Nebraska should never have left the Big 12

[Hornius Emeritus]

Cowherd just said ---- and I agree with him ------ that of all the traditional college football bluebloods Nebraska will be the one that never returns to its former glory.

I said at the time that Nebraska was making a huge mistake leaving the Big 12 because it cut Nebraska off from recruiting Texas high schools ... and that was Nebraska's only natural recruiting base. In the Big 8, Nebraska only had to win against OU and then whatever bowl game it played in. The rest of the teams you all played were terrible. Then you joined the Big 12, where Nebraska football got exposed. Now you're playing in an even more competitive conference with fewer high-caliber recruits on your team.

It's a shame because I think Mike Riley is actually a good coach and I used to love going to Lincoln for games. But geography and demographics and reality are working against Nebraska now.

You should have never, ever left the Big 12. You'd be deeper, talentwise.

 

[WHCSC]

false

 

[4HisGlory1]

Cowherd just said ---- and I agree with him ------ that of all the traditional college football bluebloods Nebraska will be the one that never returns to its former glory.

I said at the time that Nebraska was making a huge mistake leaving the Big 12 because it cut Nebraska off from recruiting Texas high schools ... and that was Nebraska's only natural recruiting base. In the Big 8, Nebraska only had to win against OU and then whatever bowl game it played in. The rest of the teams you all played were terrible. Then you joined the Big 12, where Nebraska football got exposed. Now you're playing in an even more competitive conference with fewer high-caliber recruits on your team.

It's a shame because I think Mike Riley is actually a good coach and I used to love going to Lincoln for games. But geography and demographics and reality are working against Nebraska now.

You should have never, ever left the Big 12. You'd be deeper, talentwise.

Our demise really has nothing to do with what conference we are in. It has to do with two decades of institutional leadership failures and breakdowns. You could right a good case study on it.

 

[cubsker]

we'd be deeper if we hired a good head coach who was interested in recruiting.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

It was a good recruiting ground, but TCU and A&M in the SEC has watered that down.

 

[redfanusa]

Again with the "Nebraska needed Texas recruits" myth.

Texas was never an especially important recruiting source for Nebraska. Yes, some great players came from Texas. As they did Florida, California, New Jersey, etc.

Nebraska is not Oklahoma. Texas was never as vital to success like it was OU.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

Plus, seems Texas schools are all spreading the talent in their state already and creating no elites.

 

[HuskerNorm]

This is such an odd take since we still recruit Texas heavily. Admittedly, it's been less important during the Riley era, likely because we've been recruiting California better. However, not including this years class since we left the Big 12 in 2010 we have signed 24 guys from Texas. That's an average of 3 per year. Seems we are recruiting that area just fine.

 

[stonesak]

Funny, Texas stayed and is mired in mediocrity like we are.

 

[Hornius Emeritus]

Funny, Texas stayed and is mired in mediocrity like we are.

There's no doubt about that. But Texas will one day ascend. It's the most valuable program in college football and is located in a cool, hip city that is situated in fertile recruiting ground. It's "THE" brand name in a state that produces a ton of talented players, and is recruiting lights out.

It's just hard to see a scenario in which Nebraska returns to the elite. You might catch Iowa State lightning-in-a-bottle from time to time but there is too much stacked against you.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

There's no doubt about that. But Texas will one day ascend. It's the most valuable program in college football and is located in a cool, hip city that is situated in fertile recruiting ground. It's "THE" brand name in a state that produces a ton of talented players, and is recruiting lights out.

It's just hard to see a scenario in which Nebraska returns to the elite. You might catch Iowa State lightning-in-a-bottle from time to time but there is too much stacked against you.

Iowa state lightning in a bottle, huh? Maybe you guys can catch that Baylor lightning in a bottle they just finished.

 

[vs540husker]

There's no doubt about that. But Texas will one day ascend. It's the most valuable program in college football and is located in a cool, hip city that is situated in fertile recruiting ground. It's "THE" brand name in a state that produces a ton of talented players, and is recruiting lights out.

It's just hard to see a scenario in which Nebraska returns to the elite. You might catch Iowa State lightning-in-a-bottle from time to time but there is too much stacked against you.

 

[iclone]

Iowa state lightning in a bottle, huh? Maybe you guys can catch that Baylor lightning in a bottle they just finished.

 

[HuskerHusaria]

Cowherd just said ---- and I agree with him ------ that of all the traditional college football bluebloods Nebraska will be the one that never returns to its former glory.

