… And in doing so, also sent out a lengthy press release that detailed the new football divisions and the following on the new look for the conference logo:

The new Big Ten logo was developed by Michael Bierut and Michael Gericke of the international design firm Pentagram.

“The new Big Ten logo was developed to symbolize the conference’s future, as well as its rich heritage, strong tradition of competition, academic leadership, and passionate alumni,” said Gericke. “Its contemporary collegiate lettering includes an embedded numeral ‘10’ in the word ‘BIG,’ which allows fans to see ‘BIG’ and ‘10’ in a single word. Memorable and distinctive, the new logo evolved from the previous logo’s use of negative space and is built on the conference’s iconic name, without reference to the number of member institutions.”

The new logo also provides the flexibility of multiple versions which can be used horizontally, vertically and within new media.

“The new Big Ten logo provides a contemporary identifying mark unifying 12 outstanding institutions,” said Delany. “It conveys some elements from the past while simultaneously introducing new features. We think the new logo is fun and has something for everyone.”

Not a big fan of the new look, but who knows, maybe it’ll grow on me. Thoughts, anyone?

I’m not going to dig into the naming for the football divisions, but our friend Pat Forde of ESPN.com summed it up best on Twitter:

Big Ten went with the “Legends” and “Leaders” division names. Which is about as corporately lame as it gets.

You knew it was coming, but now, the details have apparently been leaked. According to this report on ESPN.com, the Big Ten will announce two six-team divisions on Wednesday.

The details:

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that the two divisions in the Big Ten will look like:

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

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

In men’s basketball, according to sources, the Big Ten is expected to play a 16-game conference schedule by taking a model similar to those used by the Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference. In those leagues, teams play each division opponent twice and then single games — three at home and three on the road — against teams in the opposing division.

These divisions have clearly been formed with football, football and more football in mind, but from a basketball perspective, the road back to the top of the conference just got tougher for IU.

Traditionally, four of the six best programs in the conference (sans IU) are grouped with the Hoosiers. And even though the 16-game schedule is not yet a done deal, it’s looking unlikely that a chance to beat up on Nebraska or Iowa twice per season will happen again.