[Husker] B1G Realignment

Wed Mar 20 10:32:47 CDT 2013

Initially I didn't like this alignment. It does look "weaker".  And I think it'd be cool to play Michigan every year. Don't care about Ohio St. or Michigan State as far as playing them every year, but I was looking forward to a budding rivalry with Michigan.  

But then when you look at it, we DON'T have to play PSU every year, which is fine by me. And yet, we WILL be seeing 3 teams from the East every year, and that means there will be at least 1, probably 2 and sometimes 3 VERY good teams added to our Big 10 schedule every year.  We'll see how it goes, but what if the schedulers in their infinite wisdom gave us Mich, Mich State and Ohio State during a certain year?  Add that to our West conference where Wisky will always be a pest, Iowa/Northwestern/Purdue could be decent, and it becomes a really hard schedule. Granted, those teams in the East will be facing a similar gauntlet.  But being in the East, at least at the state of the current Big 10 landscape, looks like an easier minefield to maneuver to get into the championship game.

Two things I DON'T like about this alignment:

-having to play Wisky every year. Having been there, I have a big distaste for those guys already. Nasty, nasty fan base.
-Eastern teams having a recruiting advantage for East coast kids.  "Come play in our division so your parents can see you play."

Rod W.
Sioux City, Ia.

On Mar 20, 2013, at 10:18 AM, Nick Chevance <nickchevance at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, somebody convince me that this isn't a reasonable alignment, and
> that it doesn't help Nebraska in a certain respect.  And I don't
> understand the argument about interesting games.  Did interest fall
> off when it was Nebraska and Oklahoma followed by the rest of the Big
> 8?  Did interest fall off when it was Nebraska and occasionally
> Colorado or Missouri and the rest of the Big 12 North?  I think
> Nebraska fans don't seem to be too bothered by spending their good,
> hard-earned money on games against lesser opponents.  Even if the
> season ticket holder doesn't go, the vast majority of those seats have
> butts in them.  I know that for a fact because I've put my own
> personal butt in those seats for those 'less interesting' games.
> Heck, I've got Wyoming tickets for this year only because it might be
> the only game I get to see this year.  Would I love it to be Ohio
> State instead.  Sure, I'm not stupid, but I think a lot of Husker fans
> believe that seeing Wyoming in person is better than watching them all
> on TV.
> 
> But with the realignment in the B1G, with a 9 conference game
> schedule, we play each of the West conference foes (Wisconsin,
> Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota, and (Purdue).  While they
> aren't the big guys of the B1G, you still have to go out there and
> play them and beat them.  The other 3 conference games will come from
> the East conference pool.  On average we're going to play one or more
> of the big guys every year.  And while I'd argue that the East
> conference is probably a bit tougher, it means we have a slightly
> better chance of making it to the B1G Championship every year because
> our half of the conference won't be quite as tough.
> 
> But it all comes down to winning games, regardless of who you play.
> Beat everyone you play, and your chances improve greatly.  Become the
> B1G Champions, you aren't likely to be left out of a playoff slot.
> But drop a game against, say, Northwestern or Minnesota at home, you
> probably don't belong in the discussion of champions.
> 
> Nick
> 
> On Wed, Mar 20, 2013 at 9:44 AM, Jay Schlechte <schlechtejs at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I don't see how that can happen if the conference truly values competitive
>> balance.  That just looks ugly with one or two games that appear
>> interesting versus 3-4 every year with PSU, MU and MSU dropping off and
>> being replaced by UW...
>> 
>> Lousy move if it happens.
>> 
>> GBR,
>> 
>> Jay
>> 
>> On Wed, Mar 20, 2013 at 9:34 AM, Dave Ratchford <ratchfromneb at gmail.com>wrote:
>> 
>>> Many wanted east-west divisions and there they are.  Welcome to the Big 12
>>> North.  Good news for all those who have come to the point where they hope
>>> the Huskers get as easy a schedule as possible.  Ugh.  Pair this with the
>>> sad state of our non-conference schedule and you get a pretty sad mix.
>>> Hopefully, 9-10 conference games will help off-set this mess with some
>>> quality/interesting opponents from the other division.  The one game that I
>>> never hear folks talk about is the Michigan game.  I would want to protect
>>> that game every year over any other conference opponent.  Two historic
>>> programs and it televises so well!  Those red and white unis vs. the blue
>>> and gold...hi-def football never looked so good.  A great annual match if
>>> there ever was one.
>>> 
>>> Dave
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Wed, Mar 20, 2013 at 12:50 AM, Dick Karre <dkarre at comcast.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Adam Rittenburg says the B1G will realign geographically in 2014 when
>>>> Maryland and Rutgers come on board. The west division would include the
>>> six
>>>> central time zone teams (Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois
>>> and
>>>> Northwestern) plus either Indiana or Purdue (he predicts Purdue). Though
>>>> others have projected Michigan State moving west, he believes that won't
>>>> happen. He also says that Indiana-Purdue will be the only protected
>>>> cross-division rivalry.
>>>> http://espn.go.com/blog/**bigten/post/_/id/73332/**
>>>> divisions-debate-down-to-**indiana-purdue<
>>> http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/73332/divisions-debate-down-to-indiana-purdue
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Dick Karre
>>>> dkarre at comcast.net
>>>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick
> themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened."
>     Winston Churchill
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