TSB Submission from Nebraska fans
So here’s what some Nebraska fans sent me: their ideas on how a new Big Ten landscape would look. I’ve noted that they seemed to be somewhat influenced by Teddy Greenstein’s Sunday Chicago Tribune piece on the topic.
From Huskerpedia.com
North Division:
Minnesota – Wisconsin – Michigan – Michigan State – Rutgers – Syracuse – UConn – Ohio State
South Division:
Penn State – Indiana – Purdue – Illinois – Northwestern – Iowa – Missouri – Nebraska
Whether it’s 16 or 14, Nebraska is in – and it all gets done by July so the new plan takes effect in 2011.
Tim Gleason’s (not the NHL player) A second plan:
East-West scenario– Our natural rival, Missouri becomes primary with Iowa very close behind. Wisconsin game becomes like Colorado, it’s always close and a rivalry grows over time. Northwestern is always dangerous to play as they score a ton. I would hope one of the PSU, OSU or Michigan schools becomes a rival over time.
Overall, The travel potential really changes from the Big 12 (Iowa City is farther than Ames, and you not longer have the Lawrence – 3.5 hours away or Manhattan 4ish hours away)…..the rest is pretty static. However, one can fly to Chicago or Milwaukee and get close to Madison, Evanston, Champaign and the Indiana school.
If North vs. South – I like the match-ups much less. I wonder how the out of division stuff would be handled in either format?
Either way, this intrigues me and part of me likes the Big 12 for hating Colorado and KSU. I love to beat Missouri. I love playing Kanas for personal reasons. The South, save Texas and Oklahoma, I could take it or leave it.
As for the Big 10, I would love to play Missouri, Iowa, Northwestern (personal reasons of geography), PSU, OSU and Michigan. Wisconsin is semi-intriguing, but the rest I could take ’em or leave ’em.
Recruiting:
I still think we go after Texas, but to a lesser extent. We would have to go California, Texas and Florida, but also increase the now expanding Big 10 recruiting market (we have already looked into Ohio and PA some). New Jersey is a historical fit, with Chicago (also) and the Ohio schools also growing. Really, we would change back to more of a national search as opposed to focusing on Texas, making things somewhat tougher.
Big Picture:
I think we would always be in the Western division race, making football in November and December relevant. Due to TV, scale, recruiting and coaching, I think over a 3-5 ear period, the Big 10 ranks right with the SEC as the pre-eminent conference. How Texas, ND or The Big 22 SuperConference (Big 12 and Pac 10) or any SEC dance with parts of Texas, Big 12 South, Miami and Florida or some moves by the ACC and Big East could all mess this up and perhaps that is ok too!