most likely be the split.  After these four teams, it's anyone's guess how Jim Delany will suggest to divide the other eight schools.