Tougher Conference ?

[Spartness]

I could be totally wrong, but it seems like we will enter the Big 10 with a definite speed advantage over every team on our schedule except perhaps OSU. But I admit I haven't done a lot of homework on the Big 10 teams, so perhaps I'm off a little. If I'm wrong ... by how much? Or if I'm right ... by how much?

[iowahusker09]

I could be totally wrong, but it seems like we will enter the Big 10 with a definite speed advantage over every team on our schedule except perhaps OSU. But I admit I haven't done a lot of homework on the Big 10 teams, so perhaps I'm off a little. If I'm wrong ... by how much? Or if I'm right ... by how much?

 

We will have the fastest defense in the big 10. Assuming Martinez retains the starting role we will be in the top tier offensively (simply speaking speed, not production)

[The Dude]

I could be totally wrong, but it seems like we will enter the Big 10 with a definite speed advantage over every team on our schedule except perhaps OSU. But I admit I haven't done a lot of homework on the Big 10 teams, so perhaps I'm off a little. If I'm wrong ... by how much? Or if I'm right ... by how much?

You're dead on.

[Creed]

As someone said before, it is cyclical. I agree the Big 12 was more solid from 2005ish to 2009 with Texas, OU, Missouri, TT, KU, NU, OSU being very respectable combined with Penn St. Mich (Big 10 traditional power teams) being down. Head to head in the bowls in 2010 it was 2-1 Big 10 with TT hanging on to a W vs NW and they gave up like 38 points to a NW team without its QB.

 

It is also easy to think the Big 10 sucks since the media and all SEC fans take a shyte on Big 10 at every chance for some loses on the big stage. OSU loses UF - no getting around that they got killed. Next year, it was a decent but not great OSU team that backed its way into the NCG and lost to a LSU team that was #1 for most of the year. Also, Penn St and Mich had embarrasing losses to (1 loss) USC teams in the Rose Bowl in LA. Many consider the USC teams that year to be the best in the nation despite their mid-season loss to a PAC 10 team. The media and SEC forgets that the Big 10 overall was .500 against the SEC in the BCS era in bowl games, which are played in the SEC teams backyard. The Big 10 also has the toughest bowl alignments than any other conference. Big 10 has no ACC, Big East, Conf USA bowl alignments like the other BCS conferences have.

 

With Nebraska and if Mich and Penn State get back to norm and if OSU doesn't get slammed, Big 10 will rival the SEC. Also with Nebraska the bowl seedings will be better against the SEC. For example, instead of Mich State playing Alabama, it would be Nebraska vs Alabama and Iowa playing Florida instead of Penn State.

[roksmith]

My opinion of the Big12 recently has been a high powered offense with little to no defense.. but that's from someone who didn't watch many games.. just caught the scores. The Big10 is more of a defense first conference.. hold the other guys to under 3 TDs and win sort of thing.

 

 

 

Here is a primer for you on the Big Ten schools for those of you who haven't seen much Big10 football:

 

Indiana - Don't expect much year in and year out, sometimes they sneak in a decent athlete that can cause concern, but generally the doormat of the conference. Usually rely on a passing game which doesn't work well in the conference.

 

Minnesota - A little better than Indiana because they usually have a decent running game, but generally no passing game to even things out.

 

Purdue - They are a little tricky because they have some up years. Generally they will be sub .500 in the conference.. but they do pull off the upset occasionally.

 

Northwestern - Generally not going to win a lot of conference games, but they always play tougher than you expect them to. Experimented with the stupid spread which caught a few teams off guard for a bit, but never works long term in the Big10.

 

Michigan - Expect them to take a year or two to get back.. but now that they finally got rid of Rich-Rod, expect them to regain elite status at some point. Usually a good combination of power and speed, but their recent experiment was a huge failure and will take some time to recover from.

 

Penn State - Down a bit recently, but don't ever count them out. JoPa knows how to recruit and they always have the ability to beat anyone.

 

Illinois - One word for them.. sneaky. They usually have a mobile quarterback and that always causes issue. They can jump up and bite you when you aren't paying attention.

 

Iowa - The consummate under achiever. For some reason they just can't ever live up to expectations. But they are always a tough game.

