BTN destroyed B1G football???

[JonDMiller]

Nah, it ain't poking the bear. The issue is that population in the Midwest is sinking or only staying steady due to immigration from Mexico, while the south and west continue to grow. We have a ton of teams fighting for paltry talent up in the Midwest. And weather concerns dictate a specific brand of football to be consistently successful in conference play and that brand of football seems a little antiquated.

This is very much the reality for all but a few schools. I know some folks have hated the 'poor little Iowa' narrative through the years...although they have exaggerated it.

The fact is, recruiting is mostly a zero sum game in B1G country for everyone but Ohio State, Michigan and probably PSU once they get off the mat, but less than it used to be. Nebraska to SOME extent, but also nowhere near where it used to be and it's never going back there.

By and large, the rest of the programs are regional recruiters...and the region is the Big Ten footprint. Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Nebraska HAVE to be great at developing talent, where Iowa and Wisconsin need to be good at identifying diamonds in the rough...but especially Iowa.

But the BTN has not destroyed the Big Ten...it's the most successful cable start up in history. It's in 60 million homes...it's on basic DTV,

There will be a day of reckoning coming when I am old and bald, the digital ala carte era...but that will be a while down the road.

 

[Katan]

Isn't ESPN gameday on campus at a Big10 school this week? It proves to me that ESPN will happily pander to Ohio State and other large Big10 alumni bases, regardless of how much the on the field production stinks.

 

[ColoradoHAWKEYE]

"All ya gotta do is win baby, win"!

 

[1hawkeye1]

I haven't read the article, but the only good argument I think you could make is that it fractured our relationship with ESPN, which has lead to a media giant pimping the SEC and dumping on the B1G on a regular basis.

Football wise, the B1G deserves to be dumped on. Where basketball is concerned, the B1G gets as much or more love than about any other conference. And it is deserved.

As ChosenChildren posted above, the article is written in a football vacuum.

 

[NCHawker]

stay tuned for the writers' next blog of other lazy observations where he explains things such as how flooding is caused by thunder.

 

[iowalaw]

Living on the west coast, I can say one thing destroys big ten football more than anything...playing games at 9am where the rest of the country plays night games. As much as hawk fans love to get up early and drink beer at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold before morning kickoffs, those of us in the west coast are still in bed at kickoff. Meanwhile, the SEC and Pac 12 start their games during prime time and every house in the country has access.

 

[HawkeyeMike23]

Living on the west coast, I can say one thing destroys big ten football more than anything...playing games at 9am where the rest of the country plays night games. As much as hawk fans love to get up early and drink beer at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold before morning kickoffs, those of us in the west coast are still in bed at kickoff. Meanwhile, the SEC and Pac 12 start their games during prime time and every house in the country has access.

Those Pac-12 games which end at 2 AM eastern are pulling in huge ratings I'm sure.

 

[JHHawk]

This article is over a year old, and not accurate.

He states that PSU was the last Big Ten team to be in the hunt for the national title in 2008 when Iowa knocked them off.

The very next year, and undefeated Iowa team was #3 in the polls in November, and only an injury to their star QB vs NW kept them out of the national title picture.

So, based on his premise, the SEC is headed down now, with their own network? Wrong.
Its the talent baby. The Big Ten has not dominated SE recruiting for decades, and that is where the best talent is....not complicated at all.

He is dismissing the impact of the money....hey, the network has been around 7 years, and the extra money has really flowed only the last 3-4 years, and it does take time to turn that money into new facilities...which has now happened at Iowa....the money impact is only just starting to be seen in brick and mortar.

 

[Billso]

Nah, it ain't poking the bear. The issue is that population in the Midwest is sinking or only staying steady due to immigration from Mexico, while the south and west continue to grow. We have a ton of teams fighting for paltry talent up in the Midwest. And weather concerns dictate a specific brand of football to be consistently successful in conference play and that brand of football seems a little antiquated.

The Big Ten was sliding even before BTN.

KOK's departure sealed the deal.

 

[Billso]

There will be a day of reckoning coming when I am old and bald

Eyebrow combover?

 

[MrTHawk]

And hands down Ferentz has a great record of developing talent. I just wish we could attract more talent as well.

