Around the Big Ten

[iam416]

so a couple years into UNL joining the BIG and I was wondering what people think now... what has surprised you in a positive way? negative?

no judging on my part.. just curious. I'll tell you what I think later.. and what I think UNL fans think, as a collective.

I think Nebraska is exactly as advertised. They bring a huge name program to the conference which results in an increased number of interesting, marquee games. And they're plainly the not the UNL of Devaney and Osborne, which means they're slotted in the second tier with the likes of M, Wisky and MSU, though No-Titles has a chance to get M out.

A perfect add, IMO. Rutgers and Maryland will bring zero name interest and will slot into the third or fourth tier.

[Hannibal]

It has pretty much been what I have expected. The least shitty possible outcome of an extremely shitty trend.

[Rob F]

I'm aware of Narduzzi's career. He's a coach from Ohio, but didn't coach at Ohio State. That much is plain from Buchanan's statement.

If you're going to troll with imbecilic remarks, they ought at least not be so remarkably and demonstrably wrong. LOL.

OK. You are so kind as to point out the error of my ways.

I'll stike the baseless claim I made in those prior posts. No longer shall I refer to Tressel as a "Saintly Hypocrite"; from this point forward, I'll strive for accuracy and instead refer to him as that "Hypocrite".

And now for Narduzzi: worst of both worlds, connections to both Ohio (the state) and The ohio. From Ohio, played football at Youngstown State, the school that featured the Hypocrite as HC from 1986 until being rewarded for mastering deceit and deception by being plucked away by The ohio. Narduzzi got his feet wet in coaching elsewhere, then was hired by then UC Head Coach Dantonio (who had learned well from his Master while on Tressel's staff at The ohio). Dantonio's knowledge on how to play dirty that he gained while on Tressel's staff at The ohio, was then passed on to Narduzzi, and once Dantonio moved on the msu and Cinci passed over Narduzzi to instead hire Brian Kelley as HC, Narduzzi followed.

Yes, as far as a direct connection to The ohio is concerned, obviously another baseless claim on my part. But as a member of the crew of the SS Butthurt, it would be negligent on my part to not draw the lines to connect the dots between The ohio and Narduzzi (and the Hypocrite Tressel, too).

(Trolling service provided free of charge [pro bono] from the deck of the SS Butthurt).

[entropy]

hanny... lol

[iam416]

Yes, as far as a direct connection to The ohio is concerned, obviously another baseless claim on my part

Correct. Your pitiful snark was dead wrong. Thanks for owning up to it.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I agree with Hanni. I've been opposed to expansion since it started. Not that we, as fans who are opposed, could have done anything about it. Its clear to me, expansion was about power and money, not about improving the quality and competitiveness of CFB. Nothing new here when it comes to the world of sports.

But, at least the BT got a quality football program with a fan base that improves the overall attractiveness of the conference - fans are polite, welcoming to fans of opponents and the program doesn't make an ass of themselves by cheating and then trying to cover it up (OK, mitigate it).

It's probably better than I expected. After the debacle with coaches following TO's departure, I wasn't sure Neb was going to be at all competative - too many distractions. But, they have been, much to their credit, given that Bo Pellini is a dolt. I just have to keep in mind that when Alvarez left Wisconsin, Meathead took over and it turned out, he was a damn good coach with a damn good football philosophy that worked really well in the BT.

Maybe Nebraska will have that kind of outcome with Pellini but I somehow doubt it. My bet is that he does not survive and the coaching carrousel continues to keep Neb in the second or third tier.

[Hannibal]

I was thinking about Big Ten expansion the other day, and the parallels between what college football conferences are doing, and what Microsoft tried to do with XBox One DRM. In both cases, the powers that be made simplistic decisions that assume that consumers will continue to fork over billions of dollars, regardless of how hard or how often you fuck them in the ass. In the Big Ten's case, they have assumed that cable companies will act as their extortion agent on the East Coast, and that there will be absolutely no pushback (even though more and more people are dropping cable in favor of web-based services). They have assumed that the Big Ten brand name will automatically be lucrative for programs that have utter shit for history and tradition. In Microsoft's case, they assumed that people would gladly fork over $500 for a machine with an always-on camera that doesn't let you have control of the games that you pay money for. It was hilarious to watch these dipshits get completely caught off guard by the incredibly hostile reacion that people had to the XBox One. People have hated DRM for years, but they never had a chance to voice their opinion. Microsoft idiotically assumed that they could easily capture the revenue that is being "lost" in the used games market. What they failed to consider is that lots of consumers aren't going to buy hardware unless they can get the benefit of used games.

What I say about Microsoft is pretty much true for college football as a whole nowadays. Arrogance, and a sense of entitlement to the pocketbook of the consumer, without the understanding that you need to satisfy that consumer.

