3:37 p.m.: Hello again, it's me. The Big Ten Rookie.

I'm still excited about the move east. I have several tweed suits on order. But, at the risk of losing my invitation, here's some unsolicited advice for Big Ten traditionalists and muckety-mucks who are getting their pin stripes in a bunch over the possibility of having Ohio State-Michigan moved to another slot on the football calendar.

Save the game. And chill out.

This comes from a veteran of a conference where tradition was treated like a strip mall whose lease came up. Nebraska-Oklahoma may not rank as high as Buckeyes and Wolverines on your boola-boola scale, but where I live, it was the biggest game ever. And the Big 12 turned its back on the game. In doing so, it ripped out the hearts of Husker fans worldwide. If that game had somehow been preserved? I might not be buying a parka for Minneapolis today.

So save the game. At all costs, save the game. Worry about when it's played later.

Sure, it sounds like blasphemy. Michigan and Ohio State was always THE game, the one that defined a conference every year, the afternoon under gray skies with all the chips on the table. Even when roses weren't on the line, one of the two were usually playing for Pasadena and the other guy could always make his season by screwing up the other's.

Sort of like a game we used to know, in a conference long ago.

Well, don't look now, but that's over with. Next year. Michigan vs. Ohio State as you know it, or knew it, is gone with the late November wind.

Whether you put the two in the same division or not, whether you play it the last Saturday in November or the first Saturday in October, it doesn't matter anymore. Starting in 2011, Ohio State-Michigan will never again be THE game in the Big Ten.

That will be the Big Ten championship game.

It's true. After this season Ohio State-Michigan won't ever decide the Rose Bowl berth. And besides the Bo vs. Woody bloodbaths, wasn't that the appeal of it? Beginning next season, you'll never again see victorious Michigan players or Buckeyes running around the Big House or Ohio Stadium with roses in their teeth. If they are, they're jumping the gun; and giving their next opponent bulletin board fodder — in the Big Ten championship game.

So what's the difference when the game is played? Just make sure the two epic rivals still square off in the arena every year. Sure, it won't be the same if it's moved.. But eventually, it won't matter. Save the game. That's what matters. You can hate your rival in October as well as you can in November. Ask Oklahoma and Texas.

You want to try culture shock? Go a year or two without Ohio State and Michigan even playing.

Meanwhile, don't blame Jim Delany for the change. All of the Big Ten administrators signed off on the Big Ten championship game. They do it for money, sure, but don't underestimate the chance for access to the Rose Bowl. The path is a little easier when you have to win your division and can take your chances in a 60-minute championship game (ask Colorado and Kansas State). As of today, schools won't mind being in Michigan's division. Will that change? Probably. Maybe.

By the way, who says Michigan and Ohio State will play twice every year?

Sorry. Rookie mistake.

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