Huskers Join the Big 10 As Soon As Friday
by Husker Mike on Jun 8, 2010 11:29 PM CDT
in Conference Realignment
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PrintLee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald is reporting that an executive at a Big XII school expects Nebraska to join the Big Ten as soon as this Friday. Tonight on his weekly appearance on the Husker Sports Network, Tom Osborne told host Lane Grindle:
"hopefully we’ll get things put together in the next few days."
Earlier today, the rumor mill was hot and furious as reports that a deal was imminent. Some of that talk was squashed by the Lincoln Journal-Star's Steve Sipple, who determined that Osborne never went to Chicago yesterday, as was reported.
The Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein writes tonight that Nebraska, Rutgers, and Notre Dame are the "home run" additions that will work for the Big Ten. Missouri would appear to be the first team out if the Big Ten goes to 14 teams, though that assumes that Notre Dame would actually join...and that's something only Chip Brown feels will happen.
Meanwhile, Kyle Ringo of the Boulder Daily Camera reported this evening that Colorado does not have an invitation to join another conference, seemingly invalidating the earlier reports.
Osborne also debunked the reports from Chip Brown that he has an issue with Texas:
“We certainly don’t have anything against anybody in the Big 12. This decision is not going to be based on animosity, on petty jealousy. I mean, you’re talking about something that could maintain for the next 75 or 100 years. I mean, this is a big deal in terms of the University of Nebraska. This is a big deal in view of many other institutions.
“So you don’t ever make a decision based on personal likes, dislikes. And frankly, I get along very well with (Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds). I’m a great admirer of (Texas football coach) Mack Brown. And Texas has obviously done very well athletically and you have to admire them for that. So this is not a case where we’re somehow reacting to any one school, particularly to Texas.”
Another interesting tidbit courtesy of Jack Mitchell of Lincoln's KLIN-AM (1400). He points out the academic partner of the Big Ten, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. The CIC consists of all 11 members of the Big Ten, plus the University of Chicago, which left the Big Ten in 1946. When Penn State joined the Big Ten, they also were invited to join the CIC as well.
What does this mean for the University of Nebraska? Assuming that an invitation to join the CIC would accompany an invitation to join the Big Ten, Nebraska would join an organization that currently receives 12% of federal research funds. This would be a huge boost to Nebraska's academic programs and the new Nebraska Innovation Campus, which is being developed on the former State Fairgrounds east of the Devaney Sports Center. One report this week on KOZN-AM's "Unsportsmanlike Conduct" indicated that the academic benefits of switching conferences might actually be greater than the athletic advantages.
Imagine that... academics possibly benefiting from football?
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So...
How do we fill the next 2 months of sports talk radio? Not to sound stupid, but good God this happened fast.
Hang 'em!!!
by Screwface on Jun 8, 2010 11:41 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
Well, if Nebraska goes to the Big Ten...
…the dominoes are going to rattle around college football for a few weeks. And we’re only about 7 weeks away from media days. This could be the year without an offseason…
We can only hope.
I’ve informed our friends over at The Rivalry, Esq. of the news.
I suppose we could also fill the offseason with profiles of our future conference foes.
If this actually comes to fruition, how awkward will the next two(?) Big XII seasons be?
Hang 'em!!!
by Screwface on Jun 9, 2010 12:23 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
a whole lotta
awkward.
I’ve been at every Nebraska game in Ames for probably the past 18 years. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like being at the last one.
Go Big Red Nebraska!
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by Jon Johnston on Jun 9, 2010 12:34 AM CDT up reply actions
It’s probably a good thing that I love me some awkward.
Like when you’re listening to a bad radio interview where the interviewer lets the guest ramble on until they’re up against the clock and the producer starts playing the bump music over the guest. That’s great.
Hang 'em!!!
by Screwface on Jun 9, 2010 12:40 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Simple
Just bring a huge cardboard sign that says “enjoy Conference USA F&%^ers” and hold that up the whole game.
Even if that is too extreme for you, there are so many ways you can mock them for it (as subtley or bodly as you can imagine) it shouldbe fairly enoyable.
I might actually have to take that sign idea to Kinnick this year so you may want to just pick your own here.
http://victorypolka.blogspot.com/
Likely this season is the last one...
I’ve heard some good speculation that if this happens, the 2010-11 season would be the last one for the Huskers in the Big XII. The Big Ten is anxious to make this happen, as a 12th member makes a Big Ten Championship football game a reality. Plus, nobody on either side likes that awkward transition period.
If the reports are true ...
I think you’ll like life in the Big Ten. Just one Purdue fan’s opinion.
Hawkeye fans are prepared to welcome Nebraska with open arms.