In both cases, it's also kind of interesting to see how the people in charge are perceived as geniuses who have some kind of secret data or plan that we just don't know about. One of the truths that I have been learning recently though is that sometimes things are really as simple as they seem on the surface (e.g. Dave Brandon's "process"). It is also interesting that with both the shitty trends in video gaming and the shitty trends in college football, there is a "Stockholm Syndrome" type mentality at play from people who genuinely don't like the trends at work, but at least try to defend them from a business standpoint. This isn't entirely unreasonable, but who much profitability is there ultimately in doing things that nobody likes?

[drok]

I'm generally against conference expansion but Nebraska has been a great addition and seems to have fit in immediately. I don't like that it came at the cost of adding a CCG but if I had my way I would still have added Neb and dumped one of the crappier "traditional Big Ten" teams instead.

[DennisT]

Nebraska pretty comparable to Iowa from my point of view. Probably a bit more competitive. Neither has the annoyance factor of say Wisconsin.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Nebraska was a great addition.

In other news, Detroit declares bankruptcy.

[WM Wolverine]

Nebraska is as good of add via expansion as any university though A&M may prove to be more valuable in the long-run if they can build up their program, fan base if they sustain their success...

We've been over this, but I question Nebraska's ability to sustain itself as a top 10-12 program. They need a terrific hire/recruiter at HC and Pelini imo will only lead you to mediocrity (8-10 win type seasons in the age of 13 game seasons). Those type of elite coaches/recruiters aren't easy to come by but you've got the stadium, facilities, finances and boosters to land elite coaches. You guys are fortunate to have landed in the B10 'west', that should help you guys reach the B10 CCG as often as anyone and help you guys stay a top 15-20 type program or better.

Maryland & Rutgers were critical 'market'/'demographic' adds for the B10 who needed population and markets. I like both as up & coming programs due to one, Rutgers finally (circa late 80's) emphasizing its revenue sports and both programs have very good in-state talent that neither program can keep enough of said talent in-state. If those programs can start keeping more & more talent in-state, they could be Wisconsin, MSU, Iowa caliber and with the B10's revenue model of the BTN make them very valuable.

Both Maryland & Jersey have good population bases (potential for large fan support) and are the only Div I football schools in their home state. I see a lot of potential value in both and their vicinity to NYC & DC help too and the B10 very much valued more East Coast presence and IMO wanted to weaken the ACC in the process.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I don't know that they need a "terrific" recruiter. Just better than Solich & Pelini.

[WM Wolverine]

They certainly need a very good recruiter, there really isn't much talent in their region, less than 250 miles away...

When they go to Illinois to get good talent, they get 3rd/4th dibs in that state behind ND, Wisky, M, Illini/NW... There isn't a lot of talent in their surrounding states, Missouri doesn't really produce enough and what they do, they are doing a lot better job of keeping than they did when Missouri wasn't very good...

Thus the Cornhuskers need to work a lot harder at recruiting (& scouting) than any other historical 'top' program. WV has no talent in-state but they border Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia & Maryland; states that produce more than their fair share of talent. Going forward, whoever is the coach at Nebraska is going to need to both build up the brand (multiple 10+ win seasons, B10 championships, 'major' bowls) and be a very good recruiter. Pelini I don't think is the answer and the longer Nebraska is merely mediocre, the tougher it'll be to build the Nebraska brand to being a 'national' brand that attracts top recruits...

That said, the move to the West certainly helps Nebraska competitively, I don't know a whole lot about Wisky's new coach and where that program might head. I like what NW/Fitzgerald is doing and I'd take the over on them competing for the 'west' division more times than not. Iowa imo is a mess, talent is at an all-time low since Ferentz arrived. Illini probably have even less talent. Minnesota is another program in the West that I see having trouble doing much better than going .500 in conference play in a good year, barring a favorable schedule.

[Wild Hoss]

My .02...everybody needs a great coach to be great; NU is no different than anyone else in that regard. In the past couple of seasons we?ve seen teams with substantial reserves of talent like Texas, Michigan and USC completely bomb, so there is clearly more to it than players.

I don?t believe it requires some miraculous recruiter to be successful at NU either. Hell, we probably have the best collection of skill position players of any offense in the conference; recruiting cannot be such a herculean a task if a stumblebum like Bo can achieve that. We need somebody who is more intelligent and dedicated to the process, to spread those results across the roster. There are men capable of that all over the place...we just won?t hire them.

I do not mean to imply that all we have to do is plug in a decent coach and we?ll be Osbornian Nebraska again, because its not true. I do believe that we can be a lot better than we are now however, even without a transcendent coach.

[iam416]

I don't think being near or in favorable recruiting territory guarantees success (as noted, numerous programs have bombed) -- BUT, by and large you need to be near or in favorable recruiting territory to be successful. The only program that has had prolonged national success AND that is in the recruiting wilderness is Oregon.

Bad coaches can undoubtedly fuck up good talent, and good coaches can work wonders with average talent, but to get to the elite level you need good coach + good talent. And I do think recruiting is harder for UNL than programs that are "elite".

Of course, if they would just hire Chris Peterson, it'd all be good. I know Hoss, as an ardent Pelinista, is adamantly opposed to such a move, but I think it would work out. Heh