Ghost schedules of Iowa football past

The Big Ten's seemingly perpetual wheel of expansion has decimated the league's football scheduling process.

The 2011 and 2012 schedules vanished with the addition of Nebraska. Three seasons worth of schedules, two of which were released with great interest last spring, also went up in smoke when the league chose to add Rutgers and Maryland for the 2014 season.

When the league changes, so do the schedules. It happens in every sport. But one tweak in college football is news. Schedules are finalized years in advance. There's a strategy and symmetry to each one. So starting all over again is a major undertaking, especially in a high-profile league like the Big Ten.

So we're going to go back in time and show how the Big Ten arrived at its latest 2014 schedule. Before the 2011 season, each of the 11 squads played two rivals annually and the other eight teams six times over an eight-year period. Here's a breakdown of the Big Ten's protected rivalries from 1995-2010:

Iowa: Minnesota, Wisconsin

Minnesota: Iowa, Wisconsin

Wisconsin: Iowa, Minnesota

Northwestern: Illinois, Purdue

Illinois: Northwestern, Indiana

Purdue: Northwestern, Purdue

Indiana: Illinois, Purdue

Michigan: Ohio State, Michigan State

Ohio State: Michigan, Penn State

Michigan State: Michigan, Penn State

Penn State: Ohio State, Michigan State

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From 2011 through this year, the 12 football programs (including Nebraska) were scheduled to face six teams every year -- five within their division and one protected crossover. The divisions were based on competitive balance, not geography. Here's a look at permanent Big Ten opponents over that three-year period:

LEGENDS DIVISION

Iowa (Purdue)

Michigan (Ohio State)

Michigan State  (Indiana)

Minnesota (Wisconsin)

Northwestern (Illinois)

Nebraska (Penn State)

LEADERS DIVISION

Illinois (Northwestern)

Indiana (Michigan State)

Ohio State (Michigan)

Penn State (Nebraska)

Purdue (Iowa)

Wisconsin (Minnesota)

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Next year, the league shifts to 14 teams and divides by geography. There's only one protected cross-divisional rivalry among the divisions: Purdue-Indiana. The schools will play everyone in their division and two crossover games in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, the schools will begin playing a nine-game schedule with three crossover games.

WEST -- Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin

EAST -- Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers

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Through the changes, the Big Ten schedule has adapted multiple times. A couple of trivial scheduling items for Iowa over the years began in 2011 when the Hawkeyes were slated to open the 2011 Big Ten season Oct. 1 at Wisconsin. When the rivals were split into opposite divisions, Nebraska replaced Iowa and that game served as the Cornhuskers' Big Ten debut (a 48-17 Wisconsin shellacking). Oddly enough, Iowa now will go at least six years without playing at Madison.

Iowa and Illinois were scrubbed from one another's schedules for six seasons. The 2009 and 2010 years were a scheduled off-rotation based on the previous six-games-over-eight-years league policy. In 2011 and 2012, Indiana and Penn State were randomly chosen to face Iowa in cross-divisional play. The Hawkeyes were scheduled to meet Wisconsin and Ohio State in 2013 and 2014.

Either Iowa or Minnesota had ended their league season against the other school every year from 1983 through 2010. With Nebraska's arrival, the league stapled the Cornhuskers and Hawkeyes together as a season-ending celebration. Minnesota was left in the cold.

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Here's a look at Iowa's originally scheduled conference games from 2011 through 2016. Only the 2013 schedule stayed true to its original form.

2011: Oct. 1 -- at Wisconsin; Oct. 8 -- Illinois; Oct. 15 -- at Penn State; Oct. 22 -- at Purdue; Oct. 29 -- Michigan; Nov. 5 -- Indiana; Nov. 19 -- at Ohio State; Nov. 26 -- Minnesota

2012: Sept. 29 -- Wisconsin; Oct. 6 -- at Illinois; Oct. 13 -- Penn State; Oct. 20 Purdue; Oct. 27 -- at Michigan; Nov. 3 -- at Indiana; Nov. 17 -- Ohio State; Nov. 24 -- at Minnesota

2013: Sept. 28 -- at Minnesota; Oct. 5 -- Michigan State; Oct. 19 -- at Ohio State; Oct. 26 -- Northwestern; Nov. 2 -- Wisconsin; Nov. 9 -- at Purdue; Nov. 23 -- Michigan; Nov. 29 -- at Nebraska

2014: Oct. 4 -- at Wisconsin; Oct. 18 -- Ohio State; Oct. 25 -- Purdue; Nov. 1 -- at Michigan; Nov. 8 -- at Northwestern; Nov. 15 -- Minnesota; Nov. 22 -- at Michigan State; Nov. 28 -- Nebraska

2015: Oct. 3 -- Northwestern; Oct. 10 -- Michigan State; Oct. 17 -- at Purdue; Oct. 24 -- at Minnesota; Oct. 31 -- Illinois; Nov. 7 -- at Pen State; Nov. 21 -- Michigan; Nov. 27 -- at Nebraska

2016: Oct. 1 -- Minnesota; Oct. 8 -- at Michigan State; Oct. 15 -- Purdue; Oct. 22 -- at Northwestern; Oct. 29 -- at Illinois; Nov. 5 -- Penn State; Nov. 19 -- at Michigan; Nov. 25 -- Nebraska

Here's the latest Big Ten schedule for the 2014 season: