In the recruiting wars, Nebraska appears to be doing pretty well when you put it in perspective:
Ohio State Buckeyes lead Big Ten recruiting but Nebraska Cornhuskers are close behind
The Cornhuskers have raised the bar with their recruiting efforts. They currently project to have the second-ranked class in the conference behind Ohio State. Six of their commitments are of the four-star variety.
Methinks it's going to take a while for everyone to get used to Nebraska being in the Big Ten, including the pundits that do this for a living. It's not just getting used to comparing ourselves to a whole new set of teams, but accustomed to the idea that the Big Ten has gone through a fundamental shift.
Example?
A better headline for that ESPN article might have been - Ohio State Buckeyes Recruiting Leading Leaders Division While Nebraska Leads the Legends.
Or not, once again showing why those division names are still the stupidest creation coming out of the formation of the new Big Ten. Let's try that again.
Ohio State Buckeyes Recruiting Leads Eastern Division While Nebraska Leads In The West
Ah, much better. Not only proof as to why the division names might have better off including something informational about the teams within them, but more to the point.
The point? The point is that the game remains the same as it was in the Big 12 - win your division, get to the conference title game, and you've got a damned good shot at greatness.
We may spend a lot of time over the next few months wringing our hands about how much harder it's going to be to win a Big Ten conference title than it was to win the Big 12, but we don't have to compete with the Texas and Oklahoma schools on the field any more. Considering that three of our top recruits and five total out of 16 commits are from Texas, moving to the Big Ten hasn't appeared to hurt the ability to recruit Texas.
It remains to be seen whether winning the Big Ten grants the Big Ten winner as much prestige as winning the SEC over the next few years but it may prove to be a great irony if Nebraska is in a position to use Texas players to win the conference and get a shot at the national title.