The Big Ten clings to its traditions more than any other conference, but one of those traditions will go out the window beginning in 2010.

A permanent bye week will be added to the Big Ten schedule, pushing the regular season past the Thanksgiving holiday for the foreseeable future. Though the bye week was approved back in 2007, it's an issue that still divides the league's coaches.

Those who have spent most of their careers playing and/or coaching in the Big Ten or nearby seem to oppose post-Thanksgiving play.

"I'm kind of an old timer," Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel said. "I've always thought that the Big Ten had a great advantage in the fact that their kids could go home for an extended Thanksgiving weekend."

Tressel's colleagues like Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald agree. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz likes to wrap up the season before Thanksgiving, but he's also pro-bye week. Michigan's Rich Rodriguez is in a similar boat.

Other coaches who have experienced life outside the Big Ten see the benefits in playing past the holiday, particularly when the bowls roll around. As a player and an assistant coach at Iowa, Bret Bielema didn't know much about post-Thanksgiving football until he joined Kansas State's staff in 2002.

A year later, Kansas State beat a heavily favored Oklahoma team in the Big 12 championship game to reach the Fiesta Bowl.

"We were all over the place in the media and talked about," Bielema said. "I am a proponent of [post-Thanksgiving play]. You don't know what you don't know, and when you grew up in this league in the Big Ten when they didn't play past Thanksgiving, you never really thought about it. It was just how things were done.

"My eyes really got expanded when I went to Kansas State."

Bielema remembers attending his first Big Ten coaches' meeting and sensing the division on the issue.

"The coaches that have been around this league forever were against it," Bielema said, "and I know Ron Zook, who had been in the SEC, and a couple other coaches piped up about the benefits of playing after Thanksgiving. And that's where we moved forward. I, for one, am excited about it."

Zook and Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster, who spent time in the ACC and Big 12, agree with Bielema on post-Thanksgiving play. Zook sees two primary benefits: increased media coverage and less of a gap between the regular season and the bowls.

"There’s a lot of football after Thanksgiving," Zook said. "Usually that’s a time when, particularly in the North, maybe the weather's not quite as good, and there's a lot more people watching TV. And the more time your name's thrown out there, the better it is.”

Perhaps the biggest factor in this discussion is Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, the all-time victories leader.

Before joining the Big Ten, Penn State finished seasons before, during and after the Thanksgiving holiday, usually against rival Pittsburgh. Paterno advocates Big Ten expansion and a league championship game, saying Big Ten teams are at a disadvantage for bowl games. He praised Illinois and Wisconsin for playing after Thanksgiving this year.

League expansion isn't on the immediate horizon, but it will be interesting to see if more teams try to extend the regular seasons in the future.