Happy Anniversary, Nebraska!

[Mavric]

I'm thinking in you POD arrangement, Wisc has the easiest pod - really only NW as a competitor.  I think the west pod is the toughest - 3 good competitive teams (assumption is Nebraska will be back to being Nebraska of pre-2002 or even the Nebraska of Bo and BCs best years) while the other 2 pods have 2 competitive teams. 

Out of curiousity, I looked at the final Sagarin ratings from last year:

East Pod: Ohio State (92.33), Penn State (86.27), Maryland (72.67), Rutgers (55.46) - Average = 76.68

North Pod: Michigan (88.80), Michigan State (78.14), Minnesota (76.14), Illinois (59.37) - Average = 75.61

Central Pod: Wisconsin (81.12), Northwestern (78.37), Purdue (75.43), Indiana (70.74) - Average = 76.42

West Pod: Nebraska (73.01), Oklahoma (90.99), Iowa (86.60), Kansas (64.31) - Average = 78.73

Obviously that is only one year and NW was on one of their "up" years.  But I don't think it's as far off as it might look at first - going forward.

The West would probably be pretty tough most years.  Nebraska will (hopefully) go up but Iowa could slip back some.  But about the only thing you could do to balance them out on a historical basis would be to flop Iowa and Northwestern.  Which probably works but isn't quite as clean.

 

[Toe]

Purdue took Wisconsin to 3OT last year and definitely looks headed up. 

And then there's also the part where they kicked #2 Ohio State's a$$ all over the place.

 

[nic]

If you swap Minn and NW you have more rivals together. Not to mention NW likes to upset MSU which is cool.

East Pod: Ohio State (92.33), Penn State (86.27), Maryland (72.67), Rutgers (55.46) - Average = 76.68

North Pod: Michigan (88.80), Michigan State (78.14), Northwestern (78.37), Illinois (59.37) - Average = 76.16

Central Pod: Wisconsin (81.12), Minnesota (76.14), Purdue (75.43), Indiana (70.74) - Average = 75.85

West Pod: Nebraska (73.01), Oklahoma (90.99), Iowa (86.60), Kansas (64.31) - Average = 78.73

 

[Mavric]

If you swap Minn and NW you have more rivals together. Not to mention NW likes to upset MSU which is cool.

East Pod: Ohio State (92.33), Penn State (86.27), Maryland (72.67), Rutgers (55.46) - Average = 76.68

North Pod: Michigan (88.80), Michigan State (78.14), Northwestern (78.37), Illinois (59.37) - Average = 76.16

Central Pod: Wisconsin (81.12), Minnesota (76.14), Purdue (75.43), Indiana (70.74) - Average = 75.85

West Pod: Nebraska (73.01), Oklahoma (90.99), Iowa (86.60), Kansas (64.31) - Average = 78.73

Actually, I do kind of like the look of that.  Still has the issue of the Central pod looking week from a historical perspective.  But if you the flipped Iowa into the Central and made a couple other swaps with the lower teams the pods line up pretty well geographically (only Northwestern is a bit out of place - you could flop Illinois and Northwestern without changing much and the geography would line up a little better but I like my way better), balanced pretty well historically and might be a little better on the rivalries.....

East Pod: Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland

North Pod: Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana

Central Pod: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois

West Pod: Nebraska, Oklahoma, Northwestern, Kansas

Trophy Games - Green= in pod; Red=protected intra-pod (played every year), Black=if possible, trophy game not preserved)

Illinois - Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue

Indiana - Michigan State, Purdue

Iowa - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska

Kansas - 

Maryland - Penn State

Michigan - Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota

Michigan State - Michigan, Indiana, Penn State

Minnesota - Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska

Nebraska - Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Northwestern - Illinois

Ohio State - Penn State, Michigan, Illinois

Oklahoma - 

Penn State - Maryland, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Minnesota

Purdue - Indiana, Illinois

Rutgers - 

Wisconsin - Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska

It's kind of a coin flip to protect Nebraska/Wisconsin or Nebraska/Minnesota.  I went with Nebraska/Wisconsin for two reasons: it's the best way to even out the schedules (toughens Wisconsin's, less-brutal for Minnesota) and because I like that one better.

The only Trophy games not preserved yearly - they would still be played every three years - are Minnesota/Penn State (Governor's Vicotry Bell - only started when Penn St joined the B1G), Minnesota/Nebraska (fun but not nearly the historical significance of the others) and Illinois/Purdue (Purdue Cannon..... eh).

 

[hskrfan4life]

Dec. 5, 2009: A controversial late-game call by officials helps lift Texas to a 13-12 win over Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, sending the Longhorns to the BCS National Championship game.  The result of that game galvanizes Nebraska public opinion about Texas’s influence in the conference.

Still to this day was the right call. Never going to back down from it. It is in the rules that such an instance could be reviewed and it was.

Either way glad it happened because I feel it helped spur everything.

 

[nic]

Actually, I do kind of like the look of that.  Still has the issue of the Central pod looking week from a historical perspective.  But if you the flipped Iowa into the Central and made a couple other swaps with the lower teams the pods line up pretty well geographically (only Northwestern is a bit out of place - you could flop Illinois and Northwestern without changing much and the geography would line up a little better but I like my way better), balanced pretty well historically and might be a little better on the rivalries.....

East Pod: Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland

North Pod: Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana

Central Pod: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois

West Pod: Nebraska, Oklahoma, Northwestern, Kansas

I like having Nebraska and Northwestern play ever year. The winner gets to claim the NU acronym until next season.

 

[Mavric]

Still to this day was the right call. Never going to back down from it. It is in the rules that such an instance could be reviewed and it was.

Either way glad it happened because I feel it helped spur everything.

I think it's fine to call it controversial but I agree that it was the right call.  As soon as I saw the first replay I knew they'd put one second back on.  Nebraska benefitted from the same thing at the end of the 1994 Orange Bowl.

The sad thing is the Texas game never should have gotten to that point.  We gave them a bunch of free yards with the kickoff out-of-bounds, a horsecollar tackle and one other penalty.  Otherwise they wouldn't have been anywhere close to being able to kick a field goal.

 

[huKSer]

I like having Nebraska and Northwestern play ever year. The winner gets to claim the NU acronym until next season.

Northwestern - NU

Nebraska - N

or better yet - N

or best  :bigredn:

 

[VectorVictor]

It'll be a few years until any movement happens. The Big XII's grant of rights runs through 2025, so no schools are jumping ship until then (unless the entire conference dissolves, which seems unlikely because ISU, KSU, Baylor and Texas Tech would be left to join C-USA or the AAC).

But who knows. The PAC-12's GOR expires in 2023, so maybe Texas tries once again to join them and figures out a way to bust up the Big XII.  The GOR won't exist if the conference doesn't exist.

Rights and movement will be decided well before the GOR expires--schools aren't going to wait until 2025 and then start finding a place to land. We should start seeing something in the next couple of years, especially concerning Oklahoma. 

And the Big XII GOR won't be renewed as long as Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texass keep voting against renewing it *and* keep voting against Big XII expansion. Once Kansas, Oklahoma, and/or Texass leave, then the Big XII won't have enough votes to keep the GOR from being renewed or to prevent expansion. (Conference expansion and GOR extension require a super-majority vote to approve, which the Big XII doesn't have with those three voting against)

 

[Landlord]

Actually, I do kind of like the look of that.  Still has the issue of the Central pod looking week from a historical perspective.  But if you the flipped Iowa into the Central and made a couple other swaps with the lower teams the pods line up pretty well geographically (only Northwestern is a bit out of place - you could flop Illinois and Northwestern without changing much and the geography would line up a little better but I like my way better), balanced pretty well historically and might be a little better on the rivalries.....

East Pod: Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland

North Pod: Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana

Central Pod: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois

West Pod: Nebraska, Oklahoma, Northwestern, Kansas

Trophy Games - Green= in pod; Red=protected intra-pod (played every year), Black=if possible, trophy game not preserved)

Illinois - Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue

Indiana - Michigan State, Purdue

Iowa - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska

Kansas - 

Maryland - Penn State

Michigan - Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota

Michigan State - Michigan, Indiana, Penn State

Minnesota - Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska

Nebraska - Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Northwestern - Illinois

Ohio State - Penn State, Michigan, Illinois

Oklahoma - 

Penn State - Maryland, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Minnesota

Purdue - Indiana, Illinois

Rutgers - 

Wisconsin - Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska

It's kind of a coin flip to protect Nebraska/Wisconsin or Nebraska/Minnesota.  I went with Nebraska/Wisconsin for two reasons: it's the best way to even out the schedules (toughens Wisconsin's, less-brutal for Minnesota) and because I like that one better.

The only Trophy games not preserved yearly - they would still be played every three years - are Minnesota/Penn State (Governor's Vicotry Bell - only started when Penn St joined the B1G), Minnesota/Nebraska (fun but not nearly the historical significance of the others) and Illinois/Purdue (Purdue Cannon..... eh).

This looks pretty good, except the names of central and north. Wisconsin and Minnesota are north of Michigan/Michigan State, and Iowa/Illinois are north of Purdue/Indiana. I know it doesn't really matter that much but I wouldn't mind some of the pods having non-direction names, like the Plains Pod or the Great Lakes Pod or something.

 

[huKSer]

This looks pretty good, except the names of central and north. Wisconsin and Minnesota are north of Michigan/Michigan State, and Iowa/Illinois are north of Purdue/Indiana. I know it doesn't really matter that much but I wouldn't mind some of the pods having non-direction names, like the Plains Pod or the Great Lakes Pod or something.

So the East can be the Amish pod?

 

[VectorVictor]

So the East can be the Amish pod?

 

[hskrfan4life]

I think it's fine to call it controversial but I agree that it was the right call.  As soon as I saw the first replay I knew they'd put one second back on.  Nebraska benefitted from the same thing at the end of the 1994 Orange Bowl.

The sad thing is the Texas game never should have gotten to that point.  We gave them a bunch of free yards with the kickoff out-of-bounds, a horsecollar tackle and one other penalty.  Otherwise they wouldn't have been anywhere close to being able to kick a field goal.

Yep, I honestly felt the team started to feel the pressure of what they were so close to achieving boneheaded mistakes. I just hope with the right kind of coaching we can stop the issues in the big games.

 

[TGHusker]

Actually, I do kind of like the look of that.  Still has the issue of the Central pod looking week from a historical perspective.  But if you the flipped Iowa into the Central and made a couple other swaps with the lower teams the pods line up pretty well geographically (only Northwestern is a bit out of place - you could flop Illinois and Northwestern without changing much and the geography would line up a little better but I like my way better), balanced pretty well historically and might be a little better on the rivalries.....

East Pod: Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland

North Pod: Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana

Central Pod: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois

West Pod: Nebraska, Oklahoma, Northwestern, Kansas

Trophy Games - Green= in pod; Red=protected intra-pod (played every year), Black=if possible, trophy game not preserved)

Illinois - Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue

Indiana - Michigan State, Purdue

Iowa - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska

Kansas - 

Maryland - Penn State

Michigan - Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota

Michigan State - Michigan, Indiana, Penn State

Minnesota - Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska

Nebraska - Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Northwestern - Illinois

Ohio State - Penn State, Michigan, Illinois

Oklahoma - 

Penn State - Maryland, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Minnesota

Purdue - Indiana, Illinois

Rutgers - 

Wisconsin - Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska

It's kind of a coin flip to protect Nebraska/Wisconsin or Nebraska/Minnesota.  I went with Nebraska/Wisconsin for two reasons: it's the best way to even out the schedules (toughens Wisconsin's, less-brutal for Minnesota) and because I like that one better.

The only Trophy games not preserved yearly - they would still be played every three years - are Minnesota/Penn State (Governor's Vicotry Bell - only started when Penn St joined the B1G), Minnesota/Nebraska (fun but not nearly the historical significance of the others) and Illinois/Purdue (Purdue Cannon..... eh).

I do like the idea of NW being in our POD as the NU/NW games have been close and competitive for the most part and also there is a 'respect' factor with them.  Iowa - even though they had our number the last couple of years, I'm still not sold on them as a real rival - they seem to be like Colorado a 'wantabe NU rival'. 

 

[nic]

One reason I like the 4-team pods (and a 9 game schedule) is every team will get to play every other team every two years (home and home every 4). I hate not playing Nebraska for 5 years. I think Nebraska and Michigan could develop into a great rivalry due to the 97 Natinoal Championship split trophies and having Harbough and Frost as coaches, but not if they can't play the game. If we try and make the pods even strength, there will be too many protected games to schedule versus just rotating the pods.  I would rather put rivals in the same pod as much as possible so they play every year without the protected games. Unfortunately  I am not sure how to put all rivals (or teams with a history) in pods, but if NW and the Illini end up in different pods they can play a non-conference game every other year. I guess some fan bases may not like playing a non-conference Big Ten game versus getting to schedule a non-conference rival like Iowa/Iowa State or Purdue/ND. Games like Michigan/Minnesota would be every other year. The little Brown Jug story line is cool and I like the history of this game, but every other year is fine. I ran the Pod idea by a Purdue fan and put Indiana and Purdue in different Pods. When I mentioned they would keep the annual game alive with a non-conference game every other year he was fine with that idea. I would love to get a perspective from an NW fan about this Pod (NU,OU,KU, NW) and plyaing the Illini every other year in a non-confernce game.