Now that we know what the Big Ten is going to look like for at least the next two years, I want to put myself in the shoes of each of the Big Ten schools as if I were a fan of their team and analyze the new divisions and schedules from all 12 perspectives as best I can. Here are the divisions, which you likely have committed to memory by now:

X DIVISION
Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Purdue
Illinois
Indiana

O Division
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Nebraska
Minnesota
Northwestern

OHIO STATE: Do they really care? They are Ohio State and have things rolling at an unprecedented level for even their illustrious history. They get to keep their annual game with Michigan as the last regular season game of the year, setting up potential rematches with the Wolverines for a trip to the Rose Bowl or more. This also offers up a scenario where the loser of that game could still meet the winner of that game for the Big Ten title and perhaps turns around and gets revenge, maybe knocking the Big Ten out of the national championship picture. More often than not, that won’t happen. The two teams would have only had a championship game rematch just three or four times since 1993. They have to feel good about things as they have owned Illinois and Purdue since 1993, while Wisconsin has been a thorn in their side from time to time and Penn State is another 800-win program. But on the whole, I am guessing Ohio State fans didn’t care about anything other than playing Michigan in the last regular season game.

PENN STATE: They will play Ohio State and Wisconsin every year, as well as a protected rivalry game with Nebraska. They’ll also play Iowa the first two years of schedule that was released on Wednesday, a team that has beaten them seven of the last eight times the programs have met. In 2011, they will end the season home against Nebraska, followed by road games at Ohio State and Wisconsin with a road game at Iowa to start things off. Yo. Black Shoe Diaries, a Penn State blog, has some thoughts. They seem comfortable with it. Their contrived rivalry game with Michigan State that was played for the Land Grant Trophy goes away. No loss there. Big bonus: They won’t have to face Iowa every year.

WISCONSIN: This is the one team that I think took it in the shorts the most. Oddly enough, Barry Alvarez seemed to be the unofficial spokesman for the Big Ten with regards to leaking things here and there. I feel comfortable in saying that was not any planned arrangement. They maintain their rivalry with Minnesota, but are in different divisions and it’s their protected rivalry. The trophy game with Iowa goes away, which seems to be the biggest rivalry casualty in all of this; the teams have played 86 games and Iowa holds a 43-41-2 advantage. Nebraska is not in their division and that is something Bret Bielema campaigned for right out of the gate, tweeting on June 12th that he had hoped the Huskers and Badgers could be an end of season rivalry game. They will play the next two years, but that will be in an out of division rotation. Some Badger fans feel like this could negatively impact Alvarez’s legacy.

MICHIGAN: They have to feel pretty good. First off, they keep ‘The Game’ where it’s been for more than 70 years. They also get to start a series with Nebraska, pitting two of the seven 800-win club members against one another, like we have with Ohio State and Penn State. They get to play Michigan State every year in the division, which is a nice bonus. They keep playing for the Little Brown Jug with Minnesota, a team they have lost to just twice in close to the last 30 meetings. Their schedule next year was also a gift, in my opinion. If Rich Rodriguez can turn things around this year and is Michigan’s coach next year, they are my favorite to win the ‘O Division’. That’s a big IF, however. On the whole, they get their cake and eat it too.

MICHIGAN STATE: They keep their game with Michigan, which had to be the poker chip they played. They don’t have to play Penn State every year. They have the talent on an annual basis to compete with every team in their league. However next year, they have to play at Ohio State, Nebraska and Iowa plus Wisconsin comes to East Lansing. Give and take, as that schedule is loaded. Then again, most of these Big Ten schedules are going to be loaded, the way it seems to be in the SEC.

NEBRASKA: Welcome to the Big Ten. You get a rivalry game with Iowa that will be featured at the end of the regular season…that’s a nice wedding present, since it seems your fans wanted this. You are also near Minnesota, it’s a cheap flight from Omaha to Chicago to play Northwestern…good stuff. However, there had to be some ‘take’ with the ‘give’ and that comes in the form of the 2011 schedule: at Wisconsin and Ohio State at home right out of the chute, then you close with a pair of road games at Penn State and Michigan before hosting Iowa. Your protected rival is Penn State. Decent on balance, but next year looks like a bear.

IOWA: I wish you could have seen my face when I was handed the lineup sheet when arriving at the Big Ten Network studios around 12:30pm on Wednesday. A big, big smile. I was glad to see Iowa in the same division as Michigan, Nebraska and Minnesota. All time, Iowa has beaten Ohio State more times than it has beaten Michigan. I realize we are talking about the winningest program in the history of the sport. But even when Michigan has beaten Iowa over the last 30 years, most of the games have been competitive. I would rather be in their division than Ohio State’s, and I would have written the same thing before Rodriguez came to Ann Arbor. The year ending game with Nebraska? Perfection. Since the Huskers were announced to the league back on June 12th, it is what I was hoping for. The level of acrimony that may ensue should be a lot of fun. The Iowa State rivalry game on the front end of the schedule and this one to close it down? It doesn’t get any better than that.

The protected rivalry with Purdue? Meh. Clearly, the Hawkeyes and Boilermakers were the rivalry ‘leftovers’..like being at a grade school dance and you are the only guy left without a dance partner when ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ came on (the longest slow dance song of all time) and the only girl left had a psychotic crush on you…not that I am speaking specifically here. On the whole, I was real happy.

ILLINOIS: Not too bad actually. They get decent chances at wins with Purdue and Indiana each year, plus their protected rivalry with Northwestern, plus Minnesota on the schedule the next two years. They can realistically map out annual bowl plans if they can ever figure out how to be consistent.

PURDUE: If I am a Boilermaker fan, I might wonder where my athletic director was when these discussions went down. OK, they keep the rivalry game with Indiana, but that seemed a given. However, they must play Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa each year. They can feel OK about the Iowa game, because those have been closely contested contests for the most part since Joe Tiller took over the program in the 1990′s. But on the whole, I’d feel a little empty.

NORTHWESTERN: I think they have to feel good. No Ohio State or Penn State for at least three years, and they have avoided Ohio State the last two years. They have Iowa in their division, something they probably feel good about. They get Illinois every year as well as Minnesota. Not too bad at all.

MINNESOTA: They keep their three primary trophy games in place, an easy road trip to Nebraska plus they play Purdue and Illinois in 2011 & 2012. But they have to do their part and carry their weight, or none of this makes any difference.

INDIANA: In a six game stretch to start next season, they will host Penn State and Illinois, then play at Wisconsin and Iowa, home against Northwestern then at Ohio State. Ouch. Like Minnesota, they have to do their part or it doesn’t matter

On the whole, I think things are pretty fair. Not everyone was going to be happy about this, but more programs can feel comfortable with the layout than not. Wisconsin appears to be the fanbase that may feel the most jilted of the ‘Top Six’ schools, without question.

Tags: hawkeye football, Hawkeye Nation, hawkeyenation.com, Iowa football, Jon Miller