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I have never seen a better fit for an inductee to an existing Conference as Nebraska becomes an official member of the Big-Ten conference July 1st. I don't need to express my thoughts in this piece about the academic advantages; I would rather speak to the FOOTBALL connection. There are few programs richer in the College football tradition than, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan and Nebraska. The style of football that Nebraska will meet up with in the Big-Ten will force them to show more consistent performance week to week than what was required of them with the Big-12.
The defense that Bo Pelini installed four years ago is what they run in the Big-Ten and will challenge the Pelini brothers in a way they have not been challenged week after week. Big, Strong, Physical, Intelligent defense will be a must. I am confident that Bo Pelini and staff are up to the standards as they step into the conference, they will step up in this area giving the Nebraska Fan nothing to be ashamed of.

The offense on the other hand, has been described as anemic at best for the past 6 years. They have been in a holding pattern that has failed to develop future players for this program. With a new offensive staff in place, this remains the biggest question for the upcoming season. Will they provide productivity enough to give the defense the rest they need to build their momentum throughout the course of the game? Will they show the Development in the roster that will grow the productivity enough to secure the historical continuity within the coaching staff at Nebraska? Will the new staff be able to spot and bring on campus the kind of athlete necessary to win another National title? 

This is a sport that any and all questions will work them out eventually on the field. So we will see about these questions soon enough. However, the Big-Ten is better suited geographically, which will allow the Nebraska Fan’s travel to continue as they will show the host venue the impressive support given to the football program. 

I am most excited about the prospects of meeting up with the class of the Big-Ten which is their fans. I would be greatly disappointed if we were the recipients of such low class fans as we have met in Colorado (now in the Pac-10), Kansas State and even Missouri. With fans having stuff thrown on them, tires punctured and even fans being assaulted by those of who associated themselves with the host team. We are not suggesting this behavior was the endorsed by the host teams, but at the same time there was no effort to suppress it, discourage it or even apologize for it. A game was once stopped at Colorado because the classless student body was throwing trash on the field. The university’s named, cannot support the claim they did not know this occurred which what they will tell you.

Now that Nebraska is a part of the Big-Ten, the play on and off the field is anticipated at a higher level of performance and more in tune with real sportsmanship. There is nothing more fun from the fan perspective than engaging on the home turf with an opposing fan that displays’ respect for your program and engages in friendly banter about the upcoming contest. Following the game, it would be nice to have that conversation with the fans as you leave the stadium or tailgate afterwards, something we are not used to having. Bring on the Big-Ten, we will be competitive, yet will develop the Fan Friendships we have missed out on from the Big-12 experience
 


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