Everything I read this year says the Big 10 is increasing in strength. I think it is an important year for the Big 10 in that regard because the conference seems to be regaining respect on a national scale and so it has a key opportunity this season to provide support for that argument. I'll go along with it and I will wait to see just where the Big 10 sits in terms of national competitiveness by the on field results of the upcoming season. For instance....if Michigan could pull off a win over Ct. that would be a nice start. If the national pundits are correct and the conference has made recent strides then by the time Nebraska heads into that 2011 schedule it will indeed be a tough one.
Losing to UConn is no shame they are a well coached team, but still it's UConn football not basketball...so UM fans like Irish fans when we lost to them will stare in disbelief that they just lost to UConn. edit: I would bet the farm that every UM fan in existence expects to beat UConn in football....not so confident if it were basketball. It'd be like UF losing to USF, USF is a good program they've got some good players you can't just show up and expect them to roll over but if you actually lost to them you'd be going...WTF?
...precisely....a good analogy except that the expectations of the UF fans for the Gators are a tad higher than what UM fans are expecting this season out of the Wolverines. Note I said expecting......not hoping. AJ....the Big 10 might just be coming around in time to give Nebraska a rude welcome. We'll have to see.
TBD, The Train is coming around in time also, if you haven't noticed. She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes....
I'm suprised, I know things are a little rocky in AA, but expecting to lose to UConn? Again, UConn is a good team, and well coached...but still it's hard to mentally get by them being UConn.
Michigan is a slight favorite in Vegas and I am sure at least a moderate favorite emotionally in the minds of many Ann Arborites. Some UM fans are realists and expect a tough battle from Ct. but then again there are some who are not realists in SE Michigan and think their team is still rolling over lesser opponents with regularity.....specifically those types of fans who were adamant for instance about the 2006 rematch they felt should have happened. :wink:
The conference provided plenty of evidence for those that were watching objectively by it's on the field results January 1st of last season....this year is another year, I expect the conference with the exception of PSU - who lost alot - to be even stronger this year. Wisky and Iowa will be very good football teams capable of taking the measure of anybody on a given day.... That said, every year is different and I'll not judge this one based upon the last one....we'll see what happens.
I think those bowl results are the catalyst for the revised oinions about the Big 10 this season. We will have to see how that translates to success during the season.
If the only thing that matters is what happens on the field, each year stands on its own, imo.....each year is different, what happened last year has no bearing on what will happen this year. The conference showed quite well last year, what happens this year can't change that.....perceptions are the wild card here and as we have seen, can be wildly different from reality in any given year, hence the foolishness of the annual popularity contest. Playoffs please......can you even contemplate the prospect of your Gators travelling to Madison in early December for a match-up with Wisky. What with the best talent in the country stockpiled at every position, from what you tell us, we'd expect the Gators in a rout.
If Wisky was good enough to force UF to travel to Madison for a playoff game I would suspect the Badgers could keep up quite well with the Gators in that circumstance.
I suspect the Badgers can keep up quite well with anybody.....esp on a cold, crisp fall evening in Madison with perhaps the nations best power running game intent on pounding you senseless.....that is just the kind of challenge Bo and his boys would relish. Welcome to the Big 10 Nebraska....I can't think of a better fit. Well done all....
Hey at this point in the Cardinal Collapse he has to start looking over his shoulder at the rejuvenated Astros! :roll:
The manager for the Reds must be really good considering that most thought that they would be bottom feeders again this year. Where did he manage before he took the Cinncy job? :wink: BTW, Terry, given that we have lost to Appy State and Toledo at home in recent years, any Michigan fan with a scintilla of sanity is holding his breath re this week'ss game And, as for the game on the 11th, even the return of Bobblehead Bo probably can't save us. It is hard to think of any evil totem--including our fabled B10 refs- that might prevent our imminent doom