 

Michigan State - The mid-season collapse team. Better in recent years, but always seem to start like world beaters then perform patented Sparty Choke at some point in the season and self destruct.

 

Wisconsin - Expect to come out of this game beat up. Probably the most physical team in the league... and least classy fans IMHO.

 

Ohio State - Don't expect any wins here All kidding aside, we'll see how this Tressel thing works out.. but I think you probably know what to expect from OSU. Mobile Quarterback (in recent years and near future). Decent, but not overpowering backs, and just enough team speed to make most teams underestimate. Always a top ranked defense.

[bshirt]

My opinion of the Big12 recently has been a high powered offense with little to no defense.. but that's from someone who didn't watch many games.. just caught the scores. The Big10 is more of a defense first conference.. hold the other guys to under 3 TDs and win sort of thing.

 

 

 

Here is a primer for you on the Big Ten schools for those of you who haven't seen much Big10 football:

 

Indiana - Don't expect much year in and year out, sometimes they sneak in a decent athlete that can cause concern, but generally the doormat of the conference. Usually rely on a passing game which doesn't work well in the conference.

 

Minnesota - A little better than Indiana because they usually have a decent running game, but generally no passing game to even things out.

 

Purdue - They are a little tricky because they have some up years. Generally they will be sub .500 in the conference.. but they do pull off the upset occasionally.

 

Northwestern - Generally not going to win a lot of conference games, but they always play tougher than you expect them to. Experimented with the stupid spread which caught a few teams off guard for a bit, but never works long term in the Big10.

 

Michigan - Expect them to take a year or two to get back.. but now that they finally got rid of Rich-Rod, expect them to regain elite status at some point. Usually a good combination of power and speed, but their recent experiment was a huge failure and will take some time to recover from.

 

Penn State - Down a bit recently, but don't ever count them out. JoPa knows how to recruit and they always have the ability to beat anyone.

 

Illinois - One word for them.. sneaky. They usually have a mobile quarterback and that always causes issue. They can jump up and bite you when you aren't paying attention.

 

Iowa - The consummate under achiever. For some reason they just can't ever live up to expectations. But they are always a tough game.

 

Michigan State - The mid-season collapse team. Better in recent years, but always seem to start like world beaters then perform patented Sparty Choke at some point in the season and self destruct.

 

Wisconsin - Expect to come out of this game beat up. Probably the most physical team in the league... and least classy fans IMHO.

 

Ohio State - Don't expect any wins here All kidding aside, we'll see how this Tressel thing works out.. but I think you probably know what to expect from OSU. Mobile Quarterback (in recent years and near future). Decent, but not overpowering backs, and just enough team speed to make most teams underestimate. Always a top ranked defense.

 

That sounds about right to me.

 

I don't know if Michigan is going to rebound as quickly as you state. The RR experiment was a titantic failure and may take awhile to rebuild. But who knows? It'll be fun!

[Creed]

My opinion of the Big12 recently has been a high powered offense with little to no defense.. but that's from someone who didn't watch many games.. just caught the scores. The Big10 is more of a defense first conference.. hold the other guys to under 3 TDs and win sort of thing.

 

 

 

Here is a primer for you on the Big Ten schools for those of you who haven't seen much Big10 football:

 

Indiana - Don't expect much year in and year out, sometimes they sneak in a decent athlete that can cause concern, but generally the doormat of the conference. Usually rely on a passing game which doesn't work well in the conference.

 

Minnesota - A little better than Indiana because they usually have a decent running game, but generally no passing game to even things out.

 

Purdue - They are a little tricky because they have some up years. Generally they will be sub .500 in the conference.. but they do pull off the upset occasionally.

 

Northwestern - Generally not going to win a lot of conference games, but they always play tougher than you expect them to. Experimented with the stupid spread which caught a few teams off guard for a bit, but never works long term in the Big10.

 

Michigan - Expect them to take a year or two to get back.. but now that they finally got rid of Rich-Rod, expect them to regain elite status at some point. Usually a good combination of power and speed, but their recent experiment was a huge failure and will take some time to recover from.

 

Penn State - Down a bit recently, but don't ever count them out. JoPa knows how to recruit and they always have the ability to beat anyone.

 

Illinois - One word for them.. sneaky. They usually have a mobile quarterback and that always causes issue. They can jump up and bite you when you aren't paying attention.

