Would you miss the Huskers?

Submitted by Picktown GoBlue on

So, OU President David Boren thinks the Big 12 should look to growing up to, well, 12.  The article at the worldwide leader indicates one of the options for growth might be taking Nebraska back, in addition to the usual speculation of Cincy, BYU, and others.

I think our obvious vote on this board would be to give them Maryland and Rutgers.  Or do we hand over all 4 of our recent additions?

M-Dog

June 24th, 2015 at 10:41 PM ^

Maybe ChicagoBigRed can comment on the mindset of Nebraska fans at this juncture of their tenure in the Big Ten.

Would they ever want to go back to the Big 12 if TX learned its lesson and equal revenue sharing was contractually guaranteed?

 

Ray

June 24th, 2015 at 11:24 PM ^

Year-after-year play matters.  I was just talking to some IA fans at Red Rocks about the MI-IA games that were back to back in the 80s (85/86?) that were both decided by field goals, each deciding things in favor of the home team, and at least one was #1 vs #2.  One was a heartbreaker, the other was ecstasy.  I miss those days of either getting even, or knowing the other side wanted to. 

And, I did my masters at Purdue.  Didn't go there for any other reason than the academics, but I love seeing them give OSU hell.  ND too.  (Being able to root against ND twice in a season was something I wrote into my application cover letter as a benefit.  They said they liked it). 

Mr. Yost

June 24th, 2015 at 11:26 PM ^

If you traded Purdue and Rutgers for Cincy and Pitt, I really wouldn't notice.

We should've added Syracuse and Pitt when we had the chance. No offense to Maryland, but it just makes too much sense if you HAVE to expand.

In the end, I truly want division 1 football to break off to 72 teams.

Six, 12-team conferences with an 8-team playoff that has conference winners and 2 at-large teams. This would be more than big enough to include everyone worth including.

AA2Denver

June 24th, 2015 at 11:14 PM ^

Nebraska has been awesome for the Big Ten. Keep them. Rivalries are just starting to build with Iowa and Wisc.  Their fans seem to like being in the B1G and everyone I talk hates Urban Meyer.  Nebraska fans are just like Michigan fans. Seriously fanatic but not dickish like Wisc.  

Check out a game in Lincoln and you'll see how good of a program they are. 

When NE was added I hoped Colorado would be added as well. Yeah, the Buffs have been terrible but games in Boulder can be pretty cool. 

ElBictors

June 25th, 2015 at 4:24 PM ^

CU and Boulder are absolutely a perfect fit for the Pac-12 and such a better overall conference academically and geographically than the Big 8/12 ever was.  Games at Folsom are awesome ...especially the failed Hail Mary in 1996 vs MICHIGAN.

But CU to the Pac-12 was the absolute best move for the school.

pbmd

June 24th, 2015 at 11:14 PM ^

nebraska is really not a peer school with michigan.

we are working toward 8 power conferences or divisions. 10 teams per conference/division.

sets up for real 8 team playoff. have to whittle down to 80 schools serious about D1 football.

2 big tens each with 10 teams. play 9 conference games- 0 games between conferences until championship game. play 3 warm up non-coference games.

Michigan is in Big Ten 1- with something like ohio, msu, psu, nw, iu, ill, purdue, minnesota, wisconsin.

Big Ten 2-  nebraksa, iowa and 8 other team can be their own conference. 

1 plays 2 to get to the final four of football playoff.

 

mb121wl

June 25th, 2015 at 12:05 AM ^

Nebraska has a great football tradition.  They fit well with similar programs, including UM, ND, and PSU.  More important, they are the epitome of Midwestern values.  Their fans are consistently the friendliest and most polite, whether at home or onthe road.

havkarl

June 25th, 2015 at 12:12 AM ^

Nebraska has fielded consistently decent teams. admittedly I've had a competitive soft spot for them ever since they "tied" us for the national championship.

Blue_sophie

June 25th, 2015 at 1:31 AM ^

Nebraska is a good fit for sports. Not a good fit academically. That said, I dig Lincoln (seriously not a bad town) and I would be sad to see them go. Also, this is not a real story; must have been a slow news day for the mouse.

