Wisconsin-Nebraska provides one of best new rivalries in college football

[Hoosker]

"We're kind of the same thing," Wisconsin safety Leo Musso said. "We're two blue-collar teams, and we're the only college teams in the state. Everybody loves Nebraska in Nebraska. Everybody loves Wisconsin in Wisconsin. It truly is becoming a great rivalry."

LINK

It's just too bad we had to go and slap a lame, unimaginative trophy on it.

I feel like the Riley/Chryst factor really adds a lot to this series. A student/teacher dynamic.

Blowouts from the Pelini era aside, how do you all feel about the Wisconsin series going forward?

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I think it's becoming a more natural rivalry than the forced one that is the Iowa game. I personally think they should move the Iowa game to somewhere else on the schedule and put the Wisconsin game on black Friday. More often than not the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game will probably mean more than the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. Look at the OSU vs. Michigan game this year. How much is that game going to mean?! Huge game, that's what I think this Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game can get to. I think the Wisconsin fans are a-holes, but I respect their team and how they go about things.

 

[Hoosker]

I think it's becoming a more natural rivalry than the forced one that is the Iowa game. I personally think they should move the Iowa game to somewhere else on the schedule and put the Wisconsin game on black Friday. More often than not the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game will probably mean more than the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. Look at the OSU vs. Michigan game this year. How much is that game going to mean?! Huge game, that's what I think this Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game can get to. I think the Wisconsin fans are a-holes, but I respect their team and how they go about things.

I couldn't agree more about switching the game with Iowa. Idk how Badger fans would like not ending the season with Minnesota though.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I think it's becoming a more natural rivalry than the forced one that is the Iowa game. I personally think they should move the Iowa game to somewhere else on the schedule and put the Wisconsin game on black Friday. More often than not the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game will probably mean more than the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. Look at the OSU vs. Michigan game this year. How much is that game going to mean?! Huge game, that's what I think this Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game can get to. I think the Wisconsin fans are a-holes, but I respect their team and how they go about things.

I couldn't agree more about switching the game with Iowa. Idk how Badger fans would like not ending the season with Minnesota though.

That's true, I didn't really think of that part, but I'm guessing that we'll be more relevant than Minnesota will be most years. Don't get me wrong, that would be stressful as hell for all of us knowing how much that game might mean, but that's what makes sports great right?

 

[hosker]

I think it's becoming a more natural rivalry than the forced one that is the Iowa game. I personally think they should move the Iowa game to somewhere else on the schedule and put the Wisconsin game on black Friday. More often than not the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game will probably mean more than the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. Look at the OSU vs. Michigan game this year. How much is that game going to mean?! Huge game, that's what I think this Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game can get to. I think the Wisconsin fans are a-holes, but I respect their team and how they go about things.

Yeah maybe so, but why not always have NU v Wisc on Halloween? This really feels like a good time in the year for the Wisc game IMO.
Plus this way the B10 can have a cool division rivalry on Halloween and in the final week of the season with NU v Iowa (plus osu v mich if you think thats important)... NU v Wisc can anchor Halloween. NU v Iowa can anchor black Friday. I like how NU v NW opened conference play this year too, that would be cool regularly.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I think it's becoming a more natural rivalry than the forced one that is the Iowa game. I personally think they should move the Iowa game to somewhere else on the schedule and put the Wisconsin game on black Friday. More often than not the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game will probably mean more than the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. Look at the OSU vs. Michigan game this year. How much is that game going to mean?! Huge game, that's what I think this Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game can get to. I think the Wisconsin fans are a-holes, but I respect their team and how they go about things.

Yeah maybe so, but why not always have NU v Wisc on Halloween? This really feels like a good time in the year for the Wisc game IMO.

Plus this way the B10 can have a cool division rivalry on Halloween and in the final week of the season with NU v Iowa (plus osu v mich if you think thats important)... NU v Wisc can anchor Halloween. NU v Iowa can anchor black Friday. I like how NU v NW openef conference play this year too, that would be cool regularly.

