Neb Standing In Conference Realignment - our best fit

[TGHusker]

Just brainstorming here  - which can be dangerous - don't destroy me for thinking out loud here - I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.   I've always been supportive of the move to

the Big 10.  This post isn't a post saying we should go back to the Big 12 but I give reasons why it might be a good option in today's reality.  Much has changed since 2012.

 

We left the Big 12 to join the Big 10 for obvious reasons in 2012. 

1. At the time there was no security - half the league was looking to join the Pac 12.  We did the right thing in 2012 based on the reality at that time. 

2. It has been great financially for us.  Big 12 still cannot match the financial benefits we have in the Big 10. 

3. Greater TV exposure

4. Better for our academics

 

 

HERE COMES THE "BUT MONKEY" - the argument for leaving the Big 10:   But today's realities have changed. 

1.  The Big 10 has become a huge nationwide conference which makes it harder to have true rivals. 

2. The conference seems to be the most scandal filled conference of them all. 

3.  The Big 12 has survived and has gotten stronger.  

4.  The Big 10 seems to have a collective chip on their shoulders against Neb.

5. Outside of volleyball, where has Nebraska excelled from a competitive point of view? 

6. It seems that the new reality is one in which we are the little brother to programs found in better recruiting areas and with more money - OSU, Michigan, PSU, USC, UCLA and to a lesser extent Oregon and Wash.   

 

For financial reasons - I know the boat has floated and won't be reversed.  The money is the reason to stay and the reason we won't leave.  It takes a lot of money to compete in modern day college football and athletics as a whole. 

 

Why today's Big 12 would be a better fit: 

1. From a competitive point of view, it seems that we would have had a better opportunity to reach the playoffs if we were in the Big 12 - even though there will be fewer teams selected in comparison to the Big 10 & SEC. 

2. We'd be playing with other schools that have the same recruiting disadvantages that we have.

3. We would be the only 'blueblood' program in the Big 12, - thus hold the image as 'the premier program in the conference. In the Big 10 we are one of many 'blueblood" schools. 

4. Our tradition would give us recruiting advantages over the other Big 12 programs. 

5.  Rivalry:  It is easier to have true rivalries with neighbors.  

6.  Better to be the big fish in a 'smaller' conference than a middle to small size fish in the big conference

 

The best Option:

1. The Rhule turns us into a winner again whereby in 4-5 years, we can compete wt the other bluebloods for the Big 10 championship and be competitive again in the NC race..  

 

What I hope happens if the best option above doesn't occur: 

I hope P5 football programs will break from the NCAA and form a league similar to the  NFL.   Nebraska could then be placed in a division and conference which is more regional in scope.  Nebraska, the Iowa schools, Kansas schools, Okla schools, Mo, Minnesota, and Wisc for example being grouped to together in the Midwest region.   OU would have a recruiting advantage but outside of that we would be pretty competitive with everyone else from a recruiting standpoint.  Neb, Iowa, ISU, Mn, Wisc, KS, KSU, OU, OkState, Missouri 

All of this would help with recruiting and also help the budget as travel expenses would be cut.  As it stands right now, Nebraska is fortunate to be in the 'middle' geographically in the Big 10.  The costs to travel will still go up substantially as we start traveling to the west coast.   While it is great to play programs like USC and UCLA - we really don't have much in common with them and the competitive juices just isn't the same as playing one of our regional rivals.  

 

This is my brainstorm.   If you could design a college football alignment of the future, what would it look like?

[tyrone_biggums]

11 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

3.  The Big 12 has survived and has gotten stronger.  

4.  The Big 10 seems to have a collective chip on their shoulders against Neb.

I would say it's treading water at best strength wise. It's kind of the place where you get demoted to from the old P5 or promoted to from the G5. I mean UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati? The big 12 is a basketball conference now. I think we are heading towards the Power 2 (think AFC/NFC) for football soon enough and we (Nebraska) are part of that.
I think once the Pac 12 schools are in we won't be the weird outlier, we'll be a lot more similar to the old Big 10 than the newbies. We've formed rivalries and shared history with the other Big 10 west schools, we just don't like what side of the history we are on there. Hopefully it changes!

