Gone are Legends and Leaders, the controversial division names the Big Ten adopted in 2011, as the league went with a clear geographical model and geographic names for its new alignment.

The Big Ten East will include: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers. The Big Ten West will include: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.

Every East division team is located in the Eastern time zone, while every West division team except Purdue is located in the Central time zone.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told ESPN.com that geography was the first priority in aligning divisions, followed by preserving rivalries and then competitive balance. The Big Ten used competitive balance as its top priority in aligning the Legends and Leaders divisions in 2011.

"It's pure geography," Delany said. "Last time, we were a combination of competitive balance and geography being last. So those names weren't available to us last time. We didn't have a lot of discussion on it."

League athletic directors met six times to discuss the divisions after Maryland and Rutgers joined in November. The presidents and chancellors spent 15-20 minutes discussing the moves Sunday before voting.

The league considered the results of a Big Ten Network survey in December, asking fans about the new division alignment.

"We thought the geography was a good way to bind the conference together," Delany said. "We also wanted to preserve as much tradition as we could, and we do that through the protection of the rivalries. Everybody will play everybody at least once in a four-year cycle, even though it's a bigger conference.

"It's good for the fans, it's good for the players. It strengthens our schedule from the perspective of the postseason and binds the conference together in a powerful way."

Delany also said there have been no discussions about divisions in other sports but that basketball scheduling is next on their agenda.

The Big Ten will have a 31 percent increase in league games (from 48 to 63) despite adding just two new members.

Rivals Purdue and Indiana will play the league's only annual division crossover game. In the previous alignment, every Big Ten squad played one protected crossover each year. Although Purdue-Indiana is the only protected crossover, the league will have cross-division rotations.