The Big Ten made it official, announcing its football divisions starting with Nebraska's arrival for the 2011 season.

Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Illinois are in one division. Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern and Michigan State are in the other.

"Over the past several months, Big Ten staff and directors of athletics have met on several occasions to discuss and finalize division alignments," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement. "We focused on competitive equality, traditional rivalries and geography. We considered multiple models and countless permutations in an effort to achieve the most competitively balanced divisions while at the same time respecting our traditions, preserving existing rivalries, and creating opportunities for the establishment and growth of new rivalries. We have listened to the feedback from our institutions, alumni and fans, and while we understand that no final alignments could possibly satisfy all of our constituents, we believe that we have achieved a very exciting result."

The two division winners will meet in the Big Ten Football Championship game Dec. 3, 2011 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

"We are happy to be a part of the Big Ten realignment," IU football coach Bill Lynch said in a statement. "It is great to see that our traditional rivalries are respected in the new divisions. We look forward to years of competitive football and showing the country why the Big Ten is the best conference in the nation."