 

Iowa - The consummate under achiever. For some reason they just can't ever live up to expectations. But they are always a tough game.

 

Michigan State - The mid-season collapse team. Better in recent years, but always seem to start like world beaters then perform patented Sparty Choke at some point in the season and self destruct.

 

Wisconsin - Expect to come out of this game beat up. Probably the most physical team in the league... and least classy fans IMHO.

 

Ohio State - Don't expect any wins here All kidding aside, we'll see how this Tressel thing works out.. but I think you probably know what to expect from OSU. Mobile Quarterback (in recent years and near future). Decent, but not overpowering backs, and just enough team speed to make most teams underestimate. Always a top ranked defense.

 

That sounds about right to me.

 

I don't know if Michigan is going to rebound as quickly as you state. The RR experiment was a titantic failure and may take awhile to rebuild. But who knows? It'll be fun!

 

 

Regarding Michigan - One thing working against Nebraska is that they get Michigan late in the year and at the Big House. Michigan might be a different team by then. Also, who knows if Nebraska's tough (and new) schedule takes a toll on them by the end of the year. If this game is early in the sseason, then Nebraska wins easily. Michigan was terrible last year.

[huskered17]

Michigan reminds me of what we went through with BC and Coz. I thought Michigan had a darn good offense, but as with us a bad,bad defense coordinator. We seem to have bounced back fairly quickly, and if their new coach can build a team as well as he did at his last school, with the recruits Michigan can bring in. I would expect to see that program up and running like days of old very soon. By the end of the year, they could be a decent opponent.

What I was wondering about is how well did the big-12 stack up to the B1G in the rest of the team sports. Our women's volley ball which other then Texas, was pretty much head and shoulders above the rest of the conference. Penn St seems to have built a good program as well Minn and a couple of others. But basketball, baseball, wrestling ,swimming, tennis, track ect ect can we hold our own? Or is the B1G much better overall than the big-12 in those team sports.

 

GBR!!!

[junior4949]

It's pretty difficult to say which conference is better. However, in the past ten years I'd take the Big 12 Conference Champ most of the time over the Big 10 Champ. At the end of the day, both the Big 10 and the Big 12 are chasing the SEC. The one thing I don't like about joining the Big 10 is the fact of the major conferences, it's the only one that doesn't have a recruiting hotbed. The Pac 12 or whatever they're calling themselves now has California. The Big 12 has Texas. The SEC has Florida. The biggest question I have with regards to joining the Big 10 is whether our speed and athleticism rises up the rest of the Big 10 play or whether the Big 10 power lowers down our eventual speed, athleticism, and play.

[iowahusker09]

It's pretty difficult to say which conference is better. However, in the past ten years I'd take the Big 12 Conference Champ most of the time over the Big 10 Champ. At the end of the day, both the Big 10 and the Big 12 are chasing the SEC. The one thing I don't like about joining the Big 10 is the fact of the major conferences, it's the only one that doesn't have a recruiting hotbed. The Pac 12 or whatever they're calling themselves now has California. The Big 12 has Texas. The SEC has Florida. The biggest question I have with regards to joining the Big 10 is whether our speed and athleticism rises up the rest of the Big 10 play or whether the Big 10 power lowers down our eventual speed, athleticism, and play.

 

Which is exactly why recruiting from texas is so important to us. no other school in the big ten can pull more than the occasional guy from there. But its going to be harder for us now because we wont be playing four games a year in texas like we did before. so not only are we not playing games close to the recruits family, but unless we become a national power we will slowly lose name recognition there.

[Creed]

It's pretty difficult to say which conference is better. However, in the past ten years I'd take the Big 12 Conference Champ most of the time over the Big 10 Champ. At the end of the day, both the Big 10 and the Big 12 are chasing the SEC. The one thing I don't like about joining the Big 10 is the fact of the major conferences, it's the only one that doesn't have a recruiting hotbed. The Pac 12 or whatever they're calling themselves now has California. The Big 12 has Texas. The SEC has Florida. The biggest question I have with regards to joining the Big 10 is whether our speed and athleticism rises up the rest of the Big 10 play or whether the Big 10 power lowers down our eventual speed, athleticism, and play.