I get it, I'm just not a fan of having 5 or 6 "rivalry" games, I'd rather just have 1 that you can focus on or maybe 2. All of these trophy games are kinda silly and OSU vs. Michigan is one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. To have one of our games get to that level again would be great. Plus if you live in the State of Iowa, like I do, you'd understand rather quickly where I'm coming from. Iowa fans are horrible, but they are awful quite this season.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

I wonder if Wisconsin fans feel like "we" are forcing a rivalry with them?

 

[hosker]

I think it's becoming a more natural rivalry than the forced one that is the Iowa game. I personally think they should move the Iowa game to somewhere else on the schedule and put the Wisconsin game on black Friday. More often than not the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game will probably mean more than the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. Look at the OSU vs. Michigan game this year. How much is that game going to mean?! Huge game, that's what I think this Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game can get to. I think the Wisconsin fans are a-holes, but I respect their team and how they go about things.

Yeah maybe so, but why not always have NU v Wisc on Halloween? This really feels like a good time in the year for the Wisc game IMO.
Plus this way the B10 can have a cool division rivalry on Halloween and in the final week of the season with NU v Iowa (plus osu v mich if you think thats important)... NU v Wisc can anchor Halloween. NU v Iowa can anchor black Friday. I like how NU v NW openef conference play this year too, that would be cool regularly.

I get it, I'm just not a fan of having 5 or 6 "rivalry" games, I'd rather just have 1 that you can focus on or maybe 2. All of these trophy games are kinda silly and OSU vs. Michigan is one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. To have one of our games get to that level again would be great. Plus if you live in the State of Iowa, like I do, you'd understand rather quickly where I'm coming from. Iowa fans are horrible, but they are awful quite this season.

No I agree about the trophies. The only trophy I recognize as a legit trophy is the Broken Chair.

But at the same time. I see Iowa, wisc, nw, and minn as a rivals, all to varying degrees of course.

Wisc on Halloween feels just as natural to me as Wisc on Thanksgiving. Plus my gf teaches at Iowa, so that makes Thanksgiving fun.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I wonder if Wisconsin fans feel like "we" are forcing a rivalry with them?

I think Wisconsin fans won't admit that our program is the reason they are who they are. Point being that Alvarez copied the Huskers to help make them successful up there and it worked. I don't meet too many Badger fans here in Iowa, but the few I come across have been jerks and I suppose that's an aspect to the rivalry if there is one. I don't think we're trying to force a rivalry at all. I think it's becoming a natural rivalry at this point. Where when we joined the B1G it was like "Oh, you guys share borders, your rivalry is now Iowa." We're just kinda moving along waiting for a rivalry to happen. We don't need to force a rivalry, we're a college football blue blood, the rivalries will happen naturally.

 

[TGHusker]

I think it's becoming a more natural rivalry than the forced one that is the Iowa game. I personally think they should move the Iowa game to somewhere else on the schedule and put the Wisconsin game on black Friday. More often than not the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game will probably mean more than the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. Look at the OSU vs. Michigan game this year. How much is that game going to mean?! Huge game, that's what I think this Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game can get to. I think the Wisconsin fans are a-holes, but I respect their team and how they go about things.

Agree 100%. Now that Wisc is in the west division it makes more sense. The Iowa game was the 'trophy' game partly because Wisc was in the other division when we moved to the B1G. However, this hasn't been a rivalry yet - being 1-4 doesn't make this a rivalry. We'll have to win some important games to make it so. Now that Bo is out of the picture, I feel better about this game because I feel better about our team overall.

 

[TGHusker]

I think it's becoming a more natural rivalry than the forced one that is the Iowa game. I personally think they should move the Iowa game to somewhere else on the schedule and put the Wisconsin game on black Friday. More often than not the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game will probably mean more than the Iowa vs. Nebraska game. Look at the OSU vs. Michigan game this year. How much is that game going to mean?! Huge game, that's what I think this Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game can get to. I think the Wisconsin fans are a-holes, but I respect their team and how they go about things.

