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When we say "we don't fit in the B1G", what exactly do we mean?

I understand, people like the familiar. But stop and think, did you like playing KU and ISU because they are close and we have so much in common with them, or because we always beat them? When I hear we need to "return to the Big XII" I can't help but wonder if people don't really miss being a big fish in a little pond.

I think this is a big part of it. It doesn't matter that ISU is pretty good right now. Most Nebraska fans memories of the old Big 8 is pounding 6 of the teams in it on a yearly basis, and that was fun. It was fun to drive down to Lawrence or Manhattan with 25000 fans, drink all the bars out of beer and pound the other school by 35. Then drive home. I know for me that was a big part of it and I only caught the tail end of the era when I was old enough to do that.

It was close and we always won. Its not nearly as fun to travel a long ways and get your arse kicked.
The SCHOOLS in the B1G are heavily liberal-leaning elitist group of schools.

The STATES (and the people in those states) of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio and even Michigan are much more similar culturally than Texas and Oklahoma. Midwestern, blue-collar, loyal, singularly devoted and hard-working people.

UNL doesn't necessarily fit with Michigan or Northwestern ... who view themselves more akin to Harvard/Stanford ... but the state of Wisconsin is heavily "Nebraska-like" in so many regards.

The closest fit to any of the schools in the B1G academically, culturally and size wise is Iowa and then probably Illinois. Most of the B1G schools are huge. They have upwards of 40-50 thousand students except for NW. The rest of the schools in the B1G think of themselves as just a half a step below an Ivy League school at the least and some think of themselves as being equal to an Ivy League School.

The people of these states may think a lot like people in Nebraska, but they send there sons and daughters to B1G schools to become "civilized" like people on the East Coast. I grew up in SW Iowa. Closer to Lincoln than to Iowa City. Two girls in my class that I was very good friends with went to Iowa to school. I went to Nebraska Wesleyan then Northwest Missouri State. I went and visited them in early November of our freshman year and to go to a FB game. It was amazing to me how much they had changed in that short of time. They were "Big 10" students. Go over to any of the boards from other B1G schools and they just ooze the feeling of superiority. I don't know if students at Nebraska are getting this way or not, but I would think they will eventually.

Nebraska is new to the B1G and will be treated like the new kid for a long time. PSU has been a member for almost 30 years and is just now being treated as an equal.

With all that being said I don't want to go back to the Big 12. It will never be the same. Things have changed. Winning will help may us feel more at home in the B1G.
 
I think this is a big part of it. It doesn't matter that ISU is pretty good right now. Most Nebraska fans memories of the old Big 8 is pounding 6 of the teams in it on a yearly basis, and that was fun. It was fun to drive down to Lawrence or Manhattan with 25000 fans, drink all the bars out of beer and pound the other school by 35. Then drive home. I know for me that was a big part of it and I only caught the tail end of the era when I was old enough to do that.

It was close and we always won. Its not nearly as fun to travel a long ways and get your arse kicked.


The closest fit to any of the schools in the B1G academically, culturally and size wise is Iowa and then probably Illinois. Most of the B1G schools are huge. They have upwards of 40-50 thousand students except for NW. The rest of the schools in the B1G think of themselves as just a half a step below an Ivy League school at the least and some think of themselves as being equal to an Ivy League School.

The people of these states may think a lot like people in Nebraska, but they send there sons and daughters to B1G schools to become "civilized" like people on the East Coast. I grew up in SW Iowa. Closer to Lincoln than to Iowa City. Two girls in my class that I was very good friends with went to Iowa to school. I went to Nebraska Wesleyan then Northwest Missouri State. I went and visited them in early November of our freshman year and to go to a FB game. It was amazing to me how much they had changed in that short of time. They were "Big 10" students. Go over to any of the boards from other B1G schools and they just ooze the feeling of superiority. I don't know if students at Nebraska are getting this way or not, but I would think they will eventually.