I don't know whether the BTN has marginalized the confrrence's national exposure or not. But I think recruiting nationwide has to be a priority, if it's not already. Iowa City is just as nice, if not a better place, to live/goto school than Lincoln or Champagne.

This is very much the reality for all but a few schools. I know some folks have hated the 'poor little Iowa' narrative through the years...although they have exaggerated it.

The fact is, recruiting is mostly a zero sum game in B1G country for everyone but Ohio State, Michigan and probably PSU once they get off the mat, but less than it used to be. Nebraska to SOME extent, but also nowhere near where it used to be and it's never going back there.

By and large, the rest of the programs are regional recruiters...and the region is the Big Ten footprint. Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Nebraska HAVE to be great at developing talent, where Iowa and Wisconsin need to be good at identifying diamonds in the rough...but especially Iowa.

But the BTN has not destroyed the Big Ten...it's the most successful cable start up in history. It's in 60 million homes...it's on basic DTV,

There will be a day of reckoning coming when I am old and bald, the digital ala carte era...but that will be a while down the road.

 

[homes]

The demographics have dictated this more than anything. However, the coffers of the athletic departments have certainly enjoyed the BTN. If anything, I think that helps the BT teams to compete.

 

[74Hunter]

The Big Ten was sliding even before BTN.

This. It hasn't been very good since the 60's.

 

[Hawk90]

I would like to see a discussion of why the B1G is down relative to the SEC and others. A few things have been mentioned over and over; over-recruiting by the SEC, lower academic standards in the SEC, larger and growing population base.....what else?

 

[MrTHawk]

One reason I have heard is that Big Ten schools underpay their assistant coaches.

Personally, I think there is more passion for college football in SEC states than in most Big Ten states. Fans are more passionate and have greater expectations, which lead to greater results.

I would like to see a discussion of why the B1G is down relative to the SEC and others. A few things have been mentioned over and over; over-recruiting by the SEC, lower academic standards in the SEC, larger and growing population base.....what else?

 

[guffus]

I think the BTN ruined the BigTen in this sense. You don't know if the BigTen thinks of itself as a TV network or an Intercollegiate athletic conference anymore.

The Rutgers and MD additions were clearly driven by tv markets but now the conference has an identity crisis. It is no longer a collection of Midwestern large State Universities plus Northwestern. If they wanted to continue that tradition, they would have took Missouri and Kansas and got a decent football team and an elite basketball team, while still maintaining its Midwestern roots.

 

[trj]

If you are looking for NFL players, you need exposure or great recruiters in about 7 states(Florida, Texas, California, Ohio, Georgia, Louisana and Pennsylvania.).

 

[NCHawker]

Living on the west coast, I can say one thing destroys big ten football more than anything...playing games at 9am where the rest of the country plays night games. As much as hawk fans love to get up early and drink beer at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold before morning kickoffs, those of us in the west coast are still in bed at kickoff. Meanwhile, the SEC and Pac 12 start their games during prime time and every house in the country has access.

Hawks and eggs. I like

 

[JHHawk]

If you are looking for NFL players, you need exposure or great recruiters in about 7 states(Florida, Texas, California, Ohio, Georgia, Louisana and Pennsylvania.).

Actually, according to recent stats on where NFL players come from....Penn is not in the top 7. NJ is #6 ahead of La. and Penn. Maryland/DC is also in the top ten...which is why they are great additions to the Big Ten.

 

[ICHawk24]

The Rutgers and MD additions were clearly driven by tv markets but now the conference has an identity crisis. It is no longer a collection of Midwestern large State Universities plus Northwestern. If they wanted to continue that tradition, they would have took Missouri and Kansas and got a decent football team and an elite basketball team, while still maintaining its Midwestern roots.

On an institutional level, Rutgers and Maryland are slam dunks that are a much better fit into the B1G than Missouri or Kansas. The B1G is still the #1 collection of R1 institutions with high level sports. Adding the biggest research school in the country in Johns Hopkins (while not yet in the CIC) greatly adds to both the research angle, and the positioning with DC power brokers.

Kansas is not institutionally similar to the B1G, and its not culturally similar, either. Missouri is a little closer cultural fit, but not a lot. Kansas and Missouri would both drag down the institutional reputation of the B1G as the leading research consortium in the country.

Saying they were "clearly driven by tv markets" misses A LOT.