Iowa-Sconnie hanging in there -- for now

CHICAGO -- The biggest news out of Big Ten media days is the possibility of a nine-game conference schedule. 

Commissioner Jim Delany said Monday the conference is strongly considering a nine-game schedule with the 12-school configuration the Big Ten now finds itself in. It won't happen in 2011 when Nebraska makes it 12, but when Big Ten schedules clear out around 2015 (which is how long it would take, Nebraska athletics director Tom Osborn said Monday), it could very well happen. 

If nine games happen, Iowa and Wisconsin should go on ad infinitum. 

The Hawkeyes and Badgers -- a series Iowa leads 42-41-2 -- are one of the rivalries that could be left behind in the discussion on divisions for the 12 teams. That discussion began Monday with conference athletics directors and will continue today. Delany said he expects the divisions to be revealed in 30 to 45 days. 

The prevailing sentiment in Chicago is that Penn State and Wisconsin switch what would be geographic divisional set up and there's your divisions. That would put the rivalry on life support, likely pinning the Badgers to Minnesota -- the nation's oldest rivalry -- for an interdivisional matchup. 

"We may have 15 trophy games (they have 12), rivalry games that are in that same number. We'll need to do everything we can to preserve those," Delany said. "Whether or not we'll be 100 percent able to preserve every trophy game or every rivalry game, I'll tell you we'll go to great lengths to make sure that the tradition and rivalries are respected." 

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has decided to completely compartmentalize the whole expansion topic. Iowa doesn't play expansion on the field, so why stew about it? 

"Anything's possible," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "Whatever ends up happening, whatever changes there are, it's just part of expansion, I guess. I've never been through this, either. . . . We'll get settled in and at the end of the day, I think it's going to be a good thing for everybody." 

The Iowa-Wisconsin game is ripe with storylines. 

Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema played defensive lineman for the Hawkeyes, serving as a captain for the 1992 squad, and, yes, has a Tiger Hawk logo tattooed to his left calf. He also coached under Ferentz at Iowa before moving to Kansas State after the 2001 season. 

The two states share a border. The coaching staffs end up passing each other in and out of recruit's living rooms. 

Wisconsin's athletics director Barry Alvarez got his big coaching break as linebackers coach under Hayden Fry in Iowa City. 

Fact of the matter is Iowa and Wisconsin is a premium Big Ten football game. Four of the last five games have been decided by 10 or fewer points. 

 When Nebraska joined the Big Ten in June, Bielema openly campaigned for the Badgers to end the season with a game against Nebraska. 

Monday, he said he just wants a meaty traditional rival to end the season. 

"If it were Iowa, I'd love it to be Iowa," he said. "I just want it to be something. Something you can sink your teeth into. 

"The conference has gone given Minnesota and Iowa that seat and that's fine, I've been a part of that one. Floyd of Rosedale is a great thing. If they want that one, give them that one. But I would like something." 

With Iowa and Minnesota seemingly tied to the hip, Nebraska-Wisconsin might make sense. 

"Nobody wants to screw with the Michigan-Ohio State game, which is great, I understand that. Just give us a chance," Bielema said. "I thought that (Wisconsin-Nebraska) might be something to really matter. Two teams that traditionally have been very good have an end-of-the-year game." 

Bielema doesn't see Iowa-Wisconsin going by the wayside (if the Big Ten adopted an SEC model, with protected rivals, Iowa and Wisconsin would play four out of every 10 seasons), but . . . 

"If it does, it does," Bielema said. "I would think there would be a way to preserve some of the longstanding rivalries that matter so much. But every school is going to have one or two games like that, that they feel strongly about. 

"That's why the commissioner is the commissioner. He gets to make those decisions and hopefully he'll make those things work." 

K. Ferentz - 8.02.10  

J Delany - 8 02 10