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Reality check....that I never really thought of.

Sep 22, 2015
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We now reside in the B1G conference. Arguably the most powerful conference in all of college football due to the size of it, and the money involved.

Let us think about what that actually means. Here is who and what we have, I'm also going to list size, stadium size, revenue, etc. Student Body size, etc.(reason being, because it shows the difference in fan base, and alumni potential)

I didn't include conference titles, because with so many new teams in this conference, it's not truly applicable, because some of them were not won here. Penn state, US, Rutgers, Maryland,..

-Ohio State, 8 claimed National Titles, 64,000 Students, Stadium-The Horseshoe, 104,000+ capacity,
-Michigan, 11 claimed National Titles, 43,000 Students, Stadium-The Big House, 105,000+ capacity
-Penn State, 2 claimed National Titles, 97,000 students, Stadium-Beaver Stadium, 106,000+ capacity
-Michigan State, 6 claimed National Titles, 50,000 students, Stadium-Spartan Stadium, 75,000+ capacity
-Wisconsin, 0 claimed National Titles, 43,000 students, Stadium-Camp Randall, 80,000+ capacity
-Iowa, 2 claimed national Titles, 32, 000 students, Stadium-Kinnick, 70,000+ capacity
-Minnesota,7 claimed national Titles, 51,000 students, Stadium-TCF Stadium, 52,000+ capacity
-Indiana, 0 claimed National titles, 110,000 students, Stadium-Memorial Stadium, 52,000+ capacity
-Purdue, 0 claimed National titles, 38,000 students, Stadium-Ross ade stadium, 57,000+ capacity
-Northwestern,0 National titles, 9,000 students(had no idea, wow), Stadium-Ryan Field, 47,000+ capacity
-Rutgers, 1 claimed National titles, 65,000 students, Stadium-High Point, 52,000+ capacity
-Maryland, 1 claimed National Titles, 37,000 students, Stadium-Byrd Stadium, 54,000+capacity

Now lets compare that to Nebraska:

-Nebraska, 5 claimed National Titles, 24,000 students, Stadium Memorial Stadium, 87,000+ capacity

Now that is pretty damn respectable. But we have to also understand what we are up against, and we also have to understand that we are in new territory here. It has only been 4 years, and we have yet to hit a high. We have a lot of money to deal with in this conference. As a matter of fact, our conference is the richest conference in the land, yes that includes the SEC. I honestly didn't know that.

We have 4 schools ahead of us in revenue. Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan and of course Ohio State. Along with them the Spartans and the Hawkeyes are neck and neck with us. It seems to rotate year in and year out with those two. So that would make us 5th at best.

Quite simply we are technically outgunned, in the sense that we have AT LEAST 4 schools with superior advantages. Alumni, money, exposure, facilities, etc. Then we have 2 schools who again, are neck and neck with us in that regard. The facility race is causing all teams to upgrade, and the momentum is shifting so fast it is hard to keep up. Michigan and OSU will always have superior facilites, it makes sense, they have a lot more money to play with. Iowa just upgrade, Wiscy is upgrading and so is MSU from what I've heard. Then of course you have PSU, but let's face it, they are able to get as good as facilites as they wish to have.

In short, what I'm saying, is that this is a new era, and we have schools all around us, that are capable of giving us a run for our money at every turn. It's just the way it is now.
 
It may be "just the way it is now" - but I'd be interested to know if it was any different in the 90's. I suspect not with regard to $$ & resources.

A stable competent coaching staff who wins will get more recruits which will lead to more wins and hopefully a fortuitous cycle.....hopefully we are on the right trajectory.
 
It may be "just the way it is now" - but I'd be interested to know if it was any different in the 90's. I suspect not with regard to $$ & resources.

A stable competent coaching staff who wins will get more recruits which will lead to more wins and hopefully a fortuitous cycle.....hopefully we are on the right trajectory.
What do you mean in the 90's? When we joined the Big 12? or during the Big 8? or both?
 
What do you mean in the 90's? When we joined the Big 12? or during the Big 8? or both?
Either one really - my point only is that when we were really dominant we had the same disadvantages with respect to the original post - or at least that's my suspicion.
 
