Nebraska fans: Who you'll hate in the Big 10 and why.

Submitted by M-Dog on

A few weeks ago, a link was posted about Nebraska fans speculating who their biggest rivals in the Big 10 will be. 

Here is the answer to that question, from the Big 10 insider's perspective:

Ohio State:

You will instantly hate Ohio State.  Everyone always does.  You will find their fans ignorant, crass, and crude.  You will wonder why there are not jail cells in Ohio Stadium like there are in the Pros.  Of all of the Big 10 schools, Ohio State will remind you the most of a Big 12 South school.

Michigan:

You will find Michigan fans arrogant with a sense of entitlement, but for no justifiable reason.  They will be knowledgeable and friendly when you visit their house, but they will talk about you behind your back.  You will get so sick of hearing about the split 1997 National Championship that you will gladly give them the crystal trophy from your half of the title, just to shut them up.  Of all of the Big 10 teams, Michigan fans will treat you like a guest in "their" conference the longest.

Penn State:

Penn State will be assigned to you as one of your designated rivals.  You will not be asked your opinion about this.  It will be for the Big 10's convenience, not yours.  You will try to play along, but you won't actually hate Penn State.  You will find their constant whining about the refs, the scheduling, the weather, the whatever, to be pathetic.  You'll pity them more than hate them.

Michigan State:

You will not hate Michigan State at first.  Until they finally beat you.  Then you will hate Michigan State.  That one win is all you'll hear about until your ears bleed.  It won't matter if you beat them the next 9 years in a row, that one win is all you'll hear about.  Nobody gets more mileage out of one win per decade than Michigan State. 

Iowa:

You will feel compelled to hate Iowa because of proximity.  The rivalry will be intense and passionate, but as long as you win your fair share, it will never quite digress into true pure hatred.  You will be a little disappointed by this.

Wisconsin:

This will be your biggest rival.  When you look in the mirror, you will see Wisconsin.  Everything you like about yourself you will see in Wisconsin.  Everything you don't like about yourself you will see in Wisconsin.  You both currently occupy the position of kings of honest, in-your-face, power football.  The Big 10 town won't be big enough for the both of you.

Illinois:

Illinois will annoy the hell out of you.  They will show up once a year and declare themselves your biggest rival, even though you'll have no recollection of actually losing to them.  After your game with them, you will completely forget all about them until next year when they will remind you again.

Minnesota:

You will dread playing Minnesota.  Not because of the hatred of a bitter rivalry, but because there is just nothing to gain.  If you win, it was what you were supposed to do.  If you lose, it will always be in the back of your mind:  We just lost to Minnesota.  Is this the inflection point of a lousy season?  Ask Penn State about this.

Northwestern:

You will admire and respect Northwestern for how, against the odds of being a small private academic school, they still field some competitive winning teams.  You will show your admiration and respect by beating the crap out of them.

Indiana and Purdue:

You won't care at all about Indiana and Purdue.  You will feel bad about this.  But you still won't care.

Comments

a2husker

July 19th, 2010 at 10:48 PM ^

Between 1982 and 1994, both sides have a long-festering wound of the you-cost-us-a-national-title variety. I mean, I'm still upset about a damn blown call from 28 years ago - that's why there's a good chance that an NU/PSU rivalry might develop more easily than between NU and some of the other likely suspects.

XxNoRemorsExX

July 19th, 2010 at 4:20 PM ^

I live in Iowa and am surrounded by a number of Nebraska fans.  While knowledgable about the game, the team could go 1-11 and they'd still think Nebraska should be number 1 in all polls.

Tha Stunna

July 19th, 2010 at 5:53 PM ^

I'd give Nebraska-Iowa more credit than you said.  You can have a great rivalry built out of respect instead of contempt or hatred, as far as I'm concerned.  The rest was basically perfect.

M-Dog

July 19th, 2010 at 7:32 PM ^

just because of proximity or because they have already played each other a number of times.  Or perhaps the hatred will be that Iowa will hate Nebraska more than Nebraska really hates Iowa.  I could be off base.

I just see Nebraska-Wisconsin developing into a true bitter hatred my-season-is-not-successful-unless-I-beat-you rivalry.

The best part is that we'll get to see.

M.I.Sicks

July 19th, 2010 at 7:09 PM ^

Michigan State:

You will not hate Michigan State at first.  Until they finally beat you.  Then you will hate Michigan State.  That one win is all you'll hear about until your ears bleed.  It won't matter if you beat them the next 9 years in a row, that one win is all you'll hear about.  Nobody gets more mileage out of one win per decade than Michigan State.

El Jeffe

July 19th, 2010 at 8:01 PM ^

You forgot to mention that Nebraska will also hate U of M because it has the type of fans who would point out on a blog forum that the title to this post should be "Nebraska fans: Whom you'll hate in the Big 10 and why."

T4L

July 19th, 2010 at 8:19 PM ^

Completely true. More mileage out of 1 win but the shortest memory you've ever seen regarding the 12 losses before that. I can't count the number of times I've heard "yeah, but that's the past!"

Summoner10

July 19th, 2010 at 9:41 PM ^

lol Sparty has claimed, "Thats in the past!" for decades....  I feel bad for MSU fans....  their constant expectation of becoming a top level program is a long wait for a train that isn't coming.

cm2010

July 20th, 2010 at 12:00 AM ^

I was born and raised in Omaha and have much experience with their fans, the talk of 97 goes both ways. The Nebraska fans will only be able to hear Michigan fans talk about it so long as they aren't whining about it themselves. In their minds, Jesus Christ was still coaching so they automatically deserve (and have) the title outright. Nevermind that it took a miracle catch in ot against a poor Missouri team. Although, I do have a few friends that think Nebraska and Michigan should play every year for the 97 national championship trophy.

The reason the Iowa rivalry won't ever result into mutual hatred (other than Nebraska is just a far more successful program) is because the people in the states are the exact same (same values, occupations, etc.). No one wants to admit it, but they might as well be the same state.

Otherwise, right on.