Nebraska is new to the B1G and will be treated like the new kid for a long time. PSU has been a member for almost 30 years and is just now being treated as an equal.

With all that being said I don't want to go back to the Big 12. It will never be the same. Things have changed. Winning will help may us feel more at home in the B1G.
Dog me up.
 
Nebraska is to the Big 10 is what Colorado was to the Big 8. Pretty much isolated from the rest of the conference.

Being the "outpost" does make it difficult but I feel that there can be three natural rivalries:
  • Iowa - easy.
  • Minnesota - We were rivals in the first half of the 1900's, and regular opponents through 1990.
  • Wisconsin - The new Oklahoma - "who's the real Big Red" - beef production vs dairy production. Plus Madison and Norman are pretty much the exact same distance from Lincoln.
Now, these schools all have more established rivals, we just need to win a bit to force our way in. It becomes real when the stakes are real.
 



The closest fit to any of the schools in the B1G academically, culturally and size wise is Iowa and then probably Illinois. Most of the B1G schools are huge. They have upwards of 40-50 thousand students except for NW. The rest of the schools in the B1G think of themselves as just a half a step below an Ivy League school at the least and some think of themselves as being equal to an Ivy League School.

The people of these states may think a lot like people in Nebraska, but they send there sons and daughters to B1G schools to become "civilized" like people on the East Coast. I grew up in SW Iowa. Closer to Lincoln than to Iowa City. Two girls in my class that I was very good friends with went to Iowa to school. I went to Nebraska Wesleyan then Northwest Missouri State. I went and visited them in early November of our freshman year and to go to a FB game. It was amazing to me how much they had changed in that short of time. They were "Big 10" students. Go over to any of the boards from other B1G schools and they just ooze the feeling of superiority. I don't know if students at Nebraska are getting this way or not, but I would think they will eventually.

Nebraska is new to the B1G and will be treated like the new kid for a long time. PSU has been a member for almost 30 years and is just now being treated as an equal.

With all that being said I don't want to go back to the Big 12. It will never be the same. Things have changed. Winning will help may us feel more at home in the B1G.
I know many students who went to Madison for school ... what is interesting to me is that most go through this "culture" change while at school and when they return to the real world they do so with some sensibilities to their original roots.

Don't get me wrong ... many, if not most, have an air of superiority compared to students at their sister schools in Wisconsin - Marquette, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Whitewater as well as Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. Same thing exists for Iowa ... they look down upon Iowa State with similar disdain.

I think the culture in and around the schools ... very liberal academia's, typically located in very Democratic cities, surrounded by a very biased perspective that rarely allows for dissenting opinions ... is greater at these B1G schools then they are in Lincoln.

Nevertheless I believe Nebraska and Nebraskans are similar to people from Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois (excluding Chicago), Minnesota, Indiana ... as such no reason to consider leaving the B1G. There certainly nothing in the B12 that is appealing enough to leave.
 
I agree that winning makes a difference but geographically we fit much better in the Big 12. Do we really enjoy traveling halfway through the U.S for all our games? We are the only team that is not a member of the AAU in the Big 10. While Texas had the biggest voice in the big 12, we were either number 2 or 3. We rank much further down the line in the Big 10. Ohio State runs this conference followed by Michigan. Politics do play a role just consider the 2020 football season and see how the Big 12 did things and how the Big 10 did things. Traditional rivals do matter. The Nebraska Kansas rivalry was I believe the 2nd longest rivalry in college football before we left the big 12. Yes we wooped them most of the time and no they werent our main rival, but in the big 12 we had rivals that we played every year for decades and decades. I know Oklahoma Rivalry got ruined to not be annually but that was a great rivalry. Even if Nebraska gets competitive again, which big 10 teams are going to give us that type of rivalry.

At the time, it may have been the right decision to leave the Big 12. I do wonder if there would ever do a time to rejoin the big 12 or create a new conference with central us states.
 
