The Big Ten division announcement was about 12 teams together. But really, it's about each of those teams separately looking at a question and wondering how it can be answered most favorable for them. So, how did it go? *From a Gophers perspective: Well, the good news is that Minnesota -- in a division with Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Michigan State and Northwestern, as well as a guaranteed crossover game with Wisconsin -- gets to keep all of its main rivalry "trophy" games (other than the Governor's Victory Bell, which barely counts). The bad news, however, is tied into the good news. The Gophers are assured of playing Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa every year. That hasn't been a good match lately. Mix in Nebraska, and even a perennially decent Michigan State team every year, and the Gophers will be tested (which might be a kind word for steamrolled some years). In 2011 and 2012, their other two crossover games are with Purdue and Illinois -- very reasonable, to be sure. But imagine a crossover draw over a two-year cycle that included Penn State and Ohio State. Yikes.

*The biggest winner: It has to be Nebraska. The conference considered Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State to be the "upper tier" teams in the conference. So they put two teams in each division, with Nebraska and Michigan going together. Michigan certainly doesn't figure to be downtrodden forever. But for now, you have to like where you are at if you're Nebraska.

*The biggest loser: Objectively speaking here, it just might be Wisconsin. The Badgers have been to a bowl game every season but two since 1993 (including three Rose Bowls), yet they received the "second-tier" moniker with Iowa. As such, they were split from the Hawkeyes ... and sent into the big boy division with Ohio State and Penn State. Sure, the rest of that division might be kind of squishy and the Badgers do get a winnable guaranteed crossover game against the Gophers. But playing the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions every year while battling for a division crown ... that won't be easy.

*How else might they have done this? Well, we can argue about geography and other things. But what about a split that created massive competitive imbalance? Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan and Iowa in one division; Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan State and Northwestern on the other side. Think about how much fun it would be for fan bases across the board: in the Stellar Division, those six teams would wage fierce battles just to get into the Big Ten title game, which they would view as a comparative cakewalk. In the Cellar Division, six teams would know that they suddenly had a chance to compete and get to the Big Ten title game, where one more win would be epic.

OK, so that's ridiculous. But it still could have been fun.

Your thoughts on the whole process and the end result are welcome in the comments.