Your 4th Year in the Big Ten

[Foppa]

This thread...and so many more before it..

 

[SnowBigRed]

For those of you that think the state of Nebraska fits in better culturally than they did in the Big XII, to you I say, get out of the city. Other than Omaha/Lincoln (where you would fit in culturally with most bigger cities in the country), the rest of the state is culturally similar to the Kansases, Oklahomas, and even Texases of the world. Nebraska, geographically, is part of the Great Plains. The majority of the land in the state is agricultural ground, with most of that being rangeland for grazing. Does that sound more like Oklahoma or Ohio? You get west of Highway 81 and north of Hwy 30, and this state is culturally identical to Kansas/Oklahoma/most of Texas, whether that's a good or bad thing is debatable. If I have to hear another person truthfully think that Nebraska fits in culturally better with the BIG than the Big XII, I will drown a kitten.

 

I grew up in the country. I had a 400 acre field across the road to the north and a 200 acre field across the road to the west. I know very well what it's like to live in rural Nebraska, and I very much disagree with you on the culture being similar, especially throughout the Big XII.

 

Next to nothing in Texas is like Nebraska (I have family there). The culture is quite different, and I do not understand the pining for those schools - with the exception of A&M, who were good folks. I don't miss Texas, Texas Tech or Baylor one bit.

 

The only school with any kind of nostalgia would have to be Oklahoma. We steamrolled most everyone in the Big 8 for decades - the draw was an easy win. Their fans barely traveled here, and when we went to their stadiums there were more Nebraska fans there than Jayhawk fans, Cyclone fans, Wildcat fans.

 

Your understanding of the geography of Ohio is pretty poor. Ohio has a greater percentage of farmland (about 55%) than Nebraska (less than 40%). Outside of the large cities every single state has rural communities. Wisconsin is a major farming state. Iowa is a wash (Iowa/Iowa State). Illinois is a major farming state, rural areas outside of Chicago are nearly spot-on identical to Nebraska rural communities (I have family there).

 

Save the kitten. Do some research.

 

 

You're right. I concede.

 

However, I do suggest that you drive more than 20 miles west or north of Lincoln and then take a stroll through the BIG country side. At that point, let's see if you can make the case that Nebraska is more like Ohio than it is Texas.

[True2tRA]

 

 

 

You're right. I concede.

 

However, I do suggest that you drive more than 20 miles west or north of Lincoln and then take a stroll through the BIG country side. At that point, let's see if you can make the case that Nebraska is more like Ohio than it is Texas.

 

How exactly do you expect Knapps rascal scooter to travel 20 miles west or north of Lincoln and get through Big Country terrain? Geez, talk about insensitive.

[1HuskrFan]

So how are you guys feeling nowadays?

 

- Do you feel more at home in the Big Ten Conference? Yes

- Has your pining for the old Big XII Conference been remedied at all, or do you still miss those OU/KSU/MIZZ/CU match-ups. ONLY OU

- If the Big XII and the Big Ten made a clean deal for you to return to the Big XII tomorrow, would you be happy about it? H___L NO

- What is one perception about the conference that has changed since you've been a member? It isn't in any way a weak conference. I'd even go as far as to say, No team in any conference could come into the B1G and win the conference immediately. The weekly grind against 300 lb linemen on both sides of the ball takes it's toll even when you win. One game ie... a bowl game can be dealt with ( ask Bama how well Oklahoma handled the big boys), but not every week! It's comparable to playing a bowl game every week, with 4 days prep

- My least favorite school in the Big Ten is, Indiana, because, haven't played them yet.

- How do you feel about Maryland and Rutgers joining the conference. Who would you rather have seen? Not the upgrade one would expect from the B1G athletically, I can see real struggles for both teams, Nebraska fans assumed they would be able to play as well in the B1G, surprise, surprise, all new every week.

- What is your favorite B1G football stadium? Memorial Stadium Lincoln, not enough trips to decide which one is second,What impressed you about it?"There is no place like Nebraska" What was your least favorite? same as above

What changes have you seen to UNL? Have there been any notable improvements yet as far as improved academics, more infrastructure, better sports teams? Directly related to the move, I'm not certain, the new facilities were planned before the move, new coach right at the beginnning (well almost). Lots of factors involved in the improvement of the Basketball team, I'm fairly certain B1G play may have had influence on recruits. As reference earlier of not having full membership and what that entails.

- How has the move affected your brand? It's been a rough couple of years by your standards, but do you think the Nebraska brand is better off now that it would have been had you stayed in the Big XII? Are your struggles due to the new conference? The coaching? The players?The brand is what it is, I don't see much change either direction. It doesn't help that the B1G is misjudged on talent present, check out the NLF rosters, the B1G is well represented. I'll expound on an previous response, The B1G is Nebraska style football pre-Callahan. Nebraska had its difficulties in bowl games, for the same reasons B1G teams don't fare well in bowls. Bama plays big boy football against good teams they are very familiar with, when they went up against a B12 offense that was rocking, and a D that was relentless. Speed, (speed of the plays, certain players, the game, big boys get tried quickly at that speed) is what kills the big boy teams in bowls. Unless you're the 90"s Huskers and had both.

 

Have a great day. You have one as well, welcome aboard. You'll find a little to much pessimism for my taste, but the info is second to none.. I am however, a certified Scarlet&Cream Kool-Aid drinker.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

- Do you feel more at home in the Big Ten Conference?

 

Personally, I have always felt that the Big Ten wasn't much different than the Big XII. Obviously, the teams are different and it takes awhile to build up any bad blood between programs. But the trips to Ann Arbor, Madison, Columbus, State College, and East Lansing have all been a welcome change. I'm a relatively new Husker fan, so I don't have much nostalgia regarding Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, and Colorado.

