Is it just me, or is BTN trying to make nebby relevant?

[briney11]

They are showing WAAAY more than I have ever seen them show for any other team. And then they make a big deal about nebby and their "tunnel walk'. Oh, you mean what tons of other teams do and have done for years????

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

They are showing WAAAY more than I have ever seen them show for any other team. And then they make a big deal about nebby and their "tunnel walk'. Oh, you mean what tons of other teams do and have done for years????

Short answer: probably.

Longer answer: it's their job. Specifically, the Big Ten Network exists for the purpose of making the Big Ten money. Lots of it. Viewership, outside of a handful of situations, is almost exclusively Big Ten fans. More than that, fans who are fans of one school in particular (whether it be Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, what have you). Whether you're a Rutgers fan or an Ohio State fan, the Big Ten wants you to come away from your viewing minutes/hours with some good feels. If you're an OSU fan, those good feels probably come pretty easy. If you're a Rutgers fan (or, anymore, a Nebraska fan!)...the Network is going to have to put in a bit more effort to find an angle for you. But they want you to tune in, so that's what they are for.

It's not as though the BTN never criticizes or doesn't give outsized coverage to the more successful teams, it's just nothing that should be confused with "pure journalism" (whatever that is), either. I think it's PR first and foremost.

 

[briney11]

I get that. It's just that I don't ever remember BTN showing the Iowa band for 10 minutes before kickoff and the the tunnel walk