 

Most Big 10 schools get a few players from Florida and other SE states. Iowa seems to hit Texas more than anyone else. Penn State covers east coast - NJ, MD, VA. Michigan is pretty much all over the board.

 

It seems like all teams have 3-4 starters from Ohio which are the kids OSU passed on. I see Neb going into Ohio more. Ohio State has been losing more studs to SEC and other big time schools lately. Jordan Hicks to Texas 2 years ago. Spencer Ware to LSU last year. Trey Depriest to Alabama and big OL kids from Cleveland Glenville to USC this year.

[iowahusker09]

It's pretty difficult to say which conference is better. However, in the past ten years I'd take the Big 12 Conference Champ most of the time over the Big 10 Champ. At the end of the day, both the Big 10 and the Big 12 are chasing the SEC. The one thing I don't like about joining the Big 10 is the fact of the major conferences, it's the only one that doesn't have a recruiting hotbed. The Pac 12 or whatever they're calling themselves now has California. The Big 12 has Texas. The SEC has Florida. The biggest question I have with regards to joining the Big 10 is whether our speed and athleticism rises up the rest of the Big 10 play or whether the Big 10 power lowers down our eventual speed, athleticism, and play.

 

Most Big 10 schools get a few players from Florida and other SE states. Iowa seems to hit Texas more than anyone else. Penn State covers east coast - NJ, MD, VA. Michigan is pretty much all over the board.

 

It seems like all teams have 3-4 starters from Ohio which are the kids OSU passed on. I see Neb going into Ohio more. Ohio State has been losing more studs to SEC and other big time schools lately. Jordan Hicks to Texas 2 years ago. Spencer Ware to LSU last year. Trey Depriest to Alabama and big OL kids from Cleveland Glenville to USC this year.

 

 

Bo has to have some major coaching ties in Ohio. We could do some damage there

[junior4949]

It's pretty difficult to say which conference is better. However, in the past ten years I'd take the Big 12 Conference Champ most of the time over the Big 10 Champ. At the end of the day, both the Big 10 and the Big 12 are chasing the SEC. The one thing I don't like about joining the Big 10 is the fact of the major conferences, it's the only one that doesn't have a recruiting hotbed. The Pac 12 or whatever they're calling themselves now has California. The Big 12 has Texas. The SEC has Florida. The biggest question I have with regards to joining the Big 10 is whether our speed and athleticism rises up the rest of the Big 10 play or whether the Big 10 power lowers down our eventual speed, athleticism, and play.

 

Most Big 10 schools get a few players from Florida and other SE states. Iowa seems to hit Texas more than anyone else. Penn State covers east coast - NJ, MD, VA. Michigan is pretty much all over the board.

 

It seems like all teams have 3-4 starters from Ohio which are the kids OSU passed on. I see Neb going into Ohio more. Ohio State has been losing more studs to SEC and other big time schools lately. Jordan Hicks to Texas 2 years ago. Spencer Ware to LSU last year. Trey Depriest to Alabama and big OL kids from Cleveland Glenville to USC this year.

 

 

Aside from Ohio State, who really has been much of a contender in the Big 10? While I don't know whether we'll lose our recruiting edge in Texas, I do know that the door to recruiting in Ohio being opened isn't nearly as great as the door that might be shutting in Texas.

[Creed]

 

 

Aside from Ohio State, who really has been much of a contender in the Big 10? While I don't know whether we'll lose our recruiting edge in Texas, I do know that the door to recruiting in Ohio being opened isn't nearly as great as the door that might be shutting in Texas.

 

Agreed to your last comment. It is a numbers game. I heard on a radio show once that the State of Texas has like 180,000 kids playing high school football. California had like 80K and Florida had 30-something. I could be off on those numbers but they are close. I would imagine Ohio's would be equivalent or maybe less than Florida's.

[NUance]

It's all cyclical. B12 was the stronger conference for a while but B10 was stronger at times. B10 has less doormats IMO. Never fails that Indiana or northwestern beats the conference "power" year in and year out.

 

Either way, stability is what it is all about. I'm grateful to say I welcome all challenges that the future brings.

 

Northwestern = Baylor = Vanderbilt

 

They're like the brainiac kid with pop-bottle lens glasses who always gets picked last in sandlot baseball.