CHICAGO — With four “trophy” games, the Minnesota Gophers have more memento-based rivalries than any other team in college football. Tim Brewster doesn’t want conference reshuffling to compromise that.

When Nebraska becomes the 12th Big Ten team in 2011, the conference will split into two divisions, commissioner Jim Delany confirmed Monday at the annual Big Ten Media Days. While competitive balance and geographical coherency are main factors in who gets put where, the conference will have the additional concern of maintaining some key rivalries developed over the last century and beyond.

Brewster, despite a 0-9 record in his three season’s worth of trophy games with the Gophers, was among the more adamant of conference coaches about how the division should happen. His concern was maintaining Minnesota’s rivalries, particularly with Wisconsin and Iowa, which he says are “vitally important to the Big Ten.”

“The Big Ten is all about the traditions and the rivalries,” Brewster said. “Playing for the Floyd of Rosedale and playing for Paul Bunyan’s Axe is important to those states.”

The Floyd of Rosedale came about in 1935 when, in a telegram to Iowa Gov. Clyde Herring, Minnesota Gov. Floyd Olson boasted, “I will bet you a Minnesota prize hog against an Iowa prize hog that Minnesota wins.” Minnesota won the game and indeed a live, prize hog. It died after about a year, and Olson commissioned St. Paul artist Charles Brioschi to sculpt a 21-inch bronze statue of the hog.

Paul Bunyan’s Axe didn’t come about until 1948, but commemorates the longest rivalry in Division 1-A football. The results of each game between Minnesota and Wisconsin are etched on the handle, dating back to the Gophers’ 63-0 victory in 1890.

Brewster said that, after speaking to Delany and Athletics Director Joel Maturi, he’s sure the Gophers will continue to play for those trophies each year.

What Brewster, or anyone, doesn’t know is whether the Gophers will continue the tradition of usually ending each season against the Hawkeyes, or whether they’ll continue to alternate the Wisconsin game between Madison and Minneapolis.

“Just feel confident that we’ll play those two,” Brewster said. “I don’t think there’s any question that as we look at realignment, Mr. Delany is going to figure out a way in which we play each other each and every year.”

Delaney said he hopes to have a divisional structure worked out in 30 to 45 days.

“I was very excited when I heard Jim talk about setting the parameters for setting the conference,” Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema said. “[He talked about] preserving those rivalries.”

Bielema warned of negative reactions that could be spurred by breaking up the Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry.

“You’re going to get the die-hards that are into that rivalry that [will say], ‘You will never be able to replace history,’” he said.

While no decision has been made, and Gophers Athletics Director Joel Maturi said it’s not a foregone conclusion that Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota will all be placed in the same division, Delany hasn’t turned a blind eye to the fact that matchups in trophy games support rivalries that are the “lifeblood” of Big Ten football.

“We’ll need to do everything we can to preserve those [rivalries],” Delany said. “Whether or not we’ll be 100 percent able to preserve every trophy game or every rivalry game, I’ll tell you we’ll go to great lengths to make sure that the tradition and rivalries are respected.”

Added Maturi: “I think we need to have the courage to look at the big picture and what’s best for the conference. I think competitive equality is the first measure of what is [best]. [Preserving] traditional rivalries is high on the list.”

Maturi also said that, however the football divisions played out, the conference hasn’t decided how and if those changes would affect other sports — which don’t need a pair of divisions to facilitate a championship.

If Delany has an eye toward rivalry games, it’s likely that at least the Minnesota-Wisconsin yearly game would survive, being the oldest rivalry in college football.

“We may have 15 trophy games, rivalry games that are in that same number,” Delaney said. “We’ll need to do everything we can to preserve those.”

The Gophers’ oldest and newest trophy games — against Michigan and Penn State, respectively — aren’t played on an annual basis. Penn State beat the Gophers 20-0 this season, and Michigan beat them 29-6 in 2008.

“It’s important to fight and compete to get those trophies, because we don’t have one,” Brewster said.