Around the Big Ten

[lineygoblue]

LOL @ Jeff.

Never thought I'd be smacked for the length of a post, by the king of lengthy posts ... :-)

[WM Wolverine]

You'll learn to hate and disrespect the Spartans quickly, certainly there fans and there coach too.

[lineygoblue]

MSU fans are really obnoxious when they beat us. I had to walk thru a gauntlet back to Doug's tailgate after the game at MSU 2 years ago. I was by myself, and was a fairly easy target.... given my girth, and attire. But, I sucked it up, kept my mouth shut, and just kept moving. I prefer to walk on the high road.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Unless contracts change in the future, I think Nebraska will be bumping some of there ABC games onto the BigTen network.

I don't think that is as big of a deal as it once was with the advent of the BTN coverage. I never gave a shit who carried the games as long as they were on.

These days if you want to watch a FBS conference football game on TV, you're going to find it somewhere. Frankly, BTN coverage is vastly superior to ESPN/ABC and most football fans will pay for whatever cable or sat. pkg they need to get games they are interested in.

In the BTN footprint the game has changed for the traditional networks. if I were an ABC/ESPN sports exec, I'd bring back Game Plan but would telecast commercial free games that had a single box in the upper left hand corner with the score, time/time outs remaining, down and yard mark .... nothing else. I'd hire guys with radio experience to call the game, shit can any side line reporters doing interviews and I'd sell it as a subscription or single game. I know I'd pay for that kind of 70s style, clean broadcast with none of the BS fans watching on TV have to put up with on today's TV coverage.

[WM Wolverine]

BTN coverage and presentation is generally very good, not many announcers on it that I dislike. If your in the B10 footprint, I agree it doesn't matter much as EVERY B10 game is televised (BTN has overflow channels for football/basketball games) and unlike the B12, you don't get bonus revenue for being on national tv.

[entropy]

ABC vs BTN is about status. People won't be talking nationally about the BTN game. It will be the ABC game that gets the buzz. It has nothing to do w/ ability to watch.

[entropy]

Michigan State offensive lineman Arthur Ray Jr. has been cleared to practice this spring by the NCAA, four years after being diagnosed with leg cancer.

More...

[Jeff Buchanan]

ABC vs BTN is about status. People won't be talking nationally about the BTN game. It will be the ABC game that gets the buzz. It has nothing to do w/ ability to watch.

..... and MSU and the mid to bottom third of the B10 are of national interest?

Your national powers in the league Neb is joining are Michigan, PSU and osu. Those teams draw national interest and get the inside track on ABC but its not about "status," its about Neilson ratings. Even M in the grips of the Rodriguez disaster drew good ratings (mostly to watch DR).

Your underlying premise that Neb coming into the league may displace the second tier B10 teams from ABC is faulty in that none of these teams are national powers, they don't have a large national viewership, they don't ramp up Neilsons for ABC and their fans are regional. They don't care if the broadcast is on ABC or the BTN.

[Rob F]

"And the Land Grant rivalry is officially DEAD!!"

It was a phony, contrived rivalry from the start anyway...


...says me!

[Hannibal]

I wasn't aware that MSU lost their protected rivalry with Penn State. MSU really got screwed. Indiana's only rival is Purdue. Granted, MSU-PSU never caught on big time, but it was better than nothing for Sparty, who could really use a secondary rival. If they had done this East-West, MSU could still play Penn State every year in the last weekend, and Nebraska could play Penn State as a protected rival. I also noticed that Wisky will now be split up from Iowa and Minnehaha. Just one more reason why this non East-West "leaders and legends" alignment is stupid.

[hack]

I am hoping against hope that when the Huskers go to Columbus the first time, that you'll be received with some amount of respect, but I have serious doubts.

We all are, liney. The desire to see Nebraska fans welcomed in Columbus with respect must surely burn within all of us.

[Dr. Strangelove]

That game probably meant more to MSU than it ever did to Penn State, who thought they deserved a better year-end game to compete with OSU-Michigan. I thought MSU-Purdue might've been better. Let Iowa have Indiana. I don't think the Hawkeyes would've cared which one they got.

Wisconsin/Iowa is honestly a bigger loss than MSU/PSU

[lineygoblue]

The desire to see Nebraska fans welcomed in Columbus with respect must surely burn within all of us.

Sarcasm noted, Hack. But honestly, I do hope that Husker fans are treated well throughout the Big Ten this year. We aren't the SEC. This is the Big Ten, and I like to think that in addition to having the best college football in the land, that we also have the best fans. I just want to see the folks in Columbus do their part as well. But, I don't have a lot of hope for that, given their history.

[Regelbuck]

Michigan and Wisconsin will not play at all between 2011-2014

Yet even more proof of Jim Delany's favortism towards the scUMers....

[geo weidl]

Yet even more proof of Jim Delany's favortism towards the scUMers....

No favortism showed its face, when delany went to bat for osu and the tat5 to play in the suagar bowl.