Official Welcome to the Big Ten Nebraska thread
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.
I don't know why it has to be geographical, but the East is stacked for both football and basketball. I think the intent is to have a balance spread of teams in each division. I don't know if geography will play in the splitting of divisions.
A: UM, OSU, MSU, Minn, Wisc, NW
B: Neb, PSU, Ind, ILL, Iowa, Pur
Just a thought, but I don't know if there is a perfect solution.
No need to split other sports into divisions.
SEC basketball is the only other conference sport to split into divisions, and there's talk they'll abandon that.
W: Neb, Wis, Min, Iowa, Ill, and NW
E: UM, OSU, PSU,MSU, Ind, Pur
NW is west of Purdue.
If they stay at 12, what happens to the UM/OSU game? It would be rough to play "the Game" then a Champ. game the following week.
The East is stronger in this scenario, and if ND and Mizzou join, ND would be East and Mizzou would be West, further strengthening the East.
No other way to do it, in my opinion. Indiana-Purdue must play every year, so this is the only way to keep all the essential rivalry games intra-division.
Nebraska-Iowa-Wisconsin is a pretty strong group.
Need some help with naming the divisions...
Original 6 (out of 7): ILL, UM, NW, PUR, WIS, MINN
1899 and beyond: PSU, NEB, OSU, MSU, IND, IOWA
Ironic the year we lose their directional school UNO to the WCHA, their flagship comes running to the Big 10.
So...for the time being the the Big 10 has 12 and the Big XII has 11...so is the Big 10 the Big XII now and the Big XII the Big 10 now...oh no I have gone cross eyed...
John U. Bacon is disappointed in your use of the word 'ironic'.
...an eye on the Big Ten office to make sure they don't change the admission standard for Nebraska after it's signed its conference LOI? I think they've done enough to earn admission from the results they've achieved in their alternative conference.
Funny and plus 1, but too soon.
Hope this goes through that would be awesome. Since I'm from and live in NE i can now see UM play in lincoln and watch the huskers lack of offense and UM's pretty bad defense battle it out.
Go blue...and Big red
I'm sitting there with you, this is going to be an awesome match up between UM and UNL I live in Omaha and always keep hearing how Nebraska is better just pisses me off. This game can't come soon enough!
Go Blue!
because it strengthens a West division considerably, allowing Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State to stay together in an East division.
It is also very smart as an incremental step, positioning the Big Ten well for expansion to 14 or 16, with Missouri and Kansas in the West and Pittsburgh and Syracuse or Notre Dame in the East.
Watching Sportscenter right now. The dude from orangebloods.com is being interviewed, and he said not only is Nebraska going to the Big10, the Texas AD and president told all of the coaches that "they tried to save the Big12 and failed," and that it looks like the move to the Pac 10 for the 6 other schools is happening.
Also, the bottom line is saying that it's being reported by Fox Sports Ohio that a formal invite is being tendered to Nebraska.
Is the 6th team Baylor or Colorado?
They were saying Colorado. I read something else that said that Colorado may jump anyways, to force their way in and not have Baylor trump them.
The Pac 10 really will want an annual Arizona-Colorado rivalry game.
Southwest division: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State
The real beauty of this, however, is that it restores the original Pac-8 in its own Coastal division. I think it will happen.
It would be interesting if they call the divisions the Pac-8 and the Big-8.
So, uh, I don't remember this being asked or answered anywhere, but once this all goes down, when exactly does it all ACTUALLY happen?
I assume the Big 12 will exist at least through next year, so when does the actual realignment happen?
Probably 2012.
Just in time for the world to end. I think Nostradamus predicted that super-conferences would bring down the end of the world.
They built pyramids for coaches
Note that the Big Ten plays musical chairs again after this season, so it would be a good time to shake up the schedules. I would really like to see a 9-game conference schedule (so we're still only missing two per year), but that could take a few years to work in, because of existing commitments. But you could start with 8 games and then go to 9 when everyone can do it.
I just don't want to get too excited here.
Too soon. Too soon.
hahahaha weee goottt suuhhhh
While not UT, this is a great add for the conference. A traditional power, that UM definitely has history with.
How great will it be the first time the Maize and Blue invade Lincoln or when the Blackshirts make their first trip to AA.
I cannot wait!!
Love the traditional power...super excited for the matchup.
I just wish the Rutgers talk would cease as the "Rutgers game" is as appealing as the Indiana game. Big Ten powers that be - Please don't water down the great with the crappy.
I like Nebraska a lot. Next to ND, Nebraska was the next logical fit to the whole "Big 10" football image.
I have a question. When would we something like this take affect, where schedules start reflecting the conference change? Obviously not this year and probably not next year. The year after next?
Oooooh spooky!
Big year on the horizon, IMHO!
I heard 2011, but probably no later than 2012. The Big 10 would give Nebraska a full share in the BTN to offset their penalty for leaving the Big 12.
I like Maryland over Rutgers. More sports history at Maryland, still very solid footprint to add, since DC will also be added. What people forget is that so many NYers are already Big Ten fans, and adding Rutgers won't help much. Maryland-DC is a region less filled with Big Ten fans, so adding it will be big.
I'm personally hoping with Nebraska we pick up Pitt (as a natural fit within the Big Twelve-ten) and use that as leverage to scoop up ND, then grab Mizzou and an as yet undetermined 16th team. Alternately, abandon Mizzour and 16th team, and stay with 14 instead.
Edit: With Colorado likely getting the boot from the Pac-10's expansion plans, grabbing them seems like an intelligent move.
So is texas to Pac 10 official? I def want texas in the Big 10
but while Texas is the gold standard, Tech, A&M, and Baylor are not at all desirable. I think they were a package.
Why did I click on your link? Now that GD song is gonna be in my head the rest of the week!
Catchy little jam though! Breakout the OR -E-GAN-O!!
Why was BC never in play? do they really have any serious ties to the BE? They have a decent BB program, decent football would draw more interest from ND and are still right there in a pretty sizeable media market?
... welcome, welcome...
Prepare to see this tailgating when the Cornhuskers travel upto Ann Arbor......
This is a great addition to a conference in need of a spark. It sucks that, without a championship game in December, the Big 10 gets forgotten when it comes time for rankings and bowl selection. Not to mention Nebraska is a team on the rise and will provide many more classic games for the Maize and Blue to win!
the folks that are content with just adding Nebraska & simultaneously giving ND the middle finger. I HATE the fact that they thumb their nose at our conference, lauding their independent status...all while playing our teams. I know it's more wishful thinking than anything, but I'd LOVE IT if we expanded without them & then prohibited any Big Ten team from playing them. Let their sorry asses flail in the wind by playing all of the service academies, the Coast Guard & Cub Scout Troop #13....with the usual beatdown at the hands of USC. See how they like those apples...
I really don't want a B10(12?) championship game
This definitely leads to a championship game.
I think they have to find a better way to make the divisions than east west. Either Penn St., Michigan, or Ohio St. needs to be with Nebraska otherwise the league is making the same mistake the Big 12 made for years with one division that dominates the other. Sure Iowa is good now, but you have to look at how these teams will perform year in and year out for twenty years. I say put the rivals together but make no attempt to worry about geography. Anything else makes a lame championship game too risky. It's embarrassing to send a 9-4 team to your BCS bowl.
1) Ohio St., Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern
2) Penn St., Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan St.