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The Reads: No Longer the New Kids

In today's Reads, we take a look at the latest additions to the Big Ten while trying not to ignore Iowa. Too much.

By Salt Creek and Stadium

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"Group hug everyone! Maryland and Rutgers are joining us."
"Group hug everyone! Maryland and Rutgers are joining us."
Gregory Shamus

There is, after all, a game this Friday between Nebraska and Iowa.

Advertised as what amounts to a friendly competition sponsored by a grocery store chain with a well-meaning trophy, it kind of misses the point of a football rivalry.

Rivalries aren't about being friends with your neighbor. Rivalries are about leaving a bag of burning feces on your neighbor's porch because he cheers for the wrong school*. (Perhaps even burning down their house. Extreme example here. Don't do this.) Rivalries are about burning your opponent's mascot in effigy or even eating them.** Rivalries are about close games and contested endings. Rivalries are about ruining people's days.

Can Iowa do that this season?

We'll find out soon enough. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

GO BIG RED. BEAT THE HAWKEYES.

* I'm sure some Nebraskans really wanted to burn some feces on someone's porch during the Sooner Magic years. They might not've...but they thought about it.

** I kind of miss Colorado in that respect. At least with Colorado we could eat bison, a rather versatile meat in its own right. Half the hawks in North America are endangered species, and besides, aren't wild birds kind of light on the meat?

And before we start...

Maybe we're all getting lost in the expansion talk, but I think Bill nails it here - college football finds a way to astound, to amaze and to disappoint, no matter what the corporate guys do to it.

And if you're interested, head on over to Testudo Times (Maryland) and On the Banks (Rutgers) to welcome our new friends to the Big Ten!

Football (9-2, 6-1 B1G)

That's the only way to play. And expect to see Rex play, if only to shake out some cobwebs.

For a defense that had so many problems early, they're turning on the heat late. That's good, because if they take care of business this Friday, Wisconsin's going to be a tough-go in Indy. We might need all the defense we can muster to stop Montee Ball.

Would be a fantastic pickup for the Cornhuskers. We're kind of light at that position.

We're going to be so spoiled at receiver like we were at kicking.

I'd sign on to a "Nebraska bringing glory to the B1G" campaign. Would be fantastic if the Big Ten took care of business in the bowl games.

Iowa! (Cheap Tickets!)

Nebraska totally wins the comparison for, pardon my language, bad-assery. But thanks to all recipients, thanks for making the world a better place.

They've got something to play for. (Also, notice the trolling - No. 17 Nebraska instead of using No. 14.)

Are you going? (Tickets are going cheap!)

Nebraska Athletics

Good luck ladies! Finish strong! (Apparently there will not be any video feeds.)

I missed this yesterday, but Volleyball recovered from their loss to Minnesota to sweep Wisconsin at the Badgers' home court. Great job ladies!

The Lady Huskers basketball team looks to rebound against Sam Houston State tonight at 7:05pm CDT. Good luck ladies! (Unfortunately the broadcast options are limited. Radio might be your best bet.)

Good luck, ladies!

An impressive list - good luck to all! Let's win the Big Ten this year!

UNL Academics

A little hyperbole in the title, but Nebraska has shown some improvements in metrics which matter to someone.

A fascinating look at Nebraska's longest surviving continuous research plot. It's insane that some of these fields have been around for over 100 years under constant study.

Big Ten's March to the Sea

In case you missed yesterday's big story. Look for Rutgers to announce their entrance today.

Curious why? This got endorsed by the university president at Maryland. SO probably some nuggets of explanation here.

  • Two quotes from Jim Delany to think about:

Interesting way to phrase it. Does this make you expect the Big Ten to go to 16, split at 8 and each division to play a round-robin schedule, with the champions playing for the Big Ten title?

This surprised me. A lot. (Then again, Maryland is a top 20 public university and Rutgers has an enrollment of 58,000 or something insane like that.)

It's all business, kids. Let's not kid ourselves - college football is about TV sets, not fans. Even the Nebraska pick-up was about the Benjamins. It just didn't look as bad on the field.

The key is that there aren't too many Nebraskas up for grabs. Texas, Notre Dame, Florida State and that's about it. (I said up for grabs so please, Michigan/Ohio State/SEC trolls stay away.) Who else do you go for that immediately pushes the needle? This was all about matching up the SEC for 2014 and killing the momentum on ACC picking up the so-called Holy Grail of expansion.

I think we should expect more expansion in the south-easterly direction. I'm looking at you, Virginia and North Carolina.

Being a "basketball" school is like walking around with your underwear over your pants sometimes, isn't it?

I think it kind of depends on how the scheduling thing works out. But I don't see this benefiting schools in the West as much as people think.

The projections don't take into account what apparently will be interest-free loans to the Terps to help make their athletic department solvent and invest in itself. Nebraska doesn't need the help so let's not complain here. But holy hell, $40 million a school in 2017? That can't be right, can it?

EDIT: Accepts invitation to apply to join the Big Ten, at which point the application will be voted on for acceptance by the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors. (But really, the Big Ten only extends invitations if there is a reasonable chance the school will be accepted.)

If the Big Ten wants to get eyeballs on their games, offer an online, non-cable-based subscription model to BTN2Go. (Same goes for ESPN.)

LATE BREAKING NEWS (11:02am CDT, November 20th, 2012)

So maybe we'll get that annual game with Wisconsin yet.

National News

"My closing could have been better," Gagliardi said. "But it could have been a heck of a lot worse."

Another legend leaves the field.

The hits just keep coming for the ACC. Georgia Tech knocking off Florida State would be the most ACC thing to happen this season. Why? Because it means a barely above .500 team would be representing the ACC in the Orange Bowl.

#goacc

I hope you enjoyed your vacation from realignment. The outcome of Maryland's arbitration to leave the ACC will go a long way towards determining the future.

Seriously, things are just getting started. And yes, I do think the end goal is either Notre Dame or to get the other power conferences to lock up their memberships at 16 with no room for ND.

Exactly what Jim Delany wanted. SCREW YOU NOTRE DAME.

Emperor Delany will leave nothing unburned in his quest for Notre Dame. NOTHING.

And yeah, I can't blame them. Strength of schedule is going to matter that much more, and with a defined route for the Other 5 conferences, a strong MWC slate could benefit any of those three schools more than a weak Big East.

Interesting analysis but take it with a grain of salt (heh.) - I think the numbers are under-estimated. I'm pretty sure Nebraska has more than 1.2 million fans, for instance.

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Oh, and I'm not sure this is the message we want to send to our new friends from the East Coast:

Wrong_message_medium

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That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed your coffee break. Now back to work so you can pay for the internet so you can comment and rec below.

GO BIG RED

-Salt Creek and Stadium

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