The Big Ten has settled on division alignment:

-- Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota.

-- Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois.

Here's what it means to Illinois, courtesy Bob Asmussen:

Rivalries alive
The Cannon (Purdue), Illibuck (Ohio State) and Land of Lincoln (Northwestern) trophy games will go on with no future interruption. Other than Northwestern, Illinois hasn't played its trophy opponents annually.

Easy access
Get the buses revving for trips to Indiana and Purdue, two of the three closest campuses to Illinois. Ohio State and Wisconsin are also driveable for fans. And Northwestern will be on the schedule every year. The only short trip missing is Iowa.

The dark side
That's 614 miles from Champaign to State College, Pa. And every time Illinois has visited in the past, it has come home with a loss. Joe Paterno will eventually retire, but the Penn State program should continue to stay strong.

Ohio State
The Illini have had great success in recent years at Columbus, going 7-4 the last 22 years. Was it a fluke or some sort of unusual edge for Illinois? You'll get to find out over the next 100 years or so. Somewhere, Dana Howard is smiling.

Bye, Ann Arbor
Illinois was scheduled to play at Michigan in back-to-back trips this year and next. Now, at best, the Illini will visit the Wolverines every four years. Illinois fans would normally think of that as a good thing, but not with the recent two-game win streak.