I said at the time that Nebraska was making a huge mistake leaving the Big 12 because it cut Nebraska off from recruiting Texas high schools ... and that was Nebraska's only natural recruiting base. In the Big 8, Nebraska only had to win against OU and then whatever bowl game it played in. The rest of the teams you all played were terrible. Then you joined the Big 12, where Nebraska football got exposed. Now you're playing in an even more competitive conference with fewer high-caliber recruits on your team.

It's a shame because I think Mike Riley is actually a good coach and I used to love going to Lincoln for games. But geography and demographics and reality are working against Nebraska now.

You should have never, ever left the Big 12. You'd be deeper, talentwise.

I stopped reading at Cowherd. Coward has always taken a negative stance on Nebraska for any sort of headline.

Besides, he's more of a troll, like Bayless anyway.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

View embedded media

that the lightning in a bottle? More like static electricity.

 

[Harry Caray]

We play in one of the easier conferences in college football. All we have to do is hire a coach that's competent enough to beat Wisconsin and Iowa, and we will be relevant again.

 

[mgbreis]

If Texas ascends it's because you finally got the right guy. Simple as that. I don't believe in the whole "our city is cool" and "there's a bunch of great recruits in our state" argument. Hell, Texas is living proof of that being a fallacy. If Nebraska has or gets the right guy, we're right back in it, period. If we don't, cue the diarrhea. And it has nothing to do with what conference we're in. All of that debate I'll file under "excuses" with a second copy under "distractions".

 

[Chief Wiggum]

Even in the dark days of the present, I'd still much rather be in the B1G than that cesspool Big XII...like comparing a Mercedes Benz to a Ford Escort. And your perception of the old Big 8, Nebraska only having to beat one team is basically how everyone views Texas in the Big XII now. Of course back in the old Big 8 days, we actually did beat OU plenty....Texas beating OU in the Big XII, not so much.

 

[Mack In Motion]

I stopped reading at Cowherd. Coward has always taken a negative stance on Nebraska for any sort of headline.

Besides, he's more of a troll, like Bayless anyway.

Guys like cowherd don't say those kinds of things about programs in populous areas for obvious reasons. Funny that Texas might finally make its rise -- how? By firing a mediocre coach and going after an A lister up and comer.

 

[jimbosc]

Cowturd says things to create discussion - he is way off on this one. Big 12 was blowing up so we bailed to safer waters. Texas recruiting is the problem?? Holy cripes he has no clue. We are making way more money in the Big 10 with a shared ownership in BTN....sorry Cowturd go jump in a lake.

 

[LBremser]

In the Big 8, Nebraska only had to win against OU and then whatever bowl game it played in. The rest of the teams you all played were terrible.

That is a misconception because NU and OU were so dominate. When NU won the NC in 1971, OU was #2 and #3 was - Colorado. During the last 10 seasons of the Big 8, Colorado finished in the top 25 seven times, with finishes at #3, #4, #5 and a NC in 1990. KSU had 3 top 25 finishes and both KU and OSU had two.

 

[sparky62]

You'd be deeper, talentwise.

We'd be deeper talent wise if BP would have actually done his job recruiting.

 

[Hornius Emeritus]

Well, the proof is in the pudding. I can't imagine any Nebraska Big-12 Nebraska team losing to Northern Illinois.

 

[Hawkeye King]

We play in one of the easier conferences in college football. All we have to do is hire a coach that's competent enough to beat Wisconsin and Iowa, and we will be relevant again.

Good luck with that...

 

[PlanOUred]

Cowherd just said ---- and I agree with him ------ that of all the traditional college football bluebloods Nebraska will be the one that never returns to its former glory.

I said at the time that Nebraska was making a huge mistake leaving the Big 12 because it cut Nebraska off from recruiting Texas high schools ... and that was Nebraska's only natural recruiting base. In the Big 8, Nebraska only had to win against OU and then whatever bowl game it played in. The rest of the teams you all played were terrible. Then you joined the Big 12, where Nebraska football got exposed. Now you're playing in an even more competitive conference with fewer high-caliber recruits on your team.

It's a shame because I think Mike Riley is actually a good coach and I used to love going to Lincoln for games. But geography and demographics and reality are working against Nebraska now.

You should have never, ever left the Big 12. You'd be deeper, talentwise.

