It’s not even close to the same situation. Tom got to play in the big 8 and only had one real game a year. Tom never had to deal with the Big Ten requirements, the big 8 didn’t care if you could read or write if you could play football just sign here and you can be an Academic all American! Give frost some time he’s in a gun fight with the big 10 not the pillow fight of the big 8. Or keep firing your coaches and wonder why you keep starting over. It’s fun to watch from the outside!
The Big Ten sucked in the 70s and the 80s. It was two good teams with a bunch of fluff on the schedule. Reminds me of another conference. But Oklahoma and Nebraska were much better than Michigan and Ohio State.
With scholarship limits and other rule changes the lessor teams evolved. You can see it all over the country. Just don't beat your chest about how superior the Big Ten was back in the day. They weren't.