I was wrong about the B!G ………………

[Count 'Bility]

It still feels weird having you guys in the Conference but I think you're a good fit. Passionate fans and actually midwesterners (unlike Penn State) so we have a lot in common as people. Program fits well too as far as the style of play.

I'm a little worried you guys are going to grow disillusioned and bitter the more road trips you make as we have some of the most hmmm "outspoken" fans in the country.

Overall I think it was a good move for both NU and the Big Ten. You guys make us more competitive and bring a lot of history and success along with you. Its hard to tell who's going to be on top consistently after everything shakes out, with OSU and PSU in turmoil and Michigan in a seemingly endless transition who knows...

I'm also a bit worried about your recruiting just from what I've heard (not from NU fans). By that I mean that I'd heard that many of your best recruits are from Texas and with your departure from the Big XII I don't know how easy it will be to get those kids in the future...that could be complete bullsh#t though...maybe you don't recruit that much there, the kids won't care or you'll find players else where...like I said this is based on what I've heard from other fans. Could be completely false.

Nah, we can handle it. 3 words- Boulder Manhatten Columbia

 

[Count 'Bility]

HMMM I have to disagree with all of you on the conference being tougher than we thought, yes we got killed at Wisconsin but we also handed them that blowout on a silver platter. Wisconsin was definitely a poor matchup for us.....having very little talent at LB.

OU would own this conference as would OSU right now, and KSU might be better than anyone in this conference as well, and Texas, well we would not beat them as we were 1-9 against them, but Missouri is still a good team and Texas A&M is no slouch, OU was shocked by a very similar team as we were.

NW beat us because their strengths went against our weaknesses, and they were consistent, run the ball right at us.... and Bo and Co. refuse to play the younger players when the vets are hurt, it was this way last year and will continue to be...

As for Recruiting....Badger not a chance bud....Tradition, facilities, and Team recognition, coupled with a good head coach = success, we won't be going anywhere but up our best recruiting classes were the last two, it only gets tougher for everyone else after this season. We had the second fewest returning starters in the conference and we are 8-2, and next year we return almost the entire offense minus Kinne and Caputo.

:rollin

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

Give it a couple years huskers.

2 traditional powers who were fantastic in the 90s and early 2000s are down. One because they had a coach who stayed too long and the other because they sold their soul and destroyed everything they ever believed in for 3 years.

The scandal will hamper the return of one but the other will be back in 2-3 years.

And Urban might be coming to town in the next couple of months

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

Illinois fans are always hospitable unless you are from a.a.

PU fans are fine.

IU football fans are nonexistent.

MSU fans had the "F&*k Ohio" chants in 2006 when I went up there but they were all talk(which is fine by me)

Didn't see anything at UW that shocked me.

I think you will find most of the road trips to be pleasant.

 

[ladyhawke]

It still feels weird having you guys in the Conference but I think you're a good fit. Passionate fans and actually midwesterners (unlike Penn State) so we have a lot in common as people. Program fits well too as far as the style of play.

I'm a little worried you guys are going to grow disillusioned and bitter the more road trips you make as we have some of the most hmmm "outspoken" fans in the country.

Overall I think it was a good move for both NU and the Big Ten. You guys make us more competitive and bring a lot of history and success along with you. Its hard to tell who's going to be on top consistently after everything shakes out, with OSU and PSU in turmoil and Michigan in a seemingly endless transition who knows...

I'm also a bit worried about your recruiting just from what I've heard (not from NU fans). By that I mean that I'd heard that many of your best recruits are from Texas and with your departure from the Big XII I don't know how easy it will be to get those kids in the future...that could be complete bullsh#t though...maybe you don't recruit that much there, the kids won't care or you'll find players else where...like I said this is based on what I've heard from other fans. Could be completely false.

Nah, we can handle it. 3 words- Boulder Manhatten Columbia

No kidding. If you can survive those three above you can survive anything-especially Colorado BLAH!!

 

[scarletNcream]

Interesting how this thread moved around. First off, I can't believe all the fans that think the Big 12 would kill our defense this year based on what the BIG has done too it. How fast we forget where we were. This defense was built to stop the Big 12, not the BIG. They had to learn a different style of football and I might add in a short period of time. I know they gave up some yards and sometimes looked like they couldn't stop my youngest from running through them but, there was some good. You can add Kurt Cousins to the BoNEyard. That being said, I am very happy to be in the BIG and think this is a perfect fit.

edit: The Big 8 stills lives in my closet on VHS. Someday they will be digital.

 

[krill]

I still don't understand the stylistic sayings about B10 football. You'd think the Big 12 is the wild west of 5 wide run n' shoot every game while the B10 is all double tight downhill running. Not the case at all, there's a wide variety of offenses in both conferences.

Anyway the advantage of the B10 are tangible. Stability, more money, BTN, larger venues / crowds, way better bowl tie-ins, and no Texas.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

The whole Big Ten football thing is a myth.

There is such a thing as Big Ten style football but alot of the teams have moved away from it.

