Big Ten's 'Clemenza' speaks

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli." -- Peter Clemenza from "The Godfather"

I'm going to go ahead and give credit to Chicago sports radio for a reference that had a carload of Gazette writers laughing their way through the rust belt one fall weekend.

Can't remember where we were going. Purdue? Indiana? Illinois? Pu-in-nois? We stumbled on ESPN 1000 WMVP. Big Ten football was the topic and Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez was the centerpiece.

The show was the "Afternoon Saloon." Then, the show featured Dan McNeil, John Jurkovic and Harry Teinowicz. Maybe we were listening because the White Sox where in the playoffs. Former colleague Tyler Lechtenberg was a big Sox fan, so maybe that was why. Or maybe it was something to drown out my cell phone.

Anyway, I think it was McNeil who referred to Alvarez as "Clemenza." Immediately, Mike Hlas and I are laughing like hooligans. The reference was to Peter Clemenza, one of Don Vito Corleone's right-hand men in "The Godfather."

Today, it's an appropriate reference. Looks like Clemenza is going to get his cannoli.

Wisconsin and Iowa will be placed in different divisions when the plan is announced, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez told the Wisconsin State Journal on Wednesday. Alvarez also said the Big Ten will adopt a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2015.

Jon Miller, creator of HawkeyeNation.com, believes this could lead Iowa to being cast into the east division with Ohio State and Penn State, with the Big Ten pinning Iowa and Nebraska together in a protected crossover rivalry. A Big Ten schedule that includes Ohio State, Penn State and Nebraska? Every season?

"It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."

Jon and I speak a bit through Twitter. He admits obsession over the divisions, which is supposed to come down in mid-September. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told the Chicago Tribune the divisions are finished, but scheduling math remains.

Jon talks himself down a bit later in his piece posted today. He believes Nebraska athletics director Tom Osborne will want to stick Iowa and Nebraska together forever in border battle bliss.

For whatever reason, Iowa-Nebraska football died on the vine in the last 10 seasons. Because of the on-and-off nature, Osborne believes Iowa-Nebraska will need time to build.

"Yes, I think rivalries grow up over time,” Osborne told me June 11. “For awhile, Colorado said they were our rival, but really it was Oklahoma. We played for the Big 8 championship, I think, 29 out of 30 years. So, that was a rivalry.”

Incredible fact, Iowa and Nebraska have met just six times since 1946 and just twice since 1982.

“I think as time goes forward, and because of proximity, because they're a very fine program, I would imagine it could grow into a rivalry of some kind,” Osborne said. “But we've only played each other four times in the last 25 years or so, so there may not be quite the history. But we're looking forward to playing them and I think there will be a lot of interest in those games.”

This leads us to colleague Scott Dochterman's piece here.

After last week's rush of news -- mostly concerning Ohio State and Michigan -- Scott came up with the following divisions:

RUST BELT: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Minnesota - 412 league wins over 17 years.

GRAIN BELT: Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern - 428 league wins over 17 years.

Seems reasonable.

Would Clemenza be good with this? Don't kid yourselves. Alvarez has won three Rose Bowls. That's mega currency in Big Ten country.

Discount that and you'll be sleeping with the fishes.

"Oh Paulie . . . You won't see him no more."

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By the way, I tried this exercise in June, when it was more relevant to me. Here's what I came up with:

ARCHIE GRIFFIN DIVISION

Ohio State (Penn State)

Michigan (Nebraska)

Michigan State (Northwestern)

Wisconsin (Illinois)

Minnesota (Iowa)

Purdue (Indiana)

NILE KINNICK DIVISION

Penn State

Nebraska

Iowa

Indiana

Northwestern

Illinois

(Protected crossovers)

After three weeks of wayward running backs and who's hurt and who's not, I'm fully invested in the season.

I kind of fall in line with Kirk Ferentz's way of thinking. Remember in Chicago, Ferentz clearly showed he was done with the topic.

"Whatever ends up happening, whatever changes there are, it's just part of expansion, I guess," Ferentz said. "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.”

Translation: In Ferentz's world, Big Ten expansion sleeps with the fishes.