Agree 100%. Now that Wisc is in the west division it makes more sense. The Iowa game was the 'trophy' game partly because Wisc was in the other division when we moved to the B1G. However, this hasn't been a rivalry yet - being 1-4 doesn't make this a rivalry. We'll have to win some important games to make it so. Now that Bo is out of the picture, I feel better about this game because I feel better about our team overall.

However, let me add: IF OU ever moves to the B1G then, I'm all for moving the OU game to the Thanksgiving Friday.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

I wonder if Wisconsin fans feel like "we" are forcing a rivalry with them?

Most Wisconsin fans would say their main B1G rival is Minnesota. I think that is a pretty fierce rivalry in all sports, especially hockey.

 

[formerlybis]

Wisconsin fan here, I'll try to respond to some of the things here.

First, most serious longtime (and mostly long-suffering) Badger fans recognize that Alvarez patterned the program after Devaney and Nebraska. Fans under the age of about 30-35 haven't really suffered in their conscious sports lives, and they tend to be the cockier, less grounded in reality types.

Second, I don't think we've known you long enough to be a rivalry. Although one of the great highlights in a dark era of Badger lore was beating the Johnny Rodgers Huskers in 1974, we just haven't played many times yet. We've also had the better of it when we've met while you've been in the B1G, so we haven't built up much animosity. I would understand if you've built up animosity towards us given the results, though.

Third, we hate Minnesota and they hate us, and it spills over into pro sports (or maybe it's the other way around, but anyway, there is mutual disdain). The UW-MN game is the longest continuously played rivalry in college football (at least in major college football - DePauw-Wabash might actually be longer). Despite the suckitude of Minnesota football for a half-century, and Wisconsin winning the last dozen and 19 of the last 21, UW still trails in the overall series 58-59-8. We love carrying around the axe when we win and chopping down the goalposts (I'm sure the Gophers would too, if they ever got the chance) - a couple of years ago, the Gopher players decided they weren't going to let the Badgers cut down the goalposts on their end in Mpls (see pic below). In my opinion, it should always be the last game, despite Nebraska clearly being more of a peer program. I do like the idea of Halloween week, though.

 

[RunMickeyRun02]

I wonder if Wisconsin fans feel like "we" are forcing a rivalry with them?

I don't know but for me, I feels like how we always denied K-State and Colorado games were rivalries. We aren't holding up our end of the bargain. One main ingredient (at least for me) is a relatively even win/loss split and close competitive games. Sure this may change in the future but since joining the Big Ten we've only beaten them once. I do think the potential is there though.

I know some may laugh but NW actually feels rivalryish to me. Lots of NU alumns in Chicago, culturally a lot different, come backs, upsets, close games, unbelievable endings.

As for Iowa it's interesting how it's rivalry status seems to fade as you go west from the Missouri even between Omaha and Lincoln.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

I wonder if Wisconsin fans feel like "we" are forcing a rivalry with them?

I don't know but for me, I feels like how we always denied K-State and Colorado games were rivalries. We aren't holding up our end of the bargain. One main ingredient (at least for me) is a relatively even win/loss split and close competitive games. Sure this may change in the future but since joining the Big Ten we've only beaten them once. I do think the potential is there though.

I know some may laugh but NW actually feels rivalryish to me. Lots of NU alumns in Chicago, culturally a lot different, come backs, upsets, close games, unbelievable endings.

As for Iowa it's interesting how it's rivalry status seems to fade as you go west from the Missouri even between Omaha and Lincoln.

In order to have a rivalry, both teams need a fan/alumni base that care about football. The Northwestern fan/alumni base don't really care about football. There is a reason why NU fans are able to take over half of the stadium every time NU goes to Evanston.