 

My pipe dream is they institute a draft/salary cap for talent like the NFL--it's what keeps the NFL interesting. 
 

18 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

5. Outside of volleyball, where has Nebraska excelled from a competitive point of view? 

baseball hasn't been bad? 

[Mavric]

49 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

3.  The Big 12 has survived and has gotten stronger.  

 

 

[Crusader Husker]

I can't believe I am saying this, 

 

With Texas gone, I could go back to the Big 12, but

 

I would rather stay in the B1G and see what we can do in the next 5 years.

[Hilltop]

1 hour ago, tyrone_biggums said:

 I think we are heading towards the Power 2 (think AFC/NFC) for football soon enough and we (Nebraska) are part of that.

Agree.  This, and the ever growing money gap created by this, make it absolutely insane to ever consider leaving.  There isn't a team in the Big 12, Pac 12, ACC or any other conference that doesn't want to join the B1G or the SEC.  The only one perceived to be holding out right now is ND.  I believe they are just waiting for the right deal.     

[gobiggergoredder]

Any Big12 team that got an invite to the B1G couldn’t say yes fast enough.

[GISker]

K-State, KU, Okie State are in an enviable position right now; even though the Big xii may have only one representative in the ‘Playoffs’, there programs are in a position to be able to consistently take advantage of the landscape. If we were in the league yet, we would be ‘Top Dog’ and the team to beat for conference C-Ship, every year. Give me that over the money and looking at 5 to 10 years to possibly be relevant in the ‘New’ Big X

[Toe]

[ColoradoHusk]

6 hours ago, Toe said:

No kidding. I don’t know why people want to take a step back, just because NU isn’t having success in the Big Ten. It’s not even near the same Big 12 which NU would be going back to. The future Big 12 is closer to the Mountain West than it is the Big Ten.

 

People think about the Big 12 or another conference, just like people call for the backup QB to be played. They see NU not playing well in the current situation, so they think about the “other possibility” and automatically assume that would be better. 

[GSG]

8 hours ago, GISker said:

K-State, KU, Okie State are in an enviable position right now; even though the Big xii may have only one representative in the ‘Playoffs’, there programs are in a position to be able to consistently take advantage of the landscape. If we were in the league yet, we would be ‘Top Dog’ and the team to beat for conference C-Ship, every year. Give me that over the money and looking at 5 to 10 years to possibly be relevant in the ‘New’ Big X

 

[TGHusker]

16 hours ago, Mavric said:

 

 

By stronger - I don't mean that they have SEC/Big 10 type teams.  I meant they were on the verge of collapse and they found a way to reinvent themselves even after Texas and OU decided to leave. They got stronger and the Pac 12 collapsed. 

[gobiggergoredder]

2 hours ago, ColoradoHusk said:

No kidding. I don’t know why people want to take a step back, just because NU isn’t having success in the Big Ten. It’s not even near the same Big 12 which NU would be going back to. The future Big 12 is closer to the Mountain West than it is the Big Ten.

 

People think about the Big 12 or another conference, just like people call for the backup QB to be played. They see NU not playing well in the current situation, so they think about the “other possibility” and automatically assume that would be better. 

What we should really be focusing on to turn the corner is getting rid of Adidas.  Possibly what music is played in the stadium as well.

[knapplc]

[SoDak]

1 hour ago, TGHusker said:

By stronger - I don't mean that they have SEC/Big 10 type teams.  I meant they were on the verge of collapse and they found a way to reinvent themselves even after Texas and OU decided to leave. They got stronger and the Pac 12 collapsed. 

The Big 12 is stable because nobody wants the teams that are there.  It is a second tier conference. As soon as someone figures out how to get around the ACC GoR  the SEC/B1G will pick up all the valuable teams from that conference and there will be 2 power conferences.  Either the ACC or the B12 will raid the other conference of the remaining okay teams and the other conference will go the way of the PAC.  There will be the Power 2, a Group of 5, and the ACC/B12 somewhere between those 2.

[Nebfanatic]

If you aren't in the B1G or the SEC you can kiss any hope of having a great football program goodbye