As an OU fan I disagree. I think NU made the right move by going to the Big 10. NU is more culturally aligned to the schools in the Big 10 West than they were in the Big 12. Plus there was an opportunity for NU to make more money in that conference....which I hate seeing college sports having to go in that direction. I like tradition more than just making money....at least for the schools I root for.

College football has changed significantly in the last 20/25 years. Recruiting restrictions, scholarship limits, academic requirements, TV exposure for all schools, and other changes have changed the landscape of college football. It has leveled out the balance of power for many of the schools today. Can schools come back from slumps in today's landscape....sure. Schools such as Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas (even though they are in a slump now....but look out in the coming years), Southern Cal, Ohio State, and Florida State. All have come back from slumps of varying degrees in the past. However, most if not all of those schools are either in or very near recruiting hotbeds. That really helps a school to bounce back. Playing close to home is always an attraction for a recruit or at least a very important factor....not always but in most cases.

Can Nebraska recover and become relevant again....sure but it won't be as easy as the schools mentioned above because of location, but it is possible if you get the right coach. When selecting a new coach everyone has their opinion and for a variety of reasons. But, I think a good candidate would be Mark Stoops from Kentucky. He has done a good jog at Kentucky and they were as low as Nebraska is when he took over. He now has them respectable. I don't know if you could pull him away from Kentucky and the SEC but it might be someone to look at.

 

[little a]

Cowherd just said ---- and I agree with him ------ that of all the traditional college football bluebloods Nebraska will be the one that never returns to its former glory.

I said at the time that Nebraska was making a huge mistake leaving the Big 12 because it cut Nebraska off from recruiting Texas high schools ... and that was Nebraska's only natural recruiting base. In the Big 8, Nebraska only had to win against OU and then whatever bowl game it played in. The rest of the teams you all played were terrible. Then you joined the Big 12, where Nebraska football got exposed. Now you're playing in an even more competitive conference with fewer high-caliber recruits on your team.

It's a shame because I think Mike Riley is actually a good coach and I used to love going to Lincoln for games. But geography and demographics and reality are working against Nebraska now.

You should have never, ever left the Big 12. You'd be deeper, talentwise.

I'm sorry but you had me till you said that Mike Riley is a "good coach". Good man- yes , good coach-no.

 

[Mack In Motion]

Well, the proof is in the pudding. I can't imagine any Nebraska Big-12 Nebraska team losing to Northern Illinois.

And I can't imagine a B12 Texas losing to winless Kansas either, causing the coach to be fired, but sometimes it happens.

Conference affiliation has nothing to do with it.

 

[Harry Caray]

Good luck with that...

Bo Pelini beat Iowa 3 out of 4 years. An actual good coach should have no problem beating Iowa every year.

 

[cubsker]

Well, the proof is in the pudding. I can't imagine any Nebraska Big-12 Nebraska team losing to Northern Illinois.

well, i couldn't imagine any texas big 12 team losing to kansas, but here we are.

 

[Charlie Marlow]

Epic fail, OP

 

[maplesyrup95]

I stopped reading at Cowherd. Coward has always taken a negative stance on Nebraska for any sort of headline.

Besides, he's more of a troll, like Bayless anyway.

That's actually false. No he isn't the biggest fan of Nebraska but he compared the dynasty of the current New England Patriots to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 90s.

 

[nu2u]

I said at the time that Nebraska was making a huge mistake leaving the Big 12 because it cut Nebraska off from recruiting Texas high schools ...

Is there some kind of rule prohibiting Nebraska from recruiting Texas high schools now? A clause in the Big12 Charter? A statute passed the Texas legislature?

A number of B10 teams recruit Texas so what's the problem. If anything, Nebraska should have a leg up over other B10 teams since they have had a lot of previous exposure there.

 

[Charlie Marlow]

Not to mention we had more than our fair share of busts from texass

 

[Hornius Emeritus]

well, i couldn't imagine any texas big 12 team losing to kansas, but here we are.

That, of course, doesn't address Cowherd's point or mine. There's no doubt Texas has been down. Texas has had stretches before when it's been down. But Texas always gets back up and will again. It might not be this year, but it will return. Too much money, too many people, too many players in Texas for it to be anything other than inevitable. Cowherd's point is that for various reasons Nebraska has lost its luster and is going to have a very hard time recovering it.

Mark my words: 20 years from now you'll all be saying that, at least in terms of football, leaving the B-12 was a mistake. Is it just coincidence that Nebraska's slide into mediocrity has accompanied its move into the Big-10?