 

- Has your pining for the old Big XII Conference been remedied at all, or do you still miss those OU/KSU/MIZZ/CU match-ups.

 

I miss playing Kansas State, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Missouri and wish that we would play them more; but we do have a home and home scheduled with both Colorado and Oklahoma in upcoming seasons.

 

- If the Big XII and the Big Ten made a clean deal for you to return to the Big XII tomorrow, would you be happy about it?

 

No. I'm happy with where Nebraska is right now and I think the Big Ten will be more beneficial to our school than the Big XII could ever be.

 

 

- My least favorite school in the Big Ten is _______________, because _________________.

 

Northwestern. It's the annual heart attack game and I would, for once, just like to see us whoop them.

 

 

- How do you feel about Maryland and Rutgers joining the conference. Who would you rather have seen?

 

I guess I'm indifferent about the new additions. They're not exactly athletic powerhouses, but Maryland has been good in basketball (women's in particular) and Rutgers has been good in football, so the opportunity is there for them to fit right into the conference. If I could have chosen from any of the potential teams, I would have loved to see the Big Ten go out and grab Kansas and Kansas State. Kansas for the basketball, Kansas State for football (sort of).

 

- What changes have you seen to UNL? Have there been any notable imporvements yet as far as improved academics, more infastructure, better sports teams?

 

I don't know whether or not CB3 would've had the go-ahead if we were in the Big XII. However, I've been inside that facility numerous times and there is top-of-the-line equipment and research taking place in East Stadium. I think the Big Ten has had a positive impact for our basketball team, but perhaps that could be due to a new arena and an awesome coaching staff.

 

- How has the move affected your brand? It's been a rough couple of years by your standards, but do you think the Nebraska brand is better off now that it would have been had you stayed in the Big XII? Are your struggles due to the new conference? The coaching? The players?

 

We won the same amount of games against the same quality of teams in the Big XII as we have in the Big Ten. So I think our brand has, at the very worst declined a little bit due to the perceived weakness of the Big Ten. But, with anything, the problems can be traced to coaches and players as well.

[HuskerNationNick]

The only thing that I feel we are missing, is a true rivalry. We don't play Oklahoma or Texas anymore. When I see rivalry games on tv, admittedly I get jealous. I miss having that feeling of a BIG day. A lot of people felt that Iowa wouldn't be our rivalry, as its kind of forced, and felt that Wisky would be that team. With the way things have shifted, I think that works more in the favor. Besides, I personally don't care to be rivals with a bunch of cry babies who don't want to play on Black Friday. Fans who came here when we first joined, talking about how they couldn't wait for something like this so they could kick our ass and blah blah blah... well, I don't think we have seen one, until the win they had over us this past season.

 

Anyway, I love it here, we just need a rival. A natural born, full of hatred and respect rivalry! Wisky will be that team, so here is to NU-UW being rivals sometime in our future (when we become more competitive)

[Landlord]

However, I do suggest that you drive more than 20 miles west or north of Lincoln and then take a stroll through the BIG country side. At that point, let's see if you can make the case that Nebraska is more like Ohio than it is Texas.

 

 

Wait I'm confused - I thought you were talking about culture, not geography?

 

Either way - I've taken three trips through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio in the last year, along with plenty of trips to Minnesota in my life. If it weren't for my knowledge of geography and the signs that signaled state borders, there's really not a ton that would give you any clue you were anywhere really different.

[Wisconsin33]

Very interesting!

 

I don't know if you buy it or not, but I can just tell that you guys have become much more accustomed to the Big Ten just by the way you write your posts on the subject. When you talk about teams in the conference, you do so with the undercurrent of knowing the story lines and be a part of it. Many of you have visited the campuses and interacted with several Big Ten fan bases, which by nature, are more abrasive as a whole than perhaps you were used to before.

 

You have context! You are a part of the story! A kid who was a freshmen at UNL in 2011 will be entering his/her senior year this season and has known nothing but Nebraska competing in the Big Ten! Think about that for a second! Crazy.

 

As far as a rival... it will come. I still think there is hope for Iowa. Iowa has been atypically sh**ty since NU came in. Usually Iowa is quite good and a huge pain in the ass. If you think our (Wisconsin) fans are awful, just wait until Iowa gets a team that they think is good. They will be insufferable, and you will learn to hate them, trust me. I haven't had to deal with it much since 2010 (awesome UW/Iowa game) when they were decent, but I know they will right the sh**ty ship sooner or later.

 

For UW and NU... I'm really not sure. Obviously Wisconsin's main rival is Minnesota. I personally like to save term "rivalry" for an exclusive bilateral series between two schools, but if things keep up the way they have, who knows? I personally hate MSU more than any other team because of our series over the past couple of years (basketball has also added to it), but before 2009, I thought MSU was an automatic win and I could have cared less about them. If we keep on playing very close matches that are of high significance, the rivalry will continue to grow, no doubt about it.

 

We at Wisconsin very much like to play against highly touted conference teams at home and often beat them in the match-up. In 2011, when everyone was making such a big deal out of Nebraska this, Nebraska that.... their fans are going to invade Camp Randall...it was pushing all the right buttons of the Wisconsin psyche, and the result was the fan interaction that you experienced. Defensive? Yes. Over the top? Yes. Heck, we've got remnants of "little guy syndrome" that still lingers over our culture from the past when we used to get invaded by teams and get our asses pounded.

 

Camp Randall is, by nature, not a happy place for visiting fans- especially for big match-ups. That fact was coupled with months of media hype advertising a Cornhusker invasion and a "Sea of Black" and this being Nebraska's big burly entrance into the conference. Plus it was night game. Plus we had just acquired Russell Wilson. Plus our team was pretty darn good that year.

 

Will it be a rivalry? I don't know! But it's been a damn fine series so far!