OT: Most snakebit B1G football program

Submitted by Decatur Jack on

Which Big Ten football program do you think is the most snakebit and why?

Criteria for being snakebit is some general combination of:

-Just can't do anything right
-Unlucky in general
-Chokes in crucial moments
-Sucks overall

Who ya got? Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana, Iowa, MSU?

(Maryland and Rutgers discussion also welcomed.)

EGD

June 9th, 2013 at 6:28 PM ^

Well, that's only true if by "snakebitten" you mean "frustrated by bad luck and random misfortune despite hard work and sound decision-making." But so far as I know, Michigan hasn't had a single player or coach literally bitten by a snake.

MIMark

June 9th, 2013 at 6:16 PM ^

Does putting up with Tim Brewster for 4 years constitute a snakebite for Minnesota?

Also - Maryland's QB situation last year certainly sounds like a snakebite.

Bando Calrissian

June 9th, 2013 at 7:18 PM ^

The correct answer is Minnesota. Firing Glen Mason. Hiring career TE coach Tim Brewster. Firing Tim Brewster and putting Jerry Kill on the sidelines, even though his unfortunate health situation takes him from the sidelines on a consistent basis.

Putting up with the Metrodome for about two decades too long.

Recruiting players to Siberia, selling them on the interconnecting tunnels and heated walkways that will take them from class to class.

Having two good seasons since the New Deal. A winning streak against exactly three Big 10 opponents, with two of those being at one game. Exactly one coach in the last forty years who left the school with a winning record.

They can't do anything right.

jabberwock

June 10th, 2013 at 9:36 AM ^

I'd also add that you can't be truly snake-bitten unless you've had some prior success to measure against how far you've fallen.

Minnesota had 3 straight national championships in the 30's, 1 in 1960.

They are the other half of one of the oldest, most well known college football rivalries.

look at them now.



Every year they loose the little brown jug just reminds them of the history they'll likely never revisit.



I'd also say they have the capability to be so much better than they are: they have Minneapolis to draw from, a large endowment, campus, & enrollment.



They should be head to head with Iowa & Wisconsin every year . . . but they're not.

They are truly East Dakota.

AtkinsDiet

June 10th, 2013 at 6:54 PM ^

Firing Mason was not nearly as bad as a lot of people think. Outside of 2003, he was a .500 coach and did not show any signs of breaking through to a level beyond that. Just like when they fired Tubby Smith, you can't say "Hey you're Minnesota! Be happy with what you've got!" because no one wants to be a fan of an athletic department with that mentality. They rolled the dice on Brewster; it didn't work out.

Also, Mason was 56 when he got canned. That's not retiring age yet he has never coached again. If he was that good, I'm not sure he'd remain a free agent.

JHendo

June 9th, 2013 at 6:24 PM ^

If anyone dare say any team other than Iowa on this thread, it will cause the Hawkeyes to be further smited by the AIRBHG...

TrppWlbrnID

June 9th, 2013 at 6:25 PM ^

First off, they share a below average talent football state with another big ten school and notre dame. Corso was doing a decent job in the late 70s and was probably about to make it big before he got Anthony cartered. After that, bill Mallory had them in a few bowls, moderate success, a season where they finish 2nd in ten conference after beating both uM and OsU in the same year. They had one of the better rbs in the country for three years in anthony thompson. After that, they finally get their guy in local hero terry heoppner who gets them to a bowl in three years and them succumbs to cancer. It is unlikely they can be a top notch football school but getting to middle of the pack respectability has pretty much eluded them.

saveferris

June 10th, 2013 at 7:58 AM ^

You can't blame Indiana's woes on the football field on being snakebitten when they have an athletic department that is clearly not interested in having a football program that is good at playing football.

NFG

June 9th, 2013 at 6:30 PM ^

1. Iowa with AIRBHG

2. Marylands QB fiasco where their 2nd string MLB ended up under center for a few games.

3. IU in general.

 

Doc Brown

June 9th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^

I second Purdue. The closest Purdue has been to having a great year was 2004 when Kyle Orton led them to a #3 ranking only to see them blow it against Wisconsin and crap the bed the rest of the season. Since then Purdue has had one issue after another with their QB's (arrests/Blown ACL's/Academic DQ's).

TexasMaizeNBlue

June 9th, 2013 at 6:43 PM ^

Indiana fits the OP's #4 because, well, they are historically the doormat of the BIG. Sparty fits the criteria of #'s 1,2 and 3. Zero Rose Bowls since I believe the '87-88 season and zero BCS appearances since it's inception in '98 just makes you wonder if those little green guys will ever get over the hump. Somehow, a few years back when MSU played Wisconsin in the BIG championship game I got stuck at a house party with all Spartys. That last play where that idiot ran into the punter to give the Badgers the Rose Bowl birth brought a giant smile to my face and the priceless look of agony throughout a room of 8-10 gloomy Spartys. My (bullshit) line of reasoning to one of my buddy's still recovering from the curse? "A badger is a Wolverine's cousin."

MGoClimb

June 9th, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^

Tough to say.  Every team goes through stages where they just can't seem to get it right, Michigan among them.  If you go back far enough, you could probably make a case for any B1G team.

Hail-Storm

June 9th, 2013 at 9:33 PM ^

When pretty much all other programs would be willing to switch with you, it's hard to argue you've been snake bitten. I'd Choo-Choo-choose the boiler makers. After a small amount of success under tiller they fell for the old "all guys in Indiana with mustaches are the same" trick and had to deal with Perry and a decade of being a preseason dark horse who always ends fighting for bowl eligibility. I am glad I am not one of their fans.

MGoClimb

June 9th, 2013 at 10:26 PM ^

I should have been a little more specific.  You could make a case for any team in the B1G, but the quality of the case is up for debate. 

If I had to pick, I'd say MSU.  I know they've had some success, but they always seem to sink back to obscurity.  To come close to making it to the next level but never do so must be tough.  

gwkrlghl

June 9th, 2013 at 7:07 PM ^

I still have to go with MSU. They regularly come to the brink of relevance before completely crapping it away. Even just recently they negated their awesome punt return to the 1 yd line in the Big Ten Championship Game by roughing the punter; Wisconsin was able to run the clock out from there. 

I'm not sure 'snakebit' is the right term for them, they just cannot get it completely together