If the B1G goes to 20 teams are we stuck in a division with the Pac 12 teams?

[doublewing]

Disclaimer: I live on the WC.

This is what I'm hoping comes out of this, mainly because I fucking hate the traditional B10. I did the road trips to the big stadiums and have no more interest in traveling to those places. IDGAF about their stupid rivalry trophies and NU has always been an outsider.

Stick us with the West teams who are also outsiders. I'll take those road trips over anything in the B10. There are so many NU alumni out here that will travel to more games, including me.

 

[whoboppin]

As long as we have nonconference games, not much is gonna change. You still only play 9 conference games. Washington had a good year last year, but outside of a few years under Peterson they have been pretty mediocre for 20+ year, worse than Nebraska. Same with UCLA. Oregon is good but they aren’t Chip Kelly Oregon.

Nebraska just needs to fix themselves and at that Point they can compete for the playoff (go 10-2). No reason Nebraska can’t be PSU under Franklin or Wisky the past 15 year.

 

[lee_carvallo_12]

It would be the most Nebraska thing to get shoved into the West.

Whatever the shittiest scenario is for our team and fans, that is likely to happen. Travel two or three time zones for every game sounds like a blast. Also looking forward to 7-5 or 8-4 being a successful, championship level season. Yay.

 

[Kaladin]

I’d rather play west coast teams every year

Cockeye Wisconsin Minnesota etc does nothing for me. Boring ass football

 

[Kaladin]

Disclaimer: I live on the WC.

This is what I'm hoping comes out of this, mainly because I fucking hate the traditional B10. I did the road trips to the big stadiums and have no more interest in traveling to those places. IDGAF about their stupid rivalry trophies and NU has always been an outsider.

Stick us with the West teams who are also outsiders. I'll take those road trips over anything in the B10. There are so many NU alumni out here that will travel to more games, including me.

Preach homie

 

[Ripping Lips]

I’d rather play west coast teams every year

Cockeye Wisconsin Minnesota etc does nothing for me. Boring ass football

It would be okay as long as they don’t start their games at 7PM PST. Anymore, I hate staying up till 2 in the morning the older I get.

 

[huskermack]

It would be okay as long as they don’t start their games at 7PM PST. Anymore, I hate staying up till 2 in the morning the older I get.

Late games would be perfect for us here in Los Anchorage. Saturday games start at 8am and go all day long.

 

[HerbRedman]

Disclaimer: I live on the WC.

This is what I'm hoping comes out of this, mainly because I fucking hate the traditional B10. I did the road trips to the big stadiums and have no more interest in traveling to those places. IDGAF about their stupid rivalry trophies and NU has always been an outsider.

Stick us with the West teams who are also outsiders. I'll take those road trips over anything in the B10. There are so many NU alumni out here that will travel to more games, including me.

I live in Pac NW and this is essentially my viewpoint too. It was amazing to listen to the Omaha radio guys via podcast yesterday screaming bloody murder about this (100% have prob never been to either Seattle or Portland).

I wanted to call in and go "NEBRASKA DRAWS 30K FANS AT THESE VENUES!!"

We have massive alumni in OR/WA. And Los Angeles. I see Nebraska flags and bumper stickers all the time out here. I went to the NU/UW game in Seattle in 2010 and we had 25k fans there. NEB can get 25k fans all 3 of these 4 venues - Oregon is the only one they won't be able to (they have maniac fans & won't sell like CU fans etc)

 

[Jim14510]

It was amazing to listen to the Omaha radio guys via podcast yesterday screaming bloody murder about this

We're they just bitching about the distance or because Seattle is shitty?

Pun intended

 

[Husker_in_OK]

I wonder if the Big Ten models something like this :

If you base the pods off of Geography and rivals :
Go to 10 conference games .. Play your pod once, then rotate every 2 years playing the 2 teams in the different Pods ..

Pod 1 : Rutgers, Penn St, MD, two additional ACC schools
Pod 2 : Ohio St, Michigan, Indiana, Michigan State Purdue
Pod 3 : Illinois, Northwestern, MN, IA, Wisconsin
Pod 4 : Nebraska, UCLA, USC. Oregon, Washington

Have a 4 team conference playoff with the Pod winners ..

No matter how you slice it, there's no perfect way to model a mega conference without a few teams getting screwed . I see a few disadvantages already for Nebraska doing it this way .. and we don't get to play Cockeye every year under this model

 

[JankTheTank]

I just can't see Nebraska being lumped into a West Coast pod. I would love the novelty of the matchups at first as it would be fresh, but I think I would miss the regional matchups. A lot of people already feel like we're out of place just being in the Big Ten. Now we get shoved to the West Coast?

I initially despised the thought of 18 teams becaue of how cumbersome it would fit in a 12 game regular season. It felt like a very awkward stop gap. But I think there is potential to make this actually work for a while until further conference mayhem rears its head. My hope is a team like Stanford or Cal isn't considered a priority expansion candidate, but is more of a structural support acquistion to balance things out across the conference.

The next team we hopefully pounce on is Florida St or the first prestige team that Shawshanks their way out of the ACC. If, for whatever reason, ACC departures become staggered with FSU leaving a year or two before everyone else, then get Stanford to balance out the FSU arrival and go to four pods. We would need a 20th candidate to balance things out. Might as well grab one that used to be P5 at that point if other ACC teams aren't yet available.

As for 18 teams, I think this could comfortably work for a while until things further develop.

What if the Big Ten went with a two division model for now:

USC/UCLA/Washington/Oregon/Nebraska/Cockeye/Minnesota/Wisconsin/Northwestern

Ohio State/Michigan/Michigan State/Illinois/Purdue/Indiana/Penn State/Maryland/Rutgers

But you didn't play every team in your division every year. You had three permanent rivals, much like the system discussed before, and then played three of the five remaining divisional teams a year with an annual rotation. The Pac teams all play each other yearly. You then played three of the nine opponents from the other division. I get tie breakers might be needed in some instances, but that's nothing new for conferences and divisions to figure out.

It preserves rivalries, keeps things to divisions, gets it so the Big Ten gets their USC and Oregon vs Ohio State and Michigan match ups at least once every three years, and, IMO, makes things interesting and comfortably stable without feeling like the Big Ten NEEDS to take more teams until they're available.

 

[HerbRedman]

We're they just bitching about the distance or because Seattle is shitty?

Pun intended

 

[doublewing]

We're they just bitching about the distance or because Seattle is shitty?

Pun intended

I understand if people don’t like the travel distance but if they are scrutinizing the locations themselves, I’d love to hear their thoughts on the current B10 towns. The Upper Midwestern venues are not exactly the French Riviera of US travel destinations.

 

[Jim14510]

I understand if people don’t like the travel distance but if they are scrutinizing the locations themselves, I’d love to hear their thoughts on the current B10 towns. The Upper Midwestern venues are not exactly the French Riviera of US travel destinations.

West Lafayette?
Bloomington?
Cockeye City?

Tourist traps

 

[HerbRedman]

There will always be a few teams that won't be as serious contenders like Northwestern or Vanderbilt, for another relatively easy win

We'll see on this. B1G didn't really see this over the first 10 yrs of Nebraska's entry. Almost every school took advantage of the yearly $30m-40m to make their program better. Almost every B1G team improved the quality & standing of their program in that 10 yrs.

B1G FB programs from 2011-2021
Ohio State - better
Michigan - better
Penn Station - better
Michigan St - better
Indiana - better
Rutgers - better (joined '14)
Maryland - better (joined '14)
Wisconsin - better
Cockeye - better
Illinois - better
Purdue - better
Minnesota - better
Northwestern - better
Nebraska - worse

Literally EVERY school got better as a program in that 10 yr period (other than Nebraska). They used the B1G media $$$$ to build better facilities and hire better coaches.

IMO there haven't really been tiers in the B1G, other than OSU/MICH/PSU and everyone else. Looks like NW is heading to a cellar dwelling role for a while, but that's only 1 school. It's conceivable to think that all 13 other B1G schools take the $60m-100m and keep improving their programs like they have been.

So I don't think we're going to see 3 distinct tiers like you do and that's why I think the *new* B1G is gonna have a couple 10-2s (maybe 11-1) but then a bunch of other teams at 7-5/6-6. If the B1G wants tiers they REALLY need to bring Cal and Stanford in - and I'm 100% serious. The current Illinois-Purdue-Minn-Marylands etc - these programs are not laying down for anyone. They're taking the massive B1G $$$ they get and making good decisions on hires, facilities etc. They're not going away. Only one that is is NW, but 1 school doesn't create the tiers that you're talking about.

 

[Stan Raymond]

We'll see on this. B1G didn't really see this over the first 10 yrs of Nebraska's entry. Almost every school took advantage of the yearly $30m-40m to make their program better. Almost every B1G team improved the quality & standing of their program in that 10 yrs.

B1G FB programs from 2011-2021
Ohio State - better
Michigan - better
Penn Station - better
Michigan St - better
Indiana - better
Rutgers - better (joined '14)
Maryland - better (joined '14)
Wisconsin - better
Cockeye - better
Illinois - better
Purdue - better
Minnesota - better
Northwestern - better
Nebraska - worse

Literally EVERY school got better as a program in that 10 yr period (other than Nebraska). They used the B1G media $$$$ to build better facilities and hire better coaches.

IMO there haven't really been tiers in the B1G, other than OSU/MICH/PSU and everyone else. Looks like NW is heading to a cellar dwelling role for a while, but that's only 1 school. It's conceivable to think that all 13 other B1G schools take the $100m and keep improving their programs like they have been.

