Kiyoat Husker

... here's a map of google searches for "college football" per capita. See any themes? I think if Nebraska played Alabama in the NC the internet might explode.

Another map to compare with. Big 10 Country is littered with NFL compared to the south. And not only in numbers of teams, but quality teams with large followings. Pro football was basically born in the "Gridiron Breadbasket" of Ohio and Pennsylvania, so it is not suprising that the NFL has a foothold in the region.

The sect of SMU fans in North Dakota is puzzling. Yeah, and the Eastern Michigan group in Montana... must be them dang Huderites?

yeah, only 28,419 votes... just because there is a lot of white space only means they were very specific on where the votes came from. Population centers (like Big Ten country) show up prominently. when you cross-reference these maps with Woody's from SportsNation you can infer quite a bit. Like look at Oregon, Boise State and BYU/Utah. These areas are not NFL-dominated and have teams that have really done well in the post scholarship limit era. Hence the strong showing on the College v Pro map.

oops. fixed it.

fair points IA on the previous thread. Louisville football is kinda like Hurricane football. outside of the city no one cares. Its a Wildcat state. As for Cincinnati, I think high school football is more popular than local college football(like a Pittsburgh clone). These maps from an old site that hasn't been updated in awhile back up what you and I are both saying: http://commoncensus....map.php?sport=1 the nfl fans map http://commoncensus.org/sports_map.php?sport=5 the college football map pretty fun to look at these maps. despite the small sample size, I think they hold up to scrutiny showing not only where but how many fans a given team has. The B1G represents pretty strongly here in terms of numbers and galvanizing entire states. Nebraska shows smaller numbers and a smaller footprint, but we make up for it in passion for our team. I think the support for the futility of Kentucky football must just be a by-product of the basketball die-hard fans.

Wondering if the Cardinals are more the reason for Kentucky than the Mildcats.... and Bearcats...

Normally I agree with you, Woody, on most topics, but I have to differ here for several reasons: The strength of the Bengals vs Bears (this year) means little to the passion that the fans have for their team. The Bears are one of those teams whose large fanbase will be there through thick and thin, much like your Buckeyes. Iowa is not exclusively a Bears state NFL-wise. The north part is Vikings fans, the Northeast is Packers fans and the Southwest is Chiefs. The East and Middle are pretty strongly Bears, though. If you look closely, Iowa was only one percentage point away from being a "college" state. Add three more percentage points, and you have Michigan. Nebraska was 70% college FYI. I can't really explain Kentucky, though. These are mostly just semantics, though. I do agree that the SEC is passionate about their college football. Same as Nebraska, with very little NFL distractions. Glad to see OK on the red side as well. I think that the Vikings are the #1 reason for the long-term futility of the Gophers, so I agree with your major point.

Sounds like this has been a nice test of fan's resolve to close ranks on the nay-sayers, regardless of their status. Good for Bo! Also a nice lesson in humility for this donor.... ...(ALLEGEDLY)

That sounds stupid I'm telling Mike you said that, and Frankly, that could be a real problem for you.

Post of the year!!! thanks for the hyperbole, but I have to agree. I am awesome.

I'm not really sure how to say this, but, ... Mike Jacobson is kind of a big deal. People know him. He's very important. He has many leather-bound books and his mansion smells of rich mahogany.

I'll be happy with 1. win per game

fixed it for ya.

Or Missouri. No GOR for the SEC.

I think this would actually benefit Nebraska more than the rest of the B1G. resume OK rivalry resume recruiting TX heavily strengthen the west division etc. I think the only thing that would make it happen tho, is an undefeated TX team left out of the MNC due to conferece affiliation and strength of sched. Could happen this year.

This article was written by Brett Ciancia. Not sure who that is, but he had a lot of good insights on the team. I assumed that meant he researched the team well, until I read this: I believe he is a kool aide drinking Husker fan. Not that it is a bad thing, but his prediction is hardly objective. With that having been said, I totally agree with the prediction. GBR!

And that's why it makes way more money than everyone else. Fair point. I guess you could also argue that the increased parity in CFB has generated more money and interest on the whole, as the fanbases at places like Boise State have become more robust, perennial doormats have had their day in the sun, etc. It just kind of sucks for certain schools like Nebraska or Penn State, that have been on the losing end of parity.

I think this is Delaney's motivation, or at least part of it. This would favor Nebraska and the B1G greatly. While bringing college football one more giant step closer to being as boring as the NFL. I don't know if I agree with that. I believe that one of the many things that make College Football great are the perennial power schools. People want to see those match ups, and when those powers are irrelevant it takes away from the sport. In the NFL there are too many checks and balances to force parity.

If it's wrong, then the solution is for the person profiting to profit less; not for the amateur athlete to profit more. Adding money is not the way to fix this. Never will be. There's already too much of it and it is ruining the sport. Bingo. I never thought of this this way. No more profiting off the "likenesses". That means no more No. 3, 8, or 80 jerseys in the authentic shop. No more exact rosters and likenesses on the video games only without the names etc etc etc. Dun. Problem solved. There's plenty of other ways to make money other than profiting off college students likenesses. I think the point ZRod was making wasn't just restricted to profiting off of the likeness of the player. I think he was referring to ALL the money the University and Conference and NCAA make off of the popularity of that athlete's sport (i.e. College Football). You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you have a philosophical problem with the amount of money changing hands now in the amateur sport of college football. fine. I can understand that arguement, but let's then stop wringing our hands with greed when we learn how much more money the B1G network is making than everyone else. The players are major contributors to that cash.

I voted for Wiscy even though I would rather have Iowa rise to the occasion and make this border war worthwhile. The sad fact is that Iowa is a long way off, and the Badgers look like they are in it for the long haul. A game that means more for deciding the division race would be far more compelling.

I think this is Delaney's motivation, or at least part of it. This would favor Nebraska and the B1G greatly.

Hard to argue against any of these initiatives. All are pro-student-athlete, and I agree with that, at least on face value. Your sport is your full time job for most of these athletes, and very few of them get a big payoff after college. I had to take out large loans to pay for college that I am still paying off, but I was also allowed to work and make money while i went to school. This is also great pub for Delaney and the B1G, which I think may have been the point. Stipends and additional scholorship perks also favor larger schools with big athletic budgets. Hmmm.

Still waiting to hear from Rutgers and Maryland Fans... no lurkers ready to defend their fans' reputations?... <crickets>

Nice. From a brief google search it seems like there have been many such incidents when tOSU has visited "Happy" Valley. I think I remember stories of harassment when NU played there in 02 or 03 as well. Penn State seems to combine the rudeness of the Philladelphia/New York area with the agressive fan mentality found in Appalachia (WVU and VA Tech also have nice reputations as such) A perfect storm of sorts.