Ohio State and Michigan will split into separate divisions – but will still play each other in the final week of the regular season – when the Big Ten expands to 12 teams next year, OSU athletic director Gene Smith told The Lantern shortly before an announcement show Wednesday night on the Big Ten Network.
Speculation that the annual rivalry game between the Big Ten’s two most storied programs would be moved to an earlier date to prevent the potential for meetings in consecutive weeks had the Midwest abuzz. Instead, in the event that the Buckeyes and Wolverines both lead their respective divisions, after their game to wrap up the regular season, the schools would square off again for the conference crown a week later.
OSU and Michigan have met in the final week of the regular season every year since 1935.
The Big Ten never considered moving the OSU-Michigan game to a different month, conference commissioner Jim Delany said at the Wednesday press conference.
Joining OSU in one division – Delany said he hopes to have the divisions named within 90 days – are Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois and Indiana. Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan State, Northwestern and Illinois will make up the other division.
Nebraska joined the Big Ten on June 11.
Smith said a number of factors contributed to the end result of the realignment, but listed competitive equality as the most important. He said money did not play a role.
“Our first principle was trying to create competitive equality,” Smith said. “We knew that since 1993, the top 6 teams that have had historically the most success were OSU, Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and Penn State. The first thing we did was split them into three and three.
“At the same time, we looked at all the different traditions that existed. There were real traditions and perceived traditions. We looked at rivalries that we needed to protect and we did that. We looked a little at geography and we dealt with that.
“We never talked about money or TV.”