I’m very excited for you all to join us. I’d also welcome you to consider heading east on 9/11 this year to enjoy a turkey leg (and/or beer bong) and curse Cyclone fans. Consider it a primer on life in the Big Ten.
Yeah, if this comes to pass..
… as a Buckeye fan, welcome to the Big 10!
Granted, I don't know what down it is..
Hello from Ohio State/Big 10 Fan
And welcome!! I can’t speak for everyone in Big 10 country, but all my B10 friends and I are THRILLED to add such a great program like Nebraska. The tradition, dominance, and heritage of Nebraska, along with the resurgence after the dark years of Bill Callahan makes this a great fit for the conference. I hope you guys feel that way too.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States when men were free." ~ Ronald Reagan
Another PSU fan
Welcome to the Big 10! I was fortunate enough to be at the game in 2002 (and less fortunate to be in front of the dorm’s big screen in 2003) and remembered the excitement that game generated. Here’s to many future meetings like those (though with better football)!
parade, meet rain
I believe that, in 5-10 years, we’ll regret this when we realize we carry no more weight in the Big 10 than we did in the Big XII, that we’ve sacrificed more than a century’s worth of rivalries and alliances, and that UNL’s athletic programs have lost national prominence. We’re going from good-sized fish in good-sized pond to tiny minnow in giant pond – and everybody outside Nebraska knows it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you hate being looked down on by Texans, wait ‘til you’re looked down on by Ohioans and Michiganders who purport to be fellow Midwesterners. It’s going to be a whole other level of disrespect.
Still, it’s history. I guess.
Can you hear this, Denver, or shall I turn it up for you?
Well, except...
….the Big Ten shares revenue equally across the conference. As a fan of a small team in the Big Ten (Northwestern), trust me, there is almost NO resentment in our fanbase of Michigan or Ohio State “running things”….because really, they don’t. (Although we do resent OSU for kicking our ass so many times…)
The Big Ten is VASTLY different from the Big 12 in that sense….trust me, we play well together.
That's sorta my point.
Texas were unquestionably the big dogs (politically speaking) of the Big XII, but we had our own little pocket of power and were able to check them on some things. Now we’re going to a conference where everyone is (theoretically) equal and we have no natural or historical alliances. Combine this with the fact that we’re going to owe the Big 10 money for the next few years, and I fail to see how this isn’t a move to the back of the line.
It’s not about money, it’s about power. Think Ohio State and Michigan won’t get their desired placements when the Big 10 breaks into divisions? Of course they will. And we (or Iowa or Northwestern or whoever) will be unable to prevent it. Big Ten schools “play well together” because everybody knows their role. Nebraska doesn’t have one and I fear we won’t be allowed/able to take on the role we’d want.
Can you hear this, Denver, or shall I turn it up for you?
Wisconsin fan here
Those of us in the Big 10 are amused by outsider’s perception that Michigan and Ohio State are “power brokers” who always get their way in the Big 10. It really is about the CONFERENCE, not individual schools. That is one reason I don’t think Texas would fit well in the Big 10; I doubt it has the required “check your ego at the door” attitude. Mind you, I am not sure Nebraska has it at this point either, but as a midwesterner, the help-your-neighbor gene exists in the fanbase and it will learn that as the conference rises, we all rise.
I think you will come to like our all-for-one-and-one-for-all conference. Welcome!
I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch.
Gilda Radner
I’ll believe UM and tOSU aren’t power brokers when they give up playing every year in the best interests of the conference. Can’t have your two most traditional powers in the same division, right?
The neighborly culture you’re describing is what gives the Big 10 coherence. It’s also definitely not Nebraska’s culture. Lake Woebegone has no parallel when your nearest neighbor lives two sections over. The small-town industrialism of the Great Lakes region creates a very different culture than that of the Great Plains pioneers and their descendants. Culturally, Nebraska is much more like Wyoming than Iowa or Wisconsin.
Again, the Big 10 works so well because everyone knows their role. No one in Indiana wants to fire the coach if the football team loses back-to-back games. They’re not the football school. That’s not their role. Northwestern would rather lose games than admit unqualified athletes. That’s fine. They’re the super-selective school. That’s their role. Nebraska doesn’t have a role, and my fear is we won’t like the one forced on us by the existing Big 10 culture.
Can you hear this, Denver, or shall I turn it up for you?
Each school has two “protected rivals” that they play every year. Wisconsin’s are Minnesota (longest rivalry in college football) and Iowa. OSU and Michigan have each other as one of their protected rivalries. Why is it in the best interests of the conference to have OSU and Michigan NOT play every year? Hell, I wouldn’t care if they played every week as long as Wisconsin gets to play Minnesota every year.
