Win 1: Getting Nebraska, instead of (pick one) Missouri, Pitt, even Rutgers or Syracuse, was a stroke of sheer genius by most accounts.

Of course, there were dissenters like Northwestern sturm und dranger Rick Telander, the Chicago Sun-Times ubermoralist who opined in Friday's paper, building a father-son conversational scenario: " '...I thought 10 was a number that came after nine and before 11, papa.' " Telander wrote. The father replied, " 'No, son, 10 is a brand (referring to the Big 10's growth to 12 teams). It's a thing that's sold, like whiskey or dancing girls.' "

Well, if you see where the Big 12 now has 10 teams and the Big Ten has 12, you can concede something of a point to Telander. But because the former Northwestern defensive back's beloved Wildcats became aligned with Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota and -- heaven forbid, Nebraska, count Telander among the unconverted.

"Nebraska meets the criterion we're looking for," Delany said at the Big Ten preseason luncheon in Chicago. "They're part of the (prestigious 64-member) Association of American Universities and have a long tradition of student athleticism."

There were a few blips on the radar back in the Tom Osborne era, where you could excuse more than a few folks if the Cornhuskers weren't mistaken for the more defiant members of the Southeastern Conference.

But the fact is, Nebraska has pretty much traveled the straight and narrow through most of the 1990s and current day. Which brings us, and not a minute too soon, I realize, to...

Win 2: Which is all about the bucks, while at the same time, NOT treading on traditionalists.

When word leaked out early this week that the league's two divisions jumped from idea to reality, people looked at the alignments -- one group with Penn State, Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin, the other mentioned above, and for the first time in the schools' more than 100-years' gridiron wars, Ohio State and Michigan agreed on something.

"What about us?" both camps howled in unison? From the "Michigan Youppers" to the "Kentuckohio" folks, conventional wisdom was that the Great God Television, plus the Big Ten mothership in Park Ridge, Ill., had conspired on a new league order which might or might not include what more than just Midwesterners call "The Game."

Delany was nothing if not instant damage control expert here and as Michiganders and Ohioans heaved the deepest sighs of relief since they walked out of IRS audits or the doctor's office. "Basically," Delany told the Associated Press Wednesday, "we decided to go with the final season date, because that was a way to maintain the tradition.

"The conference has a wonderful history of not only rivalry games but also trophy games (such as Michigan-Minnesota, Indiana-Purdue, etc.).

Because of the massive financial return that would accompany the inevitable post-season league championship game, few except the most Woody-Bo traditionalists objected to the possibility of a second potential meeting between the Buckeyes and the Gang Up North in a league title game at a neutral site.

"I'm very pleased that we came out of this with protected (U-M) rivalries that will go on permanently with Ohio State and Michigan State," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon told AP.

Brandon's O.S.U. counterpart, Gene Smith, told the Big Ten Network, "...It's a great opportunity for both programs to win divisions and be in the championship game. And if we do play back to back, and you look back over history, quite frankly it's rare that (it) happens. (but) if it does happen, it's great for fans."

To sum up the parts of this league-shaking week, sure, change is never easy. But the Big Ten may have left the carbon footprint on how to get it right.

And for the most part, there is plenty of room within the league scheduling to keep most of the traditional rivalries annual, and in some cases, to create new ones.

The fact that Northwestern will be seeing Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska and Michigan State might play into folks like Telander's discontent. But then, I don't recall having seen Northwestern wanting to opt out of the Big Ten, either.