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Most of them, Indiana has about 40k and 32k undergrad, not 110k. Penn St does not have 97k students. I think you may be seeing numbers within the system not the BIG school. Mich is closer to 50k.
 
Either one really - my point only is that when we were really dominant we had the same disadvantages with respect to the original post - or at least that's my suspicion.
I disagree, I believe we have more disadvantages now. Texas and Oklahoma were our main problems in the 12. In the Big 8 it was Oklahoma, as they were the main threat by far.
 
Do the numbers based on undergrad and not the university system. Purdue is 30k
 
Most of them, Indiana has about 40k and 32k undergrad, not 110k. Penn St does not have 97k students. I think you may be seeing numbers within the system not the BIG school. Michigan is closer to 50k.
Ah, you are right, but I was including all colleges directly connecting to the Universities. Indiana holds 42,000 in bloomington. I don't know what the main PSU campus is to be able to give a total.
 
Do the numbers based on undergrad and not the university system. Purdue is 30k
I'm including all, because all students are considered revenue. Revenue is what I'm aiming for. No student is going to school for free. Either way, we are a big disadvantage to most of the B1G schools in that area.
 
Mich and Ohio St are 2 of the biggest in country with Tex I believe
 
If you want to talk money look at alumni base which will reflect total population. But even with that you must consider donations, some don't match their alumni base, see Rutgers in terms of athletics.
 
Just stop with the exaggerated numbers. Iowa has ZERO trophies for championships.

Here is a list of National Championships.
MNC is an acronym that most are familiar with here. It refers to Mythical National Championship, as there are too many question marks when there may be teams that could beat who is crowned. With no actual playoff system, or even a BCS ranking system, it was difficult at times to say who really was THE BEST. Why? Because how can you know for sure if you haven't played everyone, or even at least, have the best from each conference play against each other.
The MNC's of the past, mean just as much as the MNC's of the more recent past. Are we to ignore Michigans National title claims then? Or even our own? When did we play every possible champion, from every possible conference?

Sorry, but I'm going by what is on record. Not by what is held in opinion.
 
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I disagree, I believe we have more disadvantages now. Texas and Oklahoma were our main problems in the 12. In the Big 8 it was Oklahoma, as they were the main threat by far.
A greater number of hurdles within the conference to be sure. I was thinking more on the national level - I don't think much has changed with regard to resource advantages/disadvantages.
 
Yes Neb has done well in FB based on numbers without doubt, that is called statewide support, actually all sports vs others with 2x undergrad pops for years
 
MNC is an acronym that most are familiar with here. It refers to Mythical National Championship, as there are too many question marks when there may be teams that could beat who is crowned. With no actual playoff system, or even a BCS ranking system, it was difficult at times to say who really was THE BEST. Why? Because how can you know for sure if you haven't played everyone, or even at least, have the best from each conference play against each other.
The MNC's of the past, mean just as much as the MNC's of the more recent past. Are we to ignore Michigans National title claims then? Or even our own? When did we play every possible champion, from every possible conference?

Sorry, but I'm going by what is on record. Not by what is held in opinion.
No you're going off of whatever inflated numbers that support whatever agenda you're trying to push lol.
 
We could claim a number of additional national championships if we wanted to. The "National Championship Foundation" gave us the title in 1981. Several organizations gave us the title in 1983 and 1984, just as examples.

We don't claim those titles. Some schools do, especially titles from the early part of the century when there was little consensus.
 
A greater number of hurdles within the conference to be sure. I was thinking more on the national level - I don't think much has changed with regard to resource advantages/disadvantages.
Comparable in the fact that the B1G clearly has the advantage.
 
We could claim a number of additional national championships if we wanted to. The "National Championship Foundation" gave us the title in 1981. Several organizations gave us the title in 1983 and 1984, just as examples.

We don't claim those titles. Some schools do, especially titles from the early part of the century when there was little consensus.

This exactly. Also we could claim a few more from the early 1900s where we finished undefeated. That's why I'm saying claimed titles are a joke. Like KState claiming the 1999 Big 12 North Division Championship....
 
