The University of Nebraska's chancellor, Harvey Perlman, just announced at the school's Board of Regents meeting that the Cornhuskers will apply to join the Big Ten. At this point it sounds like the move to leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten is all but official, with the necessary paperwork being the only thing keeping both conferences at 11 teams for right now. It is believed that the move will quickly become official, meaning Penn State will soon no longer be the new kid on the block.
The plan for Nebraska's transition to the Big Ten is for the Cornhuskers to start athletic play in the 2011-12 season, and become an academic member much sooner. What this means for Nebraska's athletic teams is that they will play one more season in the Big 12 if everything goes according to plan. That is definitely going to be an interesting storyline to follow throughout the season, especially since it is expected that six other teams will end up leaving for the Pac-10 when all is said and done.
Nebraska made sure to point out that they should not be blamed for the breakup of the Big 12. They wanted a commitment from all schools that nobody would bolt, but that was just not feasible in the end. As a result, Nebraska decided that the best move for its future was to join the Big Ten, giving them stability both in the athletic and academic world. As Nebraska president J.B. Milliken said, "The Big Ten is the premiere athletic and academic conference in the country."
My initial reaction, aside from the fact that I'm stunned this day has finally arrived, is that I can't wait for the Cornhuskers' arrival. They seem like a perfect fit for the conference and will definitely bring in a lot of intrigue to the Big Ten going forward.
On a personal note, I'm really hoping that Nebraska's schedule includes a game at Michigan Stadium in 2011, when I will be a senior at U-M. Who knows if that will happen since divisions need to be formed and the conference could still further be expanded, but I look forward to the first conference meeting between the Cornhuskers and Wolverines.
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Nebraska Announces Plan To Leave Big 12, Join Big Ten
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Sean...
Big Ten commish Delany says he only wants “home runs” for additions to the conference. As far as I am concerned Mizzou and Rutgers are not hr’s. Syracuse and Uconn make sense as well as ND.
by The Rake on Jun 11, 2010 3:42 PM EDT reply actions
I agree
The only home run out there now is ND. If they were to join we’d go to 14, so Rutgers or Missouri or someone would get a call.
Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog
by Sean Yuille on Jun 11, 2010 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions
With a 2-division, 12-team conference.......
If the Big Ten stayed at 8 conference games for football, that would likely mean 5 games in-division and 3 games vs. the 6 teams in the other division each year, meaning a team would play a given opponent from the other division every other year. So for UM to play Nebraska at home in 2011, it’s a 1-in-2 chance of having them on the schedule, and a 1-in-2 chance of it being a home game. So it looks like it would be a 1-in-4 chance of UM hosting Nebraska in 2011.
"We lost!" Delmas yelled at reporters. "What you want? What you got to ask me?"
Delmas stared at reporters defiantly.
"That’s what I thought,"
http://www.detroitlions.com/media-center/videos/Sound-FX-Matthew-Stafford-micd-up/8ed3fc62-55c0-4901-a613-a0ad5bc53f1b
by GRLion on Jun 12, 2010 2:54 PM EDT reply actions
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