So I don't think we're going to see 3 distinct tiers like you do and that's why I think the *new* B1G is gonna have a couple 10-2s (maybe 11-1) but then a bunch of other teams at 7-5. If the B1G wants tiers they REALLY need to bring Cal and Stanford in - and I'm 100% serious. The current Illinois-Purdue-Minn-Marylands etc - these programs are not laying down for anyone. Their taking the massive B1G $$$ they get and making good decisions on hires, facilities etc. They're not going away. Only one that is is NW, but 1 school doesn't create the tiers that you're talking about.

They got better compared to the other 130 FBS teams, but are they any closer to tOSU or Michigan? Every once in awhile there will be an upset but Michigan State isn't any closer to Ohio State than they were 10 years ago. Improvement is relative, I think everyone in the top 2 conferences will separate from the rest of college football, they have the money to do so, but I don't see Indiana competing with tOSU consistently. Only so many great coaches and recruits to go around and the top teams will continue to get the difference makers.

Northwestern is headed to the cellar probably for quite awhile, but Indiana and Rutgers have and will continue to be in the bottom tier. They aren't going to get the coaches and recruits that the top teams will get. They might luck into a great up and coming HC that could elevate them, but can they keep such a coach?

 

[Cash68847]

We'll see on this. B1G didn't really see this over the first 10 yrs of Nebraska's entry. Almost every school took advantage of the yearly $30m-40m to make their program better. Almost every B1G team improved the quality & standing of their program in that 10 yrs.

B1G FB programs from 2011-2021
Ohio State - better
Michigan - better
Penn Station - better
Michigan St - better
Indiana - better
Rutgers - better (joined '14)
Maryland - better (joined '14)
Wisconsin - better
Cockeye - better
Illinois - better
Purdue - better
Minnesota - better
Northwestern - better
Nebraska - worse

Literally EVERY school got better as a program in that 10 yr period (other than Nebraska). They used the B1G media $$$$ to build better facilities and hire better coaches.

IMO there haven't really been tiers in the B1G, other than OSU/MICH/PSU and everyone else. Looks like NW is heading to a cellar dwelling role for a while, but that's only 1 school. It's conceivable to think that all 13 other B1G schools take the $60m-100m and keep improving their programs like they have been.

So I don't think we're going to see 3 distinct tiers like you do and that's why I think the *new* B1G is gonna have a couple 10-2s (maybe 11-1) but then a bunch of other teams at 7-5/6-6. If the B1G wants tiers they REALLY need to bring Cal and Stanford in - and I'm 100% serious. The current Illinois-Purdue-Minn-Marylands etc - these programs are not laying down for anyone. They're taking the massive B1G $$$ they get and making good decisions on hires, facilities etc. They're not going away. Only one that is is NW, but 1 school doesn't create the tiers that you're talking about.

I don’t think Northwestern, MSU, and Wisconsin are any better than they were 10 years ago. Cockeye has also always been Cockeye to me. I know Kirk has had a few down years at times, but they are always similar.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Put us in the late night Paction Pod and make some of our softer fans travel to shithole lib cities after dark, imo

 

[HerbRedman]

I don’t think Northwestern, MSU, and Wisconsin are any better than they were 10 years ago. Cockeye has also always been Cockeye to me. I know Kirk has had a few down years at times, but they are always similar.

I did 2011-2021, Nebraska's first 10 yrs in the B1G.

But that being said, Wisconsin and Cockeye are both considered stronger programs now than they were in 2011. Cockeye finished 4th & 5th in the Legends division first 2 yrs of Nebraska in the B1G. They've improved since then, as I noted.

I think MSU might be a wash at this point - even w the bad year in 2022, people don't know if 2021 (10 wins) or 2022 is the real Mel Tucker.

 

[HerbRedman]

They got better compared to the other 130 FBS teams, but are they any closer to tOSU or Michigan? Every once in awhile there will be an upset but Michigan State isn't any closer to Ohio State than they were 10 years ago. Improvement is relative, I think everyone in the top 2 conferences will separate from the rest of college football, they have the money to do so, but I don't see Indiana competing with tOSU consistently. Only so many great coaches and recruits to go around and the top teams will continue to get the difference makers.

Northwestern is headed to the cellar probably for quite awhile, but Indiana and Rutgers have and will continue to be in the bottom tier. They aren't going to get the coaches and recruits that the top teams will get. They might luck into a great up and coming HC that could elevate them, but can they keep such a coach?

It's an unknown is my only point. I agree that conferences need 3 tiers or else you have a very boring '8-8 ville' that the NFL lives in (IMHO).

Nebraska has feasted on that 3rd tier for decades under TO, Solich, Callahan & Bo. It's been very noticeable the last 5-6 yrs as the B1G's 3rd tier all upgraded while Nebraska got worse. Illinois and Purdue used to be bye weeks for Bo but they hired Bielema and Brohm and way upgraded. Rutgers was the worst CFB program in the country when they joined and now they're much better. Ditto for Maryland.

My point is that if this continues, and it might since all these 3rd tier schools will be getting $100m/yr, it's going to make the new B1G very difficult. As you said, you need some off weeks (Nebraska has had this for 50 yrs in whatever conference they've been in).