Official Welcome to the Big Ten Nebraska thread

Submitted by Geaux_Blue on

To avoid 90 different threads popping up with the equivalent of Bleacher Report verification, here is one thread to rule them all.

 

Per ESPN, Nebraska officials are looking at Friday as merely a formality and that the deal is done. 

An athletic director in the Big 12 told ESPN's Joe Schad that Nebraska has had discussion with the Big Ten and that there was a "good chance" Nebraska would join the Big Ten as early as Friday.

ESPN's Mortensen further reports that Nebraska AD Tom Osborne has specifically "informed staff that school will make move to Big Ten." (Twitter) The Dallas News does a report of a report confirmation. All Hell Breaks Loose.

Now, as Pat Forde notes, the ND waiting game begins as schools are expected to jump and looking to not be left in the cold/with the check/metaphors are fun. This is further increased by the fact that, per the aforementioned Dallas News article, "Big 12 sources have confirmed that Texas and Texas A&M boards will be meeting Thursday." That's, like, TOMORROW!

 

This post will be updated as information comes through.

ThatOneGuy

June 9th, 2010 at 8:21 PM ^

I'm from Nebraska and am a HUGE Michigan fan, but the fans here are 2nd to none we make a tunnel as the opposing teams enter the field and cheer them as they enter to the field. This is huge considering my entire family are Huskers to me this is going to one hell of a rivalry.

Go Blue!

dahblue

June 9th, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^

Happy to have Nebraska in the Big Ten.  I think they're a great fit and give a Penn State style addition in terms of history and football prowess.  That being said, what the hell is with continued talk about Rutgers?   Is it necessary to add a garbage program to counterbalance an historic one?  And when did the press give up on Texas to the Big Ten?

Why not aim for Texas?  They're the top "pick on the board".  If we want to be THE conference, we should aim for the best...not anything from the Big East.

Pea-Tear Gryphon

June 9th, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^

How do you know they're not crazy glue sniffers? "Building model airplanes!", says the administration. Next thing you know, there's change missing off the dresser and your daughter's knocked up. I've seen it a hundred times...

psychomatt

June 9th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^

Joe Schad is quoting Osborne as saying there is a "good chance" this will happen and be announced by Friday. That is code for "this is not a done deal yet". ND is now on the clock.

Geaux_Blue

June 9th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^

but Big Ten must have reached the "magic number" of schools willing to say yes so that they could move forward with a solid "definite" school that few, if any, would have complaints about joining so as to start the clock you mention on the schools on the fence.

in this way, Nebraska can announce and leads to ND and Missouri agreeing (14 teams). however, should ND still hold out, the Big Ten is able to shore up with the backups of teams like Rutgers, 'Cuse, etc.

Basically Nebraska was the domino start-up. Big Ten most likely has shored up its bets and is ready to make shit happen.

I did the same thing for my senior prom.

Please note all of this is speculation. Including my prom comment.

psychomatt

June 9th, 2010 at 5:56 PM ^

Absolutely, I am sure they have the votes to approve NU. But, I also think that they really want ND and even Osborne did not say they had received and offer or were definiitely joining the B10. He said there was a "good chance". Remember, the process technically is that a school must apply and then the application is reviewed and voted on by the B10 members. It is possible B10 has told Nebraska that ND does not look like it is coming so, with that understanding, go ahead and put in an application (i.e. prepare it immediately and have the NU regents vote to submit it on Friday) and assuming no ND by Friday then it will be approved.

Also, if this does happen on Friday, I bet the B10 pauses to see what happens with B12/P10 before adding MO (assuming we still want them) or anyone else. They still want to find a way to get ND and I don't think they are worried MO is going anywhere.

MikeUM85

June 10th, 2010 at 1:30 PM ^

You can't in NCAA 10. You can switch spots with another team in Dynasty mode, but not rearrange the conference itself afaik.  I really hope they let you do this in 2011 (which ironically comes out in 2010; demo out next week and game out early July).

HoldTheRope

June 9th, 2010 at 5:43 PM ^

I hope Nebraska continues to improve...I think this could be a great series. At the bare minimum, we'll have a shot to get revenge (re: Ecker-gate) many, many times.

The offseason sucks, but nobody can say this one hasn't been entertaining...

bluebrains98

June 9th, 2010 at 6:07 PM ^

Even though it wasn't a direct matchup, my animosity to Nebraska arises out of the ricidiculously absurd off-the-foot-in-the-endzone catch made by Matt Davidson that led to our sharing of the national title. That punk cost us an outright national championship!

funkmob_starchild

June 9th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^

Nebraska to the Big Ten (which everyone knows by now), and TCU to the Big 12 to fill the void.  That's what will happen, 100% positive, I'd bet at least $20.00 on it.  And that's all that will happen.  No Pac-10 super-conference nonsense will happen.  I guarantee it.

Don

June 9th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^

If the Big 12 flies apart, it's due to their intransigence, greed, and arrogance. We don't need that in the Big 10.

mejunglechop

June 9th, 2010 at 5:49 PM ^

Extremely interesting tidbit via Orangebloods:

And to complicate matters for Missouri, the Tigers appear to be falling down the list of priorities for the Big Ten.



An athletic director with knowledge of the Big Ten said, "Missouri is getting cold shoulder from Big Ten."



Joe Schad of ESPN reported Wednesday that the Big Ten list of interest for expansion goes like this: 1) Notre Dame 2) Nebraska 3) Rutgers and/or Maryland.

Kill me now if we take Rutgers or Maryland. And what about Texas? If the Pac 10 won't take Baylor, they've got to be back in play, right?

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1092612

Wolv1984

June 9th, 2010 at 5:55 PM ^

Agreed.  I think Texas kind of likes being king of its little hill.  If a PAC 16 happens, Texas gets to be king of half a super conference.  

Look at the BigXII, title game in Texas, headquarters in Texas, revenue heavily favoring UT.  The conference is a Texas-centric one (both state and school).  Texas in the Big 10 is a big fish, but it isn't a dominate fish by any stretch.  In a PAC-16 scenario, Texas is king of the "East" division and can spend the regular season dominating a Texas centric eastern division.  

mejunglechop

June 9th, 2010 at 6:00 PM ^

I think Maryland is worse. If you grab Rutgers at least there's the vague hope of getting BTN on in New York. Also raiding the Big East scares Notre Dame.

Wolv1984

June 9th, 2010 at 6:09 PM ^

Maryland gives you a vague hope of getting the BTN in the DC Market and/or the Baltimore market.   It all comes down to what people things the odds are.  The NYC market is the first prize, but a say 60% shot at the DC market is better than a 15% shot at the NYC market.  

Plus Maryland has less work to do in terms of becoming a strong basketball school.  That's really the next step for the B10.  We have the football programs, the next step in sports revenue is getting ourselves a bigger slice of the basketball pie.  

 

Edit:

The other revenue question is of course federal research grants via the CIC.  Maryland is close to DC and basically serves as a forward base for the rest of the conference to launch lobbying efforts form.  

joeyb

June 9th, 2010 at 6:10 PM ^

I agree 100% with this. Making the Big10 Network succeed will also require programming the other 8 months of the year. That means Basketball, Hockey, Baseball. Getting a good conference in basketball would be a great start. Adding a Big10 hockey conference would be another good addition for content.