Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

The Big “Twen” Conference revealed its pair of six-team divisions on Wednesday, and the river of tears from bawling Wisconsin fans has spilled over its banks and reached critical flood stage. Wow are we a bunch of whiners.

Here’s the breakdown:

Division 1: UW, Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue

Division 2: Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern

The Badgers will maintain their annual battle for the axe with Minnesota. Michigan and Ohio State will annually do business in their season finale.

“But what about the other rivalries?” Wisconsin faithful are asking.

Who cares? (and here come the e-mails)

It’s not that I have no regard for tradition. But adhering to tradition simply “because that’s the way it’s always been” is the greater injustice.

My Saturday afternoon didn’t just find its way to the toilet because, at the end of 60 minutes, I don’t get to walk away with some lame trophy and the sense of “we did it to you again, boys.” I don’t care about a brass bull. In truth, I don’t really care about an axe. If I were a Minnesota or Michigan fan, I wouldn’t care about a little brown jug.

I care about winning. I care about topping the standings. And as much as I don’t like the system, I care about the BCS.

We have a new look to our conference. I hope our attitudes follow suit, for this change is an exciting opportunity to embrace new traditions, new rivalries, and a new path to a BCS berth.