Big Ten Divisions Created for 2012 Season

The Big Ten divisions have been announced for the 2012 college football season. The 2012 Big Ten divisions will split the 12 teams into two groups of six, and they will then have a schedule that is strongly oriented towards playing the other five teams in the same division each season. The conference is working hard to create a Big Ten Championship Game in 2012 as well, with the hope that it will guarantee a team heading into the BCS bowl games. The Big Ten regular season winner was always guaranteed a spot before, so this in itself won't be the biggest of changes in things.

The two divisions haven't been named as of yet either, but that will come as the 2012 college football season draws closer. There are a lot of changes in the future for the Big Ten Conference, starting with Nebraska joining to push the conference to 12 games, and with it could come a new level of respect for the teams coming out of that conference.

The 2012 Big Ten Divisions

Division One

Michigan
Nebraska
Iowa
Michigan State
Northwestern
Minnesota

Division Two

Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Illinois
Purdue
Indiana

The most notable revelation from the two divisions, is that the Big Ten will split up Michigan and Ohio State, giving both teams a great chance to face off year after year in the Big ten Championship Game. It is unclear at this time if they will remove the game from their schedule, as the Ohio State vs. Michigan game is a yearly event for both schools. This is just a preliminary look at the two divisions as well, so the Big Ten could switch things up before the 2012 season officially gets started, and by then they might also have a better fitting name for a conference that now has 12 teams.

Reference:

ESPN Story