Below is the truth about our past and that of the Big Eight/XII. If you're not a new Iowa troll, then you've probably read it. Reading twice is always best, however.
I think any fair analysis would say that Nebraska was a national championship program (as
@Etalicus noted above) during that 40-year period, no matter the strength of the Big Eight.
My POST FROM OCTOBER
To imply that Nebraska during its four decades of dominance (roughly 1962 through 2001) was simply riding an easy schedule into the post-season — a la UCF in 2017 — is an ill-informed argument.
The chart at this link shows that the Big Eight was a better conference throughout the 1970s than the Big Ten and remained better through the 1980s and into the 1990s. The Big Ten was slightly better than the Big Eight/XII during Nebraska's 60-3 five-year run from 1993-1997. But Nebraska was crushing SEC teams for national championships and in other bowls during that period when the SEC took over as the best conference : 1963 over Auburn, 1969 over Georgia, 1970 over LSU, 1971 over Alabama, 1974 over Florida, 1980 over Mississippi State, 1982 over LSU, 1984 over LSU, 1986 over LSU, 1995 over Florida, 1997 over Tennessee and 1999 over Tennessee. I'm not even including regular-season victories against Auburn and Alabama.
I think any fair analysis would say that Nebraska was a national championship program during that 40-year period, no matter the strength of the Big Eight. From 1965 through 2001, Nebraska played in 10 bowl games where a win would mean a title. We won five of those.
Let's look at the Big Eight/XII during those 10 seasons in which Nebraska played for a national title:
- 1965: The Big Eight was the sixth-best conference (Big Ten was second), Nebraska went 10-0 in the regular season, including a 37-0 victory over Wisconsin. We lost to Alabama 39-28 in the Orange Bowl.
- 1970: The Big Eight was the top-ranked conference (Big Ten was fifth), Nebraska went 10-0-1 in the regular season, including a 35-10 victory over Minnesota. We defeated LSU 17-12 in the Orange Bowl.
- 1971: The Big Eight was the top-ranked conference (Big Ten was fourth), Nebraska went 12-0 in the regular season, including a 35-7 victory over Minnesota. We defeated Alabama 38-6 in the Orange Bowl.
- 1981: The Big Eight was the third-ranked conference (Big Ten was sixth), Nebraska went 9-2 in the regular season, including a 10-7 loss to Iowa. We lost to Clemson 22-15 in the Orange Bowl.
- 1983: The Big Eight was the second-ranked conference (Big Ten was fourth), Nebraska went 12-0 in the regular season, including an 84-13 victory over Minnesota. We lost 31-30 to Miami in the Orange Bowl.
- 1993: The Big Eight was the second-ranked conference (Big Ten was third), Nebraska went 11-0 in the regular season. We lost to Florida State 18-16 in the Orange Bowl.
- 1994: The Big Eight was the fourth-ranked conference (Big Ten was first), Nebraska went 12-0 in the regular season. We defeated Miami 24-17 in the Orange Bowl.
- 1995: The Big Eight was the second-ranked conference (Big Ten was first), Nebraska went 11-0 in the regular season, including a 50-10 victory over Michigan State. We defeated Florida 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl.
- 1997: The Big XII was the fifth-ranked conference (Big Ten was first), Nebraska went 12-0 in the regular season. We defeated Tennessee 42-17 in the Orange Bowl.
- 2001: The Big XII was the second-ranked conference (Big Ten was fifth), Nebraska went 11-1 in the regular season. We lost 37-14 to Miami in the Rose Bowl.
Now let's look at the conference ratings during those seasons in which Iowa played for a national championship:
The Big Eight/XII was at least as good as the Big Ten during Nebraska's long run of championship contention.
What are we now? Not very good. But we can still cherish the past without some Hawkeye/Boiler/Buckeye/Wolverine/Badger illegitimately pissing in our Corn Flakes.
We cherish the past, live in the dismal present, and hope for a brighter future.
