Osborne Ready to Play Defense as Conferences Realign

by Husker Mike on Feb 15, 2010 11:27 PM CST in Nebraska Husker Football

The speculation about the Pac-10 and Big Ten/11 expansion have caught the attention of Tom Osborne, who has publicly indicated that Nebraska is open to discussions with the Big Ten. Solid move by Osborne, who recognizes that while the Big XII makes sense today for Nebraska, conference realignment might irrevocably change that.

The Pac-10 and Big Ten are driven by a desire to add a conference championship football game (or more accurately, the revenue generated by a game). With the Big Ten indicating that they might consider adding three or possibly even five teams throws even more chaos into the future.

Imagine what the Big XII would look like without Colorado, Missouri, and perhaps Kansas and Texas as well. Is that a conference that Nebraska wants to be a part of? Then add in the schools that might join to bring the roster back to twelve teams: BYU, TCU, Boise State?

Frankly, that's not a particularly compelling conference lineup. Look at what happened to the Big East after they lost Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College to the ACC. They actually upgraded themselves as a basketball conference, but how much respect does Big East football command anymore?

Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald looked at conference realignment and what's possible and what's unlikely. Texas to the Big Ten? Barfknecht says H-E-double hockey sticks no...but what about the Pac-10? What about Texas going independent, as has also been rumored? Texas carries a lot of weight in this battle, and probably can dictate much of what happens going forward. They control the media markets of Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

But why would another conference be interested in Nebraska? It wouldn't be the Omaha and Lincoln television markets, that's for sure. But the national following of Husker football, with over three hundred sellouts and a reputation of rabid fans who follow them across the country, makes Nebraska a very desirable asset when you are negotiating deals with television networks. From a game-action perspective, Nebraska vs. Wisconsin/Illinois/Michigan State gets a lot more interest from the football people than does Missouri versus those teams. Although our friends at Rock-M and Rock Chalk Talk might dispute this, Nebraska is still Nebraska, especially now that the Huskers have seemingly polished off the damage from the Callahan/Pederson error.

Osborne knows this, and won't sit back and wake up some morning to find themselves back in a "Big Eight" minus Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, and Texas. In that environment, Nebraska might find an expanded Big Ten more appealing. Yes, it's quite a distance to get to State College, PA...but what about Boise, ID? Salt Lake City, UT?

I don't know that Nebraska necessarily is interested in the Big Ten as things currently stand... but in the scheme of a complete realignment of college football, it's not where things were twenty years ago, or where things are today...but rather where things might be in the future. Osborne knows this, and doesn't want to find themselves in the conference equivalent of the Dumont Network or the Whig Party.

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Yes, State College is quite a trip

It’s about 1088 miles. It’s already 818 miles to Austin and College Station. So there are long trips already.

The real advantage Lincoln has in the existing Big 12 North is Ames, Manhattan, and Lawrence can all be reached within 4 hours. Barring a night game, you can get there and back in a day. The average trip will be longer in any Big 14 West they may come up with.

I don’t like Chicago, but I think that should we join up with a new Big 14, that would be a natural championship location. If it’s 1000 miles between Lincoln and State College, it’s about 500 to Chicago. Even Indianapolis could work (a little farther east, but probably doable). I doubt you’d have any more than 2 schools in any one state, unlike…our current situation.

by Wolvie on Feb 16, 2010 8:09 AM CST reply actions

No to the Big Ten

Although the Big Ten would be a huge advantage in terms of Nebraska’s strength of schedule each year, that could also backfire. Think in the long term, when Michigan gets back on track, and you could potentially have 3 teams ( Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State) that are top ten caliber year in and year out. Then you throw the Iowa and Wisconsin teams in there, and the next thing you know…you could have Nebraska struggling to get to the top on a consistent basis.

What I’m talking about is balance of power. The ideal setup in a conference to me, is one where the makeup includes a handfull of really solid teams that can make a BCS bowl game from time to time. With that, you would have 2 or maybe 3 teams that can compete for BCS bowl slots each and every year.

The Big 8 had that, and it allowed the Oklahomas, and the Nebraskas to flourish by playing teams that provided good competition, but never threatened to topple the big dogs on a yearly basis. That sounds bad to a Missouri or Texas Tech fan, but let’s face it…. every school wants to be a national contender every season these days, and that just can’t happen. The Big 12 has the balance. The SEC has it. The Big Ten has it. As does the Pac-10.

I say, let Texas leave. (They won’t go to the Big Ten) If they want to chase money, fine. They have the luxury of picking their own conference apparently. Maybe they should just create a 2 team conference for teams with too much money, joining Notre Dame? Nebraska and Oklahoma would still battle it out each year for the conference crown, and they would still be good enough to challenge the top teams from the SEC or PAC 10 in the bowl games. In the end, it’s about balance. Of course there would be lots of money to be made in a “Super-Conference” that includes all of the successful and popular teams. But what good would that do?

I’m clueless when it comes to the television market side of things, so I’m strictly talking about on-field issues. I say, bring back the Big 8, and the Big Red will still kick the snot out of an SEC team in a bowl game.

"Not the victory but the action; Not the goal but the game;
In the deed the glory"

GO BIG RED!

by Brian Speers on Feb 16, 2010 8:13 AM CST reply actions

Never happen

The future does not appear to be an 8-team conference. The reason we’re having these conversations is because 10-11 teams aren’t enough.

As for your “balance of power”, I think that’s why Dr. Tom is willing to listen to the Big 10(11). He’s said the power is been concentrated southward (paraphrasing).

I dunno, I’m not thrilled with the idea of moving conferences, but it could be interesting. We’d lose out on some more Texas recruits, but I think we’d have a pretty good shot at more of those Ohio kids. I think our HC is from out there…

by Wolvie on Feb 16, 2010 11:39 AM CST up reply actions

Let them talk

Maybe the Big 12 will disband in the next 2 to 3 years but if it does, so what. All of these conferences are wanting to expand on the basis of making more money. Well Nebraska already makes money anyways, lots of it in fact. So in my opinion if the conference falls apart we shouldn’t try to get membership in some mega conference that leads to 1000 mile away games, instead I believe that we should go rouge, Ala Notre Dame. Then we could choose who we want to play regionally, keep rivalries and demand more money for televised games. We might not receive the kind of contract that Notre Dame commands but I’m willing to bet it would still be a significant amount. Some might call it a pipe dream but why not dream? How about a yearly game with Notre Dame, start playing OU again on a yearly basis. That sounds better to me than yearly games with Illinois and Indiana and long trips to Penn St and tOSU

by HuskerPhil on Feb 16, 2010 10:59 AM CST reply actions