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No you're going off of whatever inflated numbers that support whatever agenda you're trying to push lol.
No, I'm going by facts. The number of National titles is NOT the only factor here. Money rules the world, we are now in a part of the world, where money is more than is used to be. There is no denying that whatsoever.
 
This exactly. Also we could claim a few more from the early 1900s where we finished undefeated. That's why I'm saying claimed titles are a joke. Like KState claiming the 1999 Big 12 North Division Championship....
What does any of the schools past 'titles' have to do with now at this time. This is an entirely new era, as this is now the playoff era.
So tell me then, why are we even discussing the past? I'm simply listing numbers that guage our school against the others in this conference. I shouldn't even have included the MNC numbers. As far as I'm concerned, OSU has the the most accurate claim to the title National champion. They actually had to play the best of the best to win theirs.
 
No, I'm going by facts. The number of National titles is NOT the only factor here. Money rules the world, we are now in a part of the world, where money is more than is used to be. There is no denying that whatsoever.

Nebraska has plenty of money and will have even more once we get our full share of TV money in 2017, but I'm not arguing the money aspect of your post I'm arguing the inflated National Championship numbers you posted to prop up the Big Ten.
 
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What does any of the schools past 'titles' have to do with now at this time. This is an entirely new era, as this is now the playoff era.
So tell me then, why are we even discussing the past? I'm simply listing numbers that guage our school against the others in this conference. I shouldn't even have included the MNC numbers. As far as I'm concerned, OSU has the the most accurate claim to the title National champion. They actually had to play the best of the best to win theirs.

So you are going to sit there with a straight face and say there were possibly teams in 1994 or 1995 that could possibly beat Nebraska? It was obvious that those two teams especially were the best teams on the field and no one was even close to them.

You're right, you should not have included National Championships in your post because other than that part it's solid information.
 
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Nebraska has plenty of money and will have even more once we get our full share of TV money in 2017, but I'm not arguing the money aspect of your post I'm arguing the inflated National Championship numbers you posted to prop up the Big Ten.
Fair enough, I'm simply trying to point out that this is a new era, and that our problems as of late are likely to happen often. I think that will be the same for most schools in this conference, even OSU, and Michigan. There will always be that team or teams that can knock anyone off at anytime.
 
So you are going to sit there with a straight face and say there were possibly teams in 1994 or 1995 that could possibly beat Nebraska? It was obvious that those two teams especially were the best teams on the field and no one was even close to them.

You're right, you should not have included National Championships in your post because other than that part it's solid information.
Styles make matchups, and we will never know. Is it likely? Probably not if I was to bet money, but it's possible. Anything is possible.
 
No, I'm going by facts. The number of National titles is NOT the only factor here. Money rules the world, we are now in a part of the world, where money is more than is used to be. There is no denying that whatsoever.
Money today is not the driving force in a football programs success - With the large tv contracts every school has as much money as it needs to do whatever it needs to do. Schools are no longer limited in facilities and such

I believe the driving factor today is coaching and administration - Coaching is obvious but a functional and supportive AD and Chancellor are also important. Number of students also makes no difference - Location matters for recruiting but again with proper coaches - organization and funds expended that can be minimized also

Basically boils down to coaching and how important winning titles is to the University - we have been lacking in both
 
Money today is not the driving force in a football programs success - With the large tv contracts every school has as much money as it needs to do whatever it needs to do. Schools are no longer limited in facilities and such

I believe the driving factor today is coaching and administration - Coaching is obvious much a functional and supportive AD and Chancellor are also important. Number of students also makes no difference - Location matters for recruiting but again with proper coaches - organization and funds expended that can be minimized also

Basically boils down to coaching and how important winning titles is to the University - we have been lacking in both

False, look at the top teams in earnings, and tell me what you notice.
 
False, look at the top teams in earnings, and tell me what you notice.
Cart or horse? I see teams like Baylor, TCU - MSU - Oregon competing for titles Oregon might have nike but trust me if UDub ever got fully committed the money at that school dwarfs Oregon

I also see Texas struggling - OU good this year, but down over the five or so years. Notre Dame with their money struggled until they got Kelly and still are a bit up and down. I see Michigan sucking until this year when they got Harbaugh
 
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