During the media conference call, Commissioner Delany was asked how the Big Ten decided to preserve the Michigan-Ohio State game for the last week of the season.
The Commissioner said that the conference originally started with a plan that would have held most of the rivalry games by the middle of November, with the rest of the season focused on intra-divisional play only in the last two weeks of the season. The conference decided to move away from this plan partly because of outcry from fans at various schools, as well as a feeling that such a move would unduly hamstring the conference and prevent the development of new rivalries.
With the current plan in place, rivalry games will be played during eight or nine weeks of the season, as opposed to clustered at one point.
The Big Ten also decided that divisional champions will be determined by considering all games, and not just play within the division.