I know many students who went to Madison for school ... what is interesting to me is that most go through this "culture" change while at school and when they return to the real world they do so with some sensibilities to their original roots.

Don't get me wrong ... many, if not most, have an air of superiority compared to students at their sister schools in Wisconsin - Marquette, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Whitewater as well as Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. Same thing exists for Iowa ... they look down upon Iowa State with similar disdain.

I think the culture in and around the schools ... very liberal academia's, typically located in very Democratic cities, surrounded by a very biased perspective that rarely allows for dissenting opinions ... is greater at these B1G schools then they are in Lincoln.

Nevertheless I believe Nebraska and Nebraskans are similar to people from Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois (excluding Chicago), Minnesota, Indiana ... as such no reason to consider leaving the B1G. There certainly nothing in the B12 that is appealing enough to leave.


I know many students who went to Madison for school ... what is interesting to me is that most go through this "culture" change while at school and when they return to the real world they do so with some sensibilities to their original roots.

Don't get me wrong ... many, if not most, have an air of superiority compared to students at their sister schools in Wisconsin - Marquette, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Whitewater as well as Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. Same thing exists for Iowa ... they look down upon Iowa State with similar disdain.

I think the culture in and around the schools ... very liberal academia's, typically located in very Democratic cities, surrounded by a very biased perspective that rarely allows for dissenting opinions ... is greater at these B1G schools then they are in Lincoln.

Nevertheless I believe Nebraska and Nebraskans are similar to people from Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois (excluding Chicago), Minnesota, Indiana ... as such no reason to consider leaving the B1G. There certainly nothing in the B12 that is appealing enough to leave.

I like to frequent the Wisconsin board called Buckyville. There "Bacon Board" as they call it is somewhat entertaining. Some of their topics are pretty good. I wouldn't dare go to their political board. Anyway you can definitely get the vibe that they feel they got a superior education because they went to school in Madison Wisconsin.
 
At the time, it may have been the right decision to leave the Big 12. I do wonder if there would ever do a time to rejoin the big 12 or create a new conference with central us states.
I just don't think there are enough TV sets nor enough blue bloods to form a separate "central US" conference.

What do you have Kansas City (#34), St. Louis (#23), Denver (#16), Omaha (#72) ... you have to go further East and South to get anything substantial which broaches into the B1G and B12 territories ... and no one is leaving those conferences any time soon.

You just wonder if the dynamic will ever change that lessens TV revenues ... will declining viewership ever get to a point where TV revenues aren't the straw that stirs the drink?
 



IF DONU starts winning regularly, we'll fit just fine. :Sign2cents:

now on to subjective "feelings" -> I do miss our Big 8 neighbors... would say I tolerated the B12 - definitely like the B1G more than the SWC refugees / Tejas schools that the B8 bailed out - don't miss them at all.

As for adjustments, believe I'm doing my part - definitely dislike Iowa, can't stand Wisconsin & Michigan + the boat rower, absolutely loathe State Penn. Meh to most of the rest. Could care less about Rutgers & Maryland.... two of the triplets + the Peter brothers hail from NJ, so couldn't be a bad thing to restore some connections on the east coast. Me thinks the FBS/P5 schools aren't long for status quo... feeling big conference / NCAA changes are on the horizon... so this might all change soon anyway.
 
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Just wanted to say I appreciate the conversation we are having. It's been quite civil and I am better understanding how some people are feeling, even though I may not completely agree in every case.

Please, continue :)
 
When it was the Big 8, it was a good cultural fit, because OU and OSU were the outliers.

Big 12 dramatically skewed it to a Texas-centric model, thereby completely destroying the cultural fit for Nebraska and the other 4 “Northern” schools. (not counting Mizzou). It essentially became a “Southern” conference, so B1G is a far better cultural fit for Nebraska than the Big12 is now.

If we talk athletically, as others have pointed out, it’s sport dependent. Volleyball perfect, baseball not. Wrestling perfect, men’s basketball/football not as much?
 
Is this us in the B1G?


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