Nebraska is being put in a tough position.
The Big 10, perpetually hailed as one of the top conferences in the land but after the events of this season, that must be seriously reconsidered. I will be approaching my argument detailing the sham that is the Big 10 both from a general perspective and the the perspective of Nebraska and what Nebraska should do as a program.
The first fundamental issue with the Big 10 is that they are not a competitive conference. By not competitive I do not mean the quality of play is low (it is quite high in fact) but the administration and the administration of many universities within the conference lack the commitment to competition that other conferences do.
More from Husker Corner
- Former Nebraska football star returns to the program in new role
- Travis Hunter injury uproar has some Nebraska football fans reminding Colorado about Adrian Martinez
- Nebraska Football: Freshman RB in line for big playing time
- Nebraska Cornhuskers News: Heinrich Haarberg has believer in Rhule, more
- Nebraska Football: Matt Rhule faces tough decision between Heinrich Haarberg and Jeff Sims
For example, instead of attempting to play football like the SEC, Big 12 and ACC the Big 10 decided to cower and prevent student athletes from partaking in the sport they love. When they finally did come to the conclusion to play, they hamstrung teams with shot-gunned schedules barely over a month long. However in spite of their ‘serious precautions’ the Big 10 has been struck with the COVID 19 problem just as other conferences who were more willing to play meaning they kneecapped their own schools for no reason.
To complement the lack of will to compete throughout this season the Big 10 has shown a blatant pattern of unfairness and a willingness to play favorites. This can most obviously be seen in the treatment of Ohio State in comparison to the treatment of Wisconsin.
After being hit with COVID 19 early in the season, the Big 10 said Wisconsin would be unable to compete for a Big 10 title since they did not play the requisite amount of games. However when Ohio State was faced with the dilemma, the Big 10 went back on their word, held a double standard and are allowing Ohio State to play in the Big 10 championship game. The motives behind this are simple: The Big 10 can benefit from making excuses for Ohio State but not Wisconsin.
On the topic of who are the Big Ten’s favorites, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State fit that category. Ohio State out of convenience since they are the best team in the conference if they were not, they would be treated like the black sheep that are Nebraska and Iowa for wanting to play this season.
Though Nebraska has never been the golden boy of the Big 10, following the actions of this preseason the Big 10 was hell bent on making an example out of them. Prior to the games being posted, Nebraska could have played four teams, Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland or Rutgers. And who did we get? Ohio State and Penn State of course!
Because Nebraska is a decenter they are not subservient, they must be taught a lesson. The Big 10 knew how important this season was for the program and made it as difficult as possible (Oh and here’s Rutgers after the season is over thanks for your trouble). Another area where the bias against Nebraska has been shown is in officiating.
Before I dive deeper I’d like to ask a question, ‘What is the purest motive for punishing another in the game of football?’ Well safety of course, and this is one major avenue the Big 10 has taken to penalize Nebraska.
This was evident in the Ohio State game where it was quickly realized that lowly Nebraska should not be competing with our prized steed Ohio State, the majority of the Nebraska secondary was ejected to insure the result for the favored Buckeyes (I am not saying that Nebraska would have one, it just would have been a fair game).
Finally this brings us to the Minnesota game. While there were few penalties in this game there were two that made a seismic impact on the game. The first being the targeting foul on Cam Taylor-Britt and the second a holding call that erased a touchdown run by Adrian Martinez. Was there helmet contact on the Taylor-Britt tackle? Yes, but by no means did he lead with the helmet, it was clear and obvious he led with his shoulder. But that conclusion is arrived at with honest logical thinking and that is not what was used.
To the Big 10 this was the star player, a promising player who will be swatting passes and making tackles on Sundays long into the future representing the undesirables of Nebraska, making a great play against the Goldenboys I mean Gophers who are good establishmentarians who follow the rules and don’t speak out of turn, so he must be punished, he must be ejected.
Next we have the holding penalty. In this moment, Nebraska was at the precipice of overcoming not only Minnesota but the Big 10 establishment and their agents in zebra stripes. This was by any objective measure an execrable call, made only to erase a touchdown as it was called so late.
It is clear, it is obvious, the Big 10 has an agenda, it has favorites and Nebraska is neither part of the agenda nor one of the favorites. It is because of these truths Nebraska should seriously consider a departure from the Big 10. Nebraska along with Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State are the premiere programs in the Big 10 and Nebraska should be treated like one. The Big 12 said they would ‘Welcome Nebraska with open arms’ it is time we consider that offer.