Ever since the Big Ten decided to go to a nine-game schedule beginning in 2016, we've been anxiously waiting to see how those schedules would line up.

The wait is now over, as the league has put out its schedules for 2016 and 2017, the first two years of the nine-game conference slates. This is big, because there are so many competitive balance questions with the uneven crossover opponents and home/road splits. As previously announced, all East Division teams will play five conference home games in 2016, while the West Division teams will play five at home in '17.

OK, let's delve into the important details ...

DIVISION CROSSOVERS

2016

East Division

Indiana: Nebraska, at Northwestern, Purdue (protected)

Maryland: Purdue, Minnesota, at Nebraska

Michigan: Wisconsin, Illinois, at Iowa

Michigan State: Wisconsin, Northwestern, at Illinois

Ohio State: at Wisconsin, Northwestern, Nebraska

Penn State: Minnesota, at Purdue, Iowa

Rutgers: Illinois, at Minnesota, Iowa

West Division

Illinois: at Rutgers, at Michigan, Michigan State

Iowa: at Rutgers, at Penn State, Michigan

Minnesota: at Penn State, at Maryland, Rutgers

Nebraska: at Indiana, at Ohio State, Maryland

Northwestern: at Michigan State, Indiana, at Ohio State

Purdue: at Maryland, Penn State, at Indiana (protected)

Wisconsin: at Michigan, at Michigan State, Ohio State

2017

East Division

Indiana: Wisconsin, at Illinois, at Purdue (protected)

Maryland: at Minnesota, Northwestern, at Wisconsin

Michigan: at Purdue, Minnesota, at Wisconsin

Michigan State: Iowa, at Minnesota, at Northwestern

Ohio State: at Nebraska, at Iowa, Illinois

Penn State: at Northwestern, at Iowa, Nebraska

Rutgers: at Nebraska, at Illinois, Purdue

West Division

Illinois: Rutgers, Indiana, at Ohio State

Iowa: at Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State

Minnesota: Maryland, Michigan State, at Michigan

Nebraska: Rutgers, Ohio State, at Penn State

Northwestern: Penn State, at Maryland, Michigan State

Purdue: Michigan, at Rutgers, Indiana (protected)

Wisconsin: Maryland, at Indiana, Michigan

Now you see the effect of the so-called "parity-based" scheduling. There was some rumbling about the 2014 and 2015 schedules because a lot of the marquee programs don't play each other those years. Well, we get Ohio State-Nebraska and Wisconsin-Michigan in both 2016 and 2017, both Michigan State-Wisconsin and Wisconsin-Ohio State in '16, and Penn State-Nebraska in '17. While it's impossible to predict how good any team will be four or five seasons from now, these figure to be the marquee games for the league.

Sadly, there's no Nebraska-Michigan on the schedule, meaning the Huskers and Wolverines won't play for at least four consecutive years (2014-2017). I would imagine we'll see those two hook up in 2018, but it's the one real headliner matchup missing in the conference over that period. Savor this year's game in Ann Arbor, folks. We'll also miss Penn State-Wisconsin, as those teams also do not play from 2014-2017.

Let's look at the schedule in terms of opponents each team will miss in 2016 and 2017:

NO PLAYS

2016

East Division

Indiana: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin

Maryland: Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern, Wisconsin

Michigan: Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue

Michigan State: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue

Ohio State: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue

Penn State: Illinois, Nebraska, Northwestern, Wisconsin

Rutgers: Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin

West Division

Illinois: Indiana, Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State

Iowa: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State

Minnesota: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State

Nebraska: Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers

Northwestern: Maryland, Michigan, Penn State, Rutgers

Purdue: Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Rutgers

Wisconsin: Indiana, Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers,

2017

East Division

Indiana: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern

Maryland: Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Purdue

Michigan: Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska,, Northwestern

Michigan State: Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin

Ohio State: Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin

Penn State: Illinois, Minnesota, Purdue, Wisconsin

Rutgers: Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin

West Division

Illinois: Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State

Iowa: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Rutgers

Minnesota: Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers

Nebraska: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State

Northwestern: Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State or Rutgers

Purdue: Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State

Wisconsin: Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers

Some more thoughts: