Do you miss the Big 12?
- Thread starter Ostateman
- Start date
The Duke
All-Conference
I sincerely miss the Big 8.
I do not miss the Big 12.
The Big 10 has been ok but not great. Academically & financially it was a tremendous upgrade for Nebraska. However from a football standpoint the Big8/Big12 was a probably a better footprint for Nebraska for both the program as a whole and for our fans. Traveling for our fans was easier. There was the century long history with so many of those teams. We were one of the big-dogs at the table, but now as the program continues to slip we are "just one 1-of-14," and part of this is our own fault.
THE FUTURE
I would love to see either the Big Ten expand and add Oklahoma & Kansas to create the BIG-16 with two 8 team divisions. <---much more likely to happen
OR
...and this is a pipe dream that's NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN...but its fun to dream
Create a new Big 8 conference consisting of all central time zone, middle of the country teams...WITHOUT TEXAS:
Arkansas
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas St
Missouri
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
I do not miss the Big 12.
The Big 10 has been ok but not great. Academically & financially it was a tremendous upgrade for Nebraska. However from a football standpoint the Big8/Big12 was a probably a better footprint for Nebraska for both the program as a whole and for our fans. Traveling for our fans was easier. There was the century long history with so many of those teams. We were one of the big-dogs at the table, but now as the program continues to slip we are "just one 1-of-14," and part of this is our own fault.
THE FUTURE
I would love to see either the Big Ten expand and add Oklahoma & Kansas to create the BIG-16 with two 8 team divisions. <---much more likely to happen
OR
...and this is a pipe dream that's NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN...but its fun to dream
Create a new Big 8 conference consisting of all central time zone, middle of the country teams...WITHOUT TEXAS:
Arkansas
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas St
Missouri
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
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BoNeyard
All-Conference
What is one of the great things about college football is the tradition, rivalries, pageantry, history, etc. and that is what I miss about the Big 12. I don't necessarily miss being in that conference, but I do miss the history that came with Nebraska being in the Big 12/8. We are still too new in the B1G that I don't get the same inclusion with the conference as I did with the Big12. But I understand as years go on, season after season, tradition starts to build and Nebraska starts to be more involved within the historical story of the Big Ten Conference.
Right now the only team I feel we have any sort of rivalry with is Wisconsin. It feels Nebraska is isolated from much of the conference and I still forget that Maryland and Rutgers are in the Big Ten. All this will become more natural with time and eventually, years from now, the Big Ten will feel like home for Nebraska.
Right now the only team I feel we have any sort of rivalry with is Wisconsin. It feels Nebraska is isolated from much of the conference and I still forget that Maryland and Rutgers are in the Big Ten. All this will become more natural with time and eventually, years from now, the Big Ten will feel like home for Nebraska.
Kiyoat Husker
All-Conference
year----record-----final AP
1986---12-0--------#1 (consensus national champ)
1987----8-4
1988----5-6
1989----8-3-1-------#15
1990----9-3----------#11
1991---11-2---------#3
1992----7-5----------#24
(joined Big Ten)
1993---10-2---------#8
1994---12-0---------#2 (Big Ten Champs)
1995----9-3----------#13
1996---11-2---------#7
1997----9-3----------#16
1998----9-3----------#17
1999---10-3---------#11
2000----5-7
2001----5-6
I'm not sure you are remembering things correctly. Penn State was better than so-so when they joined the conference. Nebraska was better, but so-so is a bit of a stretch. I'd gladly take their records for the first 7 years in the conference right now.
Hayseed
All-American
Now that you brought this up, I agree with the fans who miss the Big 8 and wish we would've expanded without the old Southwest Conference,..............
but I was thinking that the huge Husker fan base in Arizona, California, and Washington State plus the weather actually may make us a better fit in the Pac 12. Recruiting would be much better for football and baseball.....basketball would be a wash.....volleyball a slight improvement....and going all the way to the west coast makes just as much and probably more sense than going all the way east.
but I was thinking that the huge Husker fan base in Arizona, California, and Washington State plus the weather actually may make us a better fit in the Pac 12. Recruiting would be much better for football and baseball.....basketball would be a wash.....volleyball a slight improvement....and going all the way to the west coast makes just as much and probably more sense than going all the way east.
They won 1 Big 10 title. Have never played for a national title since. I would say that they had some success, but overall they haven't been the same program since joining. In those years, Michigan and Ohio St were the only viable Big 10 teams. Thats when the Big 10 was irrelevant.
For the record, there records in the first few years are eerily the same as our was........9-10 wins. Then you see the decline.
For the record, there records in the first few years are eerily the same as our was........9-10 wins. Then you see the decline.
Kiyoat Husker
All-Conference
Okay, but your point was that the B1G was only interested in Penn State because they were mediocre, and wouldn't consider Nebraska because we were too good. I doubt Nebraska would have even considered changing conferences at that time. The Big Ten knew it, and never asked. PSU was an independent, and a damn good addition. Conspiracy theory debunked.
Kiyoat Husker
All-Conference
You seriously don't know all of the many reasons Nebraska left the Big XII?
Here's a refresher:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/buckyville/big-10-expansion-timeline-from-a-nebraska-perspect-t32430.html
1. Nebraska and Osborne never wanted to form the Big XII, but was outvoted.
2. Texas didn't like the Big 8's rules, and decided to change them. Especially the partial qualifiers, which benefited Nebraska. Once again, Nebraska was outvoted.
3. Oklahoma abandoned their annual season-ending game with Nebraska in the new divisional structure. This could have been protected, but Nebraska was outvoted.
4. Texas wanted the league offices and title game to move permanently to Texas. Nebraska disagreed and was outvoted.
(basically NU was treated like a little b!tch by UT, despite their status, and the rest of the conference ate it up)
fast forward
5. The Big Ten Network was formed, and was highly successful $$$$$ - The Commissioner announces. possible Big Ten expansion.
6. This sends panic through the college football world, as speculation is rampant.
7. Missouri's Gov. speaks publicly about wanting to join, angering the Big XII.
8. the Pac-10 announces they are also in the market for expansion. Colorado is rumored to be a target.
9. The Pac meet secretly with 4 or 6 Big XII south schools, and the rumor of it comes out on OrangeBlood.com
10. Dan Beebe and Texas attempt to back Nebraska into a corner to force them to commit to the conference (as they themselves will not do). Osborne calls their bluff.
11. Osborne & Perlman meet with Delaney. He agrees to move up the timeline and accepts the application.
(at the end of the day it was about stability and respect. The upgrade in finances and educational opportunities was a bonus)
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southernoregonhusker
Starter
Bingo! Texas, OK, Okie State, aTm were on their way to the Pac 10 leaving us to fend for ourselves with other schools that nobody really wanted. So we took the initiative and applied to the B1G. A terrific move by us. Can you imagine us in a league with K-State, Kansas, Iowa State and some other smaller school cobbled together to form a conference? Those schools were ready to hose us big time, but Texas wouldn't give up the Schlonghorn Network and the Pac 10 told them to pound sand (and the blue bloods didn't want Texas Tech). Now Texas fans have the gall to call us traitors?!?!
Nebraska Alum
Four-Star Recruit
Ostateman said:
Hahahaha, hell no! Dumping the whorns and joining the Big Ten has easily been Nebraska's biggest sports victory in the 21st century. I'd rather see us join the MAC than return to the Texas-10 conference.
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Landlord
Banned
1.) You're backpedaling
2.) Your recollection of history is.....well, wrong.
First of all, part of the reason Penn State never played for a national title since joining the Big Ten was because... they joined the Big Ten. They won the league in their second year, and were ranked #2, but because of that Big Ten thing, they played #12 Oregon in the Rose Bowl instead of playing.....us. Second of all, if anything PSU was better after joining the Big Ten. In their seven years PRIOR to joining the conference, they had 3 top 15 finishes. In their seven years after joining the conference, they had seven top 15 finishes.
Thirdly, Michigan and Ohio State were not all that great at the time PSU joined the conference. In that same seven year time span, Michigan only finished in the top 15 twice, while OSU did, admittedly, 6 times in that timeframe, but only once in the seven years before that. From '87-'91, they only finished ranked one time, at #21.
Michiganball
Special Teams Player
Texas is one of the most oblivious schools regarding the damage it does to it's conference. Even when their base is approached with the issue of their network they dont see anything wrong with it despite it being such a determent to the league. They just never got or understood the simple concept of league equality and sharing. They are the super "ME" ME" when it comes to universities. In the end there is a heck of a lot more in benefits for a league when schools dont feel screwed, the intercollegiate cooperation in a place like B1G makes a heck of a lot more financially an prestige wise on the big stage then even sports ever could.
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knapplc
International Man of Mystery
The bold is 100% not true, and you can ask fans of any of the lower-profile schools (Purdue, Northwestern, Indiana) about that. The Big Ten's heavy hitters like Michigan & Ohio State do not use their power to gain undue influence like Texas did/does. The Big Ten has always been MUCH more democratic, a "rising tide floats all ships" mentality.
You may be right that Colorado was initially a target, but I'm not sure I remember that. What I remember is that four Big XII schools were going to the Pac-10, while Missouri's governor was basically on his knees begging to get into the Big Ten.
The package of Big XII schools rumored to be headed to the Pac-10 included Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado & Texas A&M, but exactly which schools and how many were under negotiation. The one key in all of this was that Baylor was never considered part of the move, and that rankled the Baylor Admin, who had (have?) powerful friends in the Texas legislature. Baylor did all the backroom wheeling & dealing they could, and had it rigged so that they went along with the Big Boys to the Pac-10 and Colorado was left out in the cold.
The Buffs, for all our history with them, are to be commended for taking decisive action. Once they discovered they were being ousted for, of all schools, Baylor(!), they immediately began separate negotiations with the Pac-10 to join by themselves.
This likely saved Colorado from being a MWC or CUSA school, and all but confirmed that Nebraska would bolt the Big XII. The deal between the Big XII group and the Pac-10 was held up by the liberal Left Coast schools not wanting religiously conservative Baylor, and Texas was holding firm to their desire to have their own Longhorn Network, which was already in the works as of 2010. Negotiations were ongoing but not productive.
Colorado changed all that with their preemptive move. Suddenly Baylor was completely out of the picture. The other Texas schools, who had been browbeaten into solidarity by the Texas legislature, were left without negotiating power. Oklahoma had tied fate to Texas' stern and would go wherever they led. Missouri was already half out the door to whomever would take them, and the Big Fish in the North - Nebraska - was suddenly on extremely tenuous ground, faced with trying to cobble together a conference out of regional schools that would have resembled something like THIS MESS, and that's when Perlman & Osborne did the best thing that's happened to Nebraska, both athletically and for the University as a whole, in the past 20 years - they said Yes to the offer floated by the Big Ten for immediate membership.
Fifty years from now the University of Nebraska will be on solid footing, in a prestigious conference, with respectful peers and a respectable academic reputation. This move was brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, and keeps us in company with schools with which we have far more in common than our former Texas brethren.
