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According to a report from ESPN.com, after this coming season, the Big Ten will seek to rectify their wildly unpopular divisional setup with a new alignment, which from the sounds of it should fall more in line with what the league's many fans and alum have been clamoring for. The Big Ten has had the current 'Leaders' & 'Legends' (names which also have been much scrutinized) divisions in place since the 2011 football season.
While the current configuration most heavily emphasizes arbitrary historical balance along with keeping certain schools apart in order to better the chances of possible rematches in the league's football championship game, the new divisions are set to go with geography as the predominant factor. Time zones are expected to be the key determinant of who goes where, which should ensure that rivals Ohio State and Michigan are finally set in the same division.
The only question lingering, due to the break down of eight teams in the Eastern time zone to just six in the Central, is which team will have to shift out and play in the league's 'West' division. According to ESPN's report, Michigan State is not a candidate, leaving the debate down to Indiana and Purdue. The divisions are expected to be split as such:
'West' division
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
Purdue/Indiana
Northwestern
Wisconsin
'East' division
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue/Indiana
Rutgers
What are your thoughts on the reported divisional alignment? Is this more in line with the way the league should've sought to align when they first went to divisions two seasons ago?