FrankMurphy

June 25th, 2015 at 11:38 AM ^

I think Nebraska's expulsion from the AAU was unfair. They have a strong profile in agricultural research that the committee gave very little consideration to, and NU couldn't count anything from its medical school in Omaha because it's run as a satellite campus (which is a technicality). The committee also made the questionable decision to extend the voting deadline after not enough member schools had cast their votes: http://chronicle.com/article/Ouster-Opens-a-Painful-Debate/127364/ I'm a little disappointed that Michigan voted in favor of their expulsion, especially since Northwestern voted against it. I hope they get re-admitted at some point.

MaizeJacket

June 25th, 2015 at 8:27 AM ^

Nebraska left the Big VII for the same reasons that exist now.  Everyone saw last season which conference was left out of the playoff, and rightfully so.  They are raking in cash and provide a competitive balance in the Big Ten West for football and are at least decent in most every other sport.  They are a midwestern program and there are more natural rivalries that can be created with teams like Iowa and Minnesota.  Sure they used to play Colorado and Oklahoma and it's a shame those are a thing of the past now, but they could have gotten into a more senseless situation (See, West Virginia).

Like many on here also have stated, if the Big Ten and Jim Delaney had just stopped with Nebraska, that would have been fine.  But greed is an overwhelming force.

To answer the question, as a fan and follower of the Big Ten, yes, I would actually miss them.

umbig11

June 25th, 2015 at 9:16 AM ^

they are a good fit for the B1G. Besides, they would never link up with Texas again. BYU and Boise St should jump to Big 12 if they can.

Gustavo Fring

June 25th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^

And I would not vote to lose Maryland either.  Maryland will start the basketball season as the number 1 team in the country and they are in one of the most talent-rich recruiting areas in the country.  Football has also been decent and they've shown the ability to be a top-25 team, but given that they are potentially an elite basketball program, wouldn't get rid of them.

As for Nebraska, the tradition should eventually allow them to get back to top status.  At the least, they can be a PSU-type team.  And with Tim Miles, Nebrasketball has been a fun addition as well.

Trading Rutgers for UConn on the other hand...I'd be up for that.  

I Love Lamp

June 25th, 2015 at 9:47 AM ^

They could schedule one old big 12 foe for a home and home, and maybe take some trips occasionally to smaller schools in oklahoma and texas. Could allow them to still have some presence in their old stomping grounds, and maybe recruits will notice this and realize they can still play near home now and again

M-Dog

June 25th, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^

Yeah, they should play a Houston or SMU every single year in Texas.

That is one thing I like about the current Big Ten East setup for us:  We play at at least one of Maryland / Penn State / Rutgers every single year.  That's NJ / PA / DC area every single year.  Those are some fertile recruiting grounds to be constantly exposed to.

 

Space Coyote

June 25th, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^

As a fan of a B1G team, I like Nebraska. I think they are an interesting team with interesting history and all that. I was in favor of adding them from a B1G perspective.

But despite how well they fit into the B1G in a vacuum, they fit much better in the Big 12. They have rivalries there that are built on history. I wouldn't like to lose them and be left with Maryland and Rutgers, but I wouldn't be heartbroken that they went back to where they belonged.

FrankMurphy

June 25th, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^

I really don't think that's the case anymore, since the current Big XII is radically different from the Big 8 that their fans were so nostalgic for. Nebraska would be thrown in alongside schools with which it has no history and that are geographically and/or culturally awkward fits to begin with (e.g., West Virginia, TCU, and whichever school would be added as the twelfth member), and two of their traditional Big 8 rivals have since left (Colorado and Missouri). Tom Osborne said back in 2010 that Nebraska decided to leave because the Big XII wasn't the same conference anymore, and that's even more true today.

M-Dog

June 25th, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^

It pretty much comes down to just Oklahoma.  That's where their heart is.  If they could be matched consistently with the Sooners, they would not care who else was in the conference.  Maybe they can work out some kind of consistent home and home with them like we used to have with ND.

I'm as much of a Michigan homer as anybody, and the Michigan - Ohio State rivalry is legendary, but during the '70 and '80s the Nebraska - Oklahoma rivalry was the premire rivalry in the country.  Bar none.

 

Ronnie Kaye

June 25th, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^

Why don't they just add Houston and SMU? It'd be big for the state of Texas to have a couple more Power 5 programs.

The Mad Hatter

June 25th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^

But I'd like Texas in it even more.  Really, the Big 12 should just disband and split the teams into the other conferences.  I'll take Texas for the B1G and any other teams that want to join, except for TCU.