Ohio State Set to Open Season as Big Ten Reveals Divisions

The Ohio State Buckeyes are poised to open up their season and college football Thursday night with their contest against Marshall. The Buckeyes have National Title aspirations entering the season, ranked second in the country in this early going. They also have a potential Heisman candidate in Terrell Pryor, who showed the world what he could do in their 26-17 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl last January.

All in all, the expectations are extremely high for this team.

Set in the backdrop of these hopes is the changing of the Big Ten into two divisions set to take place next season. With the addition of Nebraska to the Big Ten, the conference has decided to split their teams and to include a Championship game.

One of the biggest concerns about this change was how it was going to effect the greatest rivalry in college sports between Michigan and Ohio State. Known as The Game, this contest is traditionally played the last game of the season between these two and, according to news released yesterday, it will remain that way, even though the two schools have been split into different division.

"Basically, we decided to go with the final season date because that was a way to maintain the tradition," Commissioner Jim Delany  said. "The conference has a wonderful history of not only rivalry games but also trophy games."

This should come as great news to fans of both schools as many were outraged at the thought that this beloved rivalry might be altered beyond repair.

"I'm very pleased that we came out of this with protected rivalries that will go on permanently with Ohio State and Michigan State," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon told The Associated Press. "We'll play Ohio State in the last game of the regular season, following a tradition that has lasted for decades. And if we both earn the right, we can play the Buckeyes again in the Big Ten championship game."

The Division breakdowns are as follows.

Division 1: Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota

Division 2: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois