Huskers Looking to Schedule Old Big 8 Opponents?

ColoradoHusk said:
Iowa State, KU, and K-State are close to Omaha and Lincoln where fans can make that trip back and forth in the same day. Missouri, CU, OU, and Okie State are comfortable 3-day weekend type trips. The only Big Ten schools comparable to any of the old Big 8 schools are Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Illinois, and they all require hotel stays for fans. Going any further is a total pain for Nebraska based fans.

I understand there are NU alumni and fans spread across the country, so the new Big Ten schools are good for fans in Chicago, Minneapolis, or other cities in the Big Ten area. Buto say the Big Ten West has the same footprint is wrong.  The trips for the base of Nebraska fans are now considerably longer. 
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Hey. I once drove to Iowa City, washed a concernt, then realized I can't type right after I wake up.

 
Driving time to Big XII opponents (from Lincoln, per Google Maps)

North - Average 4 hours-12 minutes

Kansas State - 2-33

Kansas - 3-20

Iowa State - 3-37

Missouri - 4-47

Colorado - 6-43

South - Average 11 hours-38 minutes

Oklahoma State - 6-07

Oklahoma - 6-47

Baylor - 10-19

Texas Tech - 11-02

Texas A&M - 11-39

Texas - 12-15

Driving time to B1G opponents

West - Average 7 hours-07 minutes

Iowa - 4-24

Minnesota - 6-14

Wisconsin - 7-07

Illinois - 7-41

Northwestern - 8-10

Purdue - 9-08

East - Average 16 hours-04 minutes

Indiana - 9-59

Michigan State - 10-28

Michigan - 10-46

Ohio State - 12-02

Penn State - 16-09

Maryland - 18-00

Rutgers - 18-58

I guess "not that big of a deal" is a pretty relative term but a 69% increase in driving distance within the division and a 38% increase to the other division is pretty significant.

In addition, in the Big XII there were four road games you could do as a day trip without too much trouble.  There's only one of those now.  So that makes quite a bit of difference.

 
All i know is its only 2.5 hours to any future away games with OU - so i would be glad to see them on the schedule every year.

 
Just to add, this isn't about hitting multiple away games in one year. It's about doing 1 affordably each year and not having it be the same location every time.

 
Mavric said:
Driving time to Big XII opponents (from Lincoln, per Google Maps)

North - Average 4 hours-12 minutes

Kansas State - 2-33

Kansas - 3-20

Iowa State - 3-37

Missouri - 4-47

Colorado - 6-43

South - Average 11 hours-38 minutes

Oklahoma State - 6-07

Oklahoma - 6-47

Baylor - 10-19

Texas Tech - 11-02

Texas A&M - 11-39

Texas - 12-15

Driving time to B1G opponents

West - Average 7 hours-07 minutes

Iowa - 4-24

Minnesota - 6-14

Wisconsin - 7-07

Illinois - 7-41

Northwestern - 8-10

Purdue - 9-08

East - Average 16 hours-04 minutes

Indiana - 9-59

Michigan State - 10-28

Michigan - 10-46

Ohio State - 12-02

Penn State - 16-09

Maryland - 18-00

Rutgers - 18-58

I guess "not that big of a deal" is a pretty relative term but a 69% increase in driving distance within the division and a 38% increase to the other division is pretty significant.

In addition, in the Big XII there were four road games you could do as a day trip without too much trouble.  There's only one of those now.  So that makes quite a bit of difference.
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Important to note, though:

Kansas State - Manhattan, KS (yawn)

Kansas - Lawrence, KS (yawn)

Iowa State - Ames, IA (yawn)

Missouri - Columbia, MO (yawn)

Colorado - Boulder, CO (beautiful town/environs)

Oklahoma State - Stillwater, OK (yawn)

Oklahoma - Norman, OK (yawn)

Baylor - Waco, TX (YIKES)

Texas Tech - Lubbock, TX (yawn)

Texas A&M - College Station, TX (yawn)

Texas - Austin, TX (great town, neat destination)

Also important to note:

Kansas State - easy win, boring game

Kansas - easy win, boring game

Iowa State - easy win, boring game

Missouri - probable win, OK game

Colorado - easy win, boring game

Oklahoma State - probable win, OK game

Oklahoma - great game, wonderful environment

Baylor - probable win, OK game

Texas Tech - probable win, OK game

Texas A&M - great game, wonderful environment

Texas - great game, wonderful environment

I know people really like to wax nostalgic about the Big XII, but the most likely outcome was a round trip that ate up most of two days, a boring win, and a hugely boring town. You're staying in a Motel 8 or a Radison, there's no decent food, there's no decent entertainment, there's no decent shopping (or, at least, none of it was better than you'd get in Lincoln/Omaha where 80% of the fans were coming from). 

 
knapplc said:
I know people really like to wax nostalgic about the Big XII, but the most likely outcome was a round trip that ate up most of two days, a boring win, and a hugely boring town. You're staying in a Motel 8 or a Radison, there's no decent food, there's no decent entertainment, there's no decent shopping (or, at least, none of it was better than you'd get in Lincoln/Omaha where 80% of the fans were coming from). 
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I think this is being a bit over-dramatic and kind of talking about a different situation. 

If you're looking for an entire weekend experience, then it probably doesn't really matter because you're going to travel on Friday (either flying or driving) so that you have time to eat out and enjoy the city on Saturday before traveling back Sunday.  So you're probably not caring about the distance as much.

If you're mainly just trying to go to the game - either as a day trip or a quick overnight on one end or the other - distance is much more of a factor.

 
Mavric said:
I think this is being a bit over-dramatic and kind of talking about a different situation. 

If you're looking for an entire weekend experience, then it probably doesn't really matter because you're going to travel on Friday (either flying or driving) so that you have time to eat out and enjoy the city on Saturday before traveling back Sunday.  So you're probably not caring about the distance as much.

If you're mainly just trying to go to the game - either as a day trip or a quick overnight on one end or the other - distance is much more of a factor.
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If you're flying the difference in distance becomes less relevant. And with air travel becoming much more common, a flight to Columbus isn't any different than a drive to Boulder.

I've done Manhattan as a day trip. I'm guessing you could do Lawrence or Ames as a day trip, depending on the time of kickoff.  But nothing else in the Big 8/Big XII was really day trip distance.

 
knapplc said:
I've done Manhattan as a day trip. I'm guessing you could do Lawrence or Ames as a day trip, depending on the time of kickoff.  But nothing else in the Big 8/Big XII was really day trip distance.
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We did Mizzou as a day trip (twice).  But that's a pretty long day.

 
I like the idea of Mizzou in Arrowhead and throwing an occasional bone to the fans on drive time with Big 8 schools.  However, I don't want this to be every year.  I don't think it's good for recruiting nationally and it will get as boring as Iowa's regional nonconference dance they do most every year.  If I had to pick 3 schools that Nebraska fans want to play, it is probably LSU, Alabama, and Texas in that order.  LSU would be great as a neutral site 2-fer at the Superdome and Arrowhead.  Alabama would be fantastic if it was a home and home which found a way to honor Bear Bryant's family and teams, Devaney/Osborne family and teams while there are still people around to enjoy the tradition from the '60s and '70s postseason tilts.  Texas doesn't really move the needle for me, but I understand why it does for many fans and going to Austin is a nice locale just for musical entertainment purposes, much like New Orleans.

 
Mavric said:
No it is not.  You simply claiming it is true doesn't make it true.
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Doing 1 affordable game a year and not having it be the same location every time...

2018 - Go to Northwestern

2019 - Go to Minnesota

2020 - Go to Iowa

2021 - Go to Illinois

2022 - Go to Wisconsin

All trips around or under 8 hours. Three would be overnight or weekend trips, but Iowa is a reasonable day trip, and Minnesota is only an hour and a half further than what you said you've done as a day trip more than once before (albeit a long tiring day). If the metric for it being affordable for everyone is that it's only affordable as a single day trip, then yeah I guess you're right that it's exactly as easy to do as it was in the Big XII.

That just doesn't seem like a reasonable metric to me, though. I live fairly close to poverty and I've still made it back for a game in Lincoln from Chicago every year. 

 
Landlord said:
Doing 1 affordable game a year and not having it be the same location every time...

2018 - Go to Northwestern

2019 - Go to Minnesota

2020 - Go to Iowa

2021 - Go to Illinois

2022 - Go to Wisconsin

All trips around or under 8 hours. Three would be overnight or weekend trips, but Iowa is a reasonable day trip, and Minnesota is only an hour and a half further than what you said you've done as a day trip more than once before (albeit a long tiring day). If the metric for it being affordable for everyone is that it's only affordable as a single day trip, then yeah I guess you're right that it's exactly as easy to do as it was in the Big XII.

That just doesn't seem like a reasonable metric to me, though. I live fairly close to poverty and I've still made it back for a game in Lincoln from Chicago every year. 
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Where do you stay in Lincoln? Do you have kids?

Also, how old are your children? I mentioned affordability but there are other factors. e.g. a 5 year old in a car for 4 hours is a lot different than 8 hours.

Also, Iowa as a day trip for kids would be awful. I’ve done it by myself and it sucked.

 
Moiraine said:
Where do you stay in Lincoln? Do you have kids?

Also, how old are your children? I mentioned affordability but there are other factors. e.g. a 5 year old in a car for 4 hours is a lot different than 8 hours.

Also, Iowa as a day trip for kids would be awful. I’ve done it by myself and it sucked.
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I stay with friends and I am single and childless, which obviously makes it easier for me as an inverse factor of me not having any money to my name. 

How much worse would Iowa City be as a day trip compared to Ames, Lawrence, or Manhattan? Not sure why/what you mean about it being awful. 

 
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