I agree with the Sooner that Nebraska definitely is more of an Iowa/Kansas type, though so, culturally, Nebraska probably does fit in better with its midwestern brethren.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

That, of course, doesn't address Cowherd's point or mine. There's no doubt Texas has been down. Texas has had stretches before when it's been down. But Texas always gets back up and will again. It might not be this year, but it will return. Too much money, too many people, too many players in Texas for it to be anything other than inevitable. Cowherd's point is that for various reasons Nebraska has lost its luster and is going to have a very hard time recovering it.

Mark my words: 20 years from now you'll all be saying that, at least in terms of football, leaving the B-12 was a mistake. Is it just coincidence that Nebraska's slide into mediocrity has accompanied its move into the Big-10?

I agree with the Sooner that Nebraska definitely is more of an Iowa/Kansas type, though so, culturally, Nebraska probably does fit in better with its midwestern brethren.

They slid into mediocrity when the shitty big 12 was formed around UTs nuts.

 

[Bugeater]

All that talent in the state of Texas, yet how many NC's have ALL the D-1 teams in Texas combined won in the last 40-45 years? ONE! That is all.

Besides, I believe UNL had 3 commits from TX for 2017. About par for the course.

 

[NikkiSixx]

I don't think it is so much about losing recruits from Texas. That is not the reason I feel we made a mistake by going to the B1G. To me, it's a massive erosion of identity when you do something like that. It's like flushing all your history down the drain.

We could go play Kansas State next week, and it would still send a psychological message to that team from all those years of beatings over and over again. Sure there are upsets from time to time, but Nebraska had long been established in the league.

With the move to the B1G, none of that prior history mattered for anything. Nebraska had to re-establish itself. If we had a great coach during this time, it could have been done, but we have not. So what happens is Nebraska establishes itself as a mid tier program in the weaker west division. That's the reality of it.

Sure the money is probably good this year, but at what cost to the perception, identity, and future success of the program? Was it all worth it? No, I don't think it was.

 

[nwualum]

Texas sucks.
Kansas State sucks.
Iowa sucks.

 

[NorthWillRiseAgain]

I don't think it is so much about losing recruits from Texas. That is not the reason I feel we made a mistake by going to the B1G. To me, it's a massive erosion of identity when you do something like that. It's like flushing all your history down the drain.

We could go play Kansas State next week, and it would still send a psychological message to that team from all those years of beatings over and over again. Sure there are upsets from time to time, but Nebraska had long been established in the league.

With the move to the B1G, none of that prior history mattered for anything. Nebraska had to re-establish itself. If we had a great coach during this time, it could have been done, but we have not. So what happens is Nebraska establishes itself as a mid tier program in the weaker west division. That's the reality of it.

Sure the money is probably good this year, but at what cost to the perception, identity, and future success of the program? Was it all worth it? No, I don't think it was.

Now, I do agree with this. There was a natural order of history that was at Nebraska's side in the big 12.

It was fading in the Big 12 even. At this point it would of had to been rebuilt in either conference.

 

[regoratsginrom]

I have always thought Nebraska made a big mistake by leaving the B12. It was at that point that we lost our identity as a program. While the B1G has some prestige to it, I don't feel like we've ever really fit in...and I couldn't give two sh*ts about the majority of the schools in this conference. Sure, Michigan and Ohio State are cool...after that, who cares? Seriously. Moving to the B1G has hurt our fans in many ways both in terms of travelling, rivalries, caring about what's going on. And I don't buy the $$ aspect. Yes, we're making a lot of money in the B1G. However, you can't tell me that a Big 12 conference that featured Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska wouldn't have had very lucrative TV deals as well. Much of the Big 12's issues (perceived or otherwise) are a RESULT of Nebraska and Missouri leaving the conference. Yes, Texas wanted to throw its weight around, but you know what...so did Nebraska. We voted WITH Texas to not have equal revenue sharing among the conference. We got our feelings hurt because we couldn't beat them a few times and we took our ball and went elsewhere. Not a popular opinion but had we stuck it out and demanded our (rightful) seat at the table, the Big 12 would have been just fine. Missouri HATES being in the SEC. They've become totally irrelevant...they've lost the Kansas City market and they are pining for old rivalries (KU and K-State in particular). I know I'm in the minority, but I truly believe we've made our own bed as it relates to our conference. We've let our identity slip away and it's now affecting our play on the field. My two (unpopular) cents.