ESPiN likes to say that the Big Ten needs to run spreads but they haven't payed attention because every team has run a spread-esque offensive attack in the past 10 years and Northwestern was one of the innovators of that offensive style.

 

[Husker from Kansas]

This kind of plays in to a question I've been pondering...how do you guys see Big Ten defenses compared to those of the Big XII. Just looking at the numbers....they're quite striking. I think Big 10 teams would do better than we give them credit against some of these teams.

Big Ten Defenses

Average Defensive rank - 43

Median Defensive rank - 26

Best Defense- 3 (MSU)

Worst Defense- 107 (Indiana)

Teams above 100 - 1

Teams in the top 10- 4

Teams in the top 25- 6

Big XII Defenses

Average Defensive rank - 84

Median Defensive rank - 90

Best Defense- 14 (Texas)

Worst Defense- 120 (Kansas)

Teams above 100 - 4

Teams in the top 10- 0

Teams in the top 25- 1

i understand what your trying to get at but you have to compare the offenses in the Big XII vs. the BIG offenses. OU OSU Baylor, aTm all have pretty darned good if not great offenses (OU & OSU), the conference styles are completely different, you dont see very many games that have upwards of 60 + points scored in a game from teams in the BIG but you do in the Big XII. IDK if it is really fair to compare the defenses or offensive numbers of these two conferences, the style of play is just to much different. i do think this will be a stronger conference from top to bottom when OSU Michigan and Penn State get back on their feet but when it comes to this year i do think that the BIG XII top teams are slightly better than the top teams in the BIG

 

[Husker from Kansas]

The whole Big Ten football thing is a myth.

There is such a thing as Big Ten style football but alot of the teams have moved away from it.

ESPiN likes to say that the Big Ten needs to run spreads but they haven't payed attention because every team has run a spread-esque offensive attack in the past 10 years and Northwestern was one of the innovators of that offensive style.

true, but the teams in the BIG still run the ball alot more than the teams out of the BIG XII, i say this cuz you dont see qbs throwing the ball 40+ times a game in the BIG very often but you do see it quite abit in the BIG XII. So IMHO the big ten style of football is still alive and well, it has just evolved from the old 3 yards and a cloud of dust ways of the past.

 

[Hercules]

I think this year's schedule is one of the toughest we've had in a while. But I think that has more to do with this year's schedule, and less to do with the perceived strength of the Big Ten.

The Big Ten won't seem so tough in two years when Illinois and Purdue replace Ohio State and Wisconsin on the schedule.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

I think this year's schedule is one of the toughest we've had in a while. But I think that has more to do with this year's schedule, and less to do with the perceived strength of the Big Ten.

The Big Ten won't seem so tough in two years when Illinois and Purdue replace Ohio State and Wisconsin on the schedule.

You would think.

However these two schools are the biggest Pain in the Arse in the conference for OSU.

We've never really had trouble with the likes of Iowa,Minny, Northwestern(combined 8 losses since 1970),etc but for some reason these two are the ones that won't go away.

Nebraska might need to find their gnat school(maybe Northwestern?) but OSU's are definitely PU and Illinois.

 

[Excel]

Woody's said it. I said it when you lost to Northwestern..."You're now officially in the Big Ten, Welcome" It's true. You'd think adding those teams would help greatly but you will lose to those teams at times and it will break your heart. The little guys in our conference don't often make runs but they sure make a point of tripping their bigger brothers up. Purdue for one, is a program that prides itself on this very fact. Google "Spoilermakers"...they've beat #1 teams seven times in their history, I think thats a record.

Lately for UW its been Northwestern and it appears it could be for you as well. Apparently MN is Iowa's.

No game in this conference is a given. Anybody can beat you if you're slipping.

 

[Hercules]

Woody's said it. I said it when you lost to Northwestern..."You're now officially in the Big Ten, Welcome" It's true. You'd think adding those teams would help greatly but you will lose to those teams at times and it will break your heart. The little guys in our conference don't often make runs but they sure make a point of tripping their bigger brothers up. Purdue for one, is a program that prides itself on this very fact. Google "Spoilermakers"...they've beat #1 teams seven times in their history, I think thats a record.

For UW its been Northwestern and it appears it could be for you as well. Apparently MN is Iowa's.

Sure, but every conference has teams like that. Nebraska lost to Iowa State in 2009. We've lost silly letdown games to Kansas and Missouri, and gotten tripped up at times by mediocre Colorado teams.

At the end of the day, Ohio State and Wisconsin > Illinois and Purdue. Does that mean we will win those games? No. We seem to lose to that type of team every year, regardless of whether we're in the Big Ten or the Big 12. It's still going to be an easier schedule than this year.

 

[krill]

ESPiN likes to say that the Big Ten needs to run spreads but they haven't payed attention because every team has run a spread-esque offensive attack in the past 10 years and Northwestern was one of the innovators of that offensive style.

This isn't a knock on NW, but I think they borrowed pretty heavily from the Mike Leach offensive philosophy. At least their base offense is really similar to what Texas Tech runs from what I've seen, minus some of the deep passing for a mobile QB (well, that's what they have).