I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch.
Gilda Radner
You can’t do that in a twelve-team, two-division league. If you do, you end up playing some teams only every six years (5 division opponents, 2 rivalry games, 1 rotating team from other division). And who are Nebraska’s “rivals” supposed to be here? We’ve got some century-old rivalries we’re casting off to join the conference, and we’re supposed to accept Iowa as a replacement? Meh.
Of course it’s seen as “good for the conference” if Ohio St plays Michigan every year. It’s their role to be the traditional football powers. This is how we know the “we’re all equal” stuff is nonsense. Certain schools, certain rivalries, certain alliances get protected. Think NW and Purdue will continue to play every year? Illinois and Indiana? Why protect some rivalries but not others? Because they’re more valuable.
Can you hear this, Denver, or shall I turn it up for you?
So which rivalries aren’t protected in the current setup? My guess is that a new two division Big 10 with West = Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Northwestern and the East = Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, tOSU, and PSU will also protect those rivalries. You play each team in your division plus three from the other each year. Neither Illinois/Indiana nor NW/Purdue are real rivals. To get to the two protected games, some rivalries were manufactured, especially in schools w/o a long FB tradition.
I don’t think you really have any idea how the Big 10 works, but hopefully you will five years from now.
I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch.
Gilda Radner
This:
Neither Illinois/Indiana nor NW/Purdue are real rivals. To get to the two protected games, some rivalries were manufactured, especially in schools w/o a long FB tradition.
is exactly my point. Some rivalries aren’t “real” rivalries. Those with “real” rivalries and “real” football programs will be calling the shots. Given Nebraska has no real rivals or real allies in their new conference, how powerful are we likely to be?
I live in Chicago and work with many Big Ten alums. I know enough about how the conference purports to work. But this is new territory for everybody. It can’t keep doing the same things it’s always done.
And UM, PSU, and tOSU in the same division? How is this an improvement on the monopoly in the Big 12 South? Excuse me if I don’t get excited about playing Minnesota and Illinois every year. Obviously, your version is just a hypothetical, but it indicates the kind of trade-offs this new conference will require. Do you try to maintain traditions or try to achieve competitive balance? You really can’t do both. And it’s usually the new guy who ends up getting screwed at the negotiating table.
Can you hear this, Denver, or shall I turn it up for you?
Gee thanks
Now Clemson’s going to get poached by the SEC when Texas merges with the Pac-10 to form the Texas and Some Other Guys Conference.
Inventor of the iChop, 5/31/10
I'm an OU guy
and I have two thoughts (really…at the same time!)
1) OU vs Nebraska in the Rose Bowl! Choke on that Keith Jackson
2) Now that we are in separate conferences how about OU vs Nebraska as non-conference games every year? (OU can…our new division is pretty soft)
Colorado Rockies correspondent at My Team Rivals (www.mtrmedia.com/rockies) and my own site Rockies Reporter (www.rockiesreporter.wordpress.com) and one of the top Rockies writers at the Bleacher Report.
I'll bring the Oranges!
I don’t think Roses will fly very far when thrown
Colorado Rockies correspondent at My Team Rivals (www.mtrmedia.com/rockies) and my own site Rockies Reporter (www.rockiesreporter.wordpress.com) and one of the top Rockies writers at the Bleacher Report.
Nebraska and Oklahoma...
had better play every year…
Do everyone else a favor, and whip Ohio State on a regular basis too.
Yes, dear god please obliterate Ohio State
We will never forgive Woody Hayes.
Inventor of the iChop, 5/31/10
Nebraska the bad guy.
Not sure if this has been addressed but if Texas “IS” the Big XII, how would the loss of Nebraska destroy the conference? Is that just an excuse for Texas to bolt without looking like the bad guy? Shouldn’t Texas (who is committed to the Big XII) lead the way in replacing Nebraska instead of run for the west coast?
You would think
I mean, come on, they’re not just the anchor of the Big XII, they’re the whole damn ship. We’re just along for the ride. How could us going to the Big 10 sink this awesome ship they have?
You're not getting it...
Say Texas had been courted away and likely followers would be the other three Texas schools. That would be less detrimental to the Big 12 than Nebraska or Oklahoma leaving. Remember the Big 8? We’ve all done this before and would’ve welcomed Texas leaving. The Big 8 teams would’ve remained loyal to one another without the Texas 4.We might have even brought in TCU, SMU, Air Force, BYU, and made our own network. So say now Nebraska or even Oklahoma bolts… Whatever one of the two remaining would panic and bolt and all falls apart. Point being… Texas may have been the power brokers, but NU and OU are the glue.
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