Steven M. Sipple: We can’t get enough of expansion talk

[HuskerGBR]

Please pass the Red Bull.

 

Just finished my 12-hour shift at the Lincoln airport. Big Ten commish Jim Delany should be arriving soon to formally invite Nebraska into his TV network, er, conference. A fleet of black SUVs with tinted windows awaits Delany and crew.

 

Just kidding. But get used to the anticipation. And get used to anonymous sources and various forms of media claiming Big Ten expansion is a done deal and all that’s left is a monumental news conference. More such reports to come.

 

Until then, get used to reports like the one on Monday that said the Big Ten extended offers to four schools, including Nebraska and Notre Dame (if the Irish join, an offer reportedly would be made to one other school, making it a 16-team league). UNL’s communications office shot down the report, saying in part, “The University of Nebraska has not been offered any opportunity to move from the Big 12. We remain committed to the success of the Big 12 Conference.”

 

A lot of folks are extremely adept at dissecting news releases. I’m not cut out that way. But an attorney friend described UNL’s prepared statement as “a textbook non-denial denial.”

 

The news release perhaps went a bit too far by saying, “Until the Big (Ten) Conference makes and announces its decision on expansion, the University of Nebraska will have no further comment and we do not intend to continue to respond further to questions or speculations on this subject.”

 

One could read UNL’s statement a few ways, including, “OK, the Big Ten’s going to expand, discussions with us are taking place, so just sit tight until the details are finalized.”

 

Or maybe I’m reading too much into it.

 

Thing is, we’ll keep reading tea leaves because we can’t get enough of this stuff. It sucks you in. It’s about money. It’s about power. It’s prestige. It’s about TV. Americans love the remote control.

 

College football consumes millions upon millions of sports fans, and it may be on the cusp of colossal change with the Big Ten leading the way. Of course, strange as it may sound, it remains possible there’ll be no change at all.

 

Delany, arguably the most powerful figure in college sports, typically swings for the fence. But I can’t help but wonder if his bosses, the presidents and chancellors in the tradition-laden Big Ten, will want to be directly responsible for obliterating college football as we know it.

 

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne and chancellor Harvey Perlman move forward with open minds. Same goes for most Husker fans, it seems. As Nebraskans, we tend to be a little insecure. It’s almost part of our culture. Many Husker fans seem to feel Big Red hasn’t received the respect it deserves from the Big 12. Perhaps they’d feel more wanted if the Big Ten extended an invitation.

 

Perhaps being at the forefront of cataclysmic change in college athletics would reaffirm, in the minds of many, Nebraska’s status as a traditional football power.

 

This much is certain: It’d be one heck of a news conference. Call me when they set the time.

Link

[HuskerGBR]

I swear Sipple reads Huskerboard. The bolded part was already said by a few of you...that is why this place rocks

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Here is a video discussion of Sipple and Christopherson hashing out the issue:

 

http://www.journalstar.com/app/vmix/media/?section=video&id=13577111&collection_id=8608

 

One interesting point would be the Nebraska-Iowa game becoming the Thanksgiving weekend game....

[Nexus]

Here is a video discussion of Sipple and Christopherson hashing out the issue:

 

http://www.journalst...lection_id=8608

 

One interesting point would be the Nebraska-Iowa game becoming the Thanksgiving weekend game....

 

That would work out nicely if you think about it. It'd be a shorter trip to Iowa City than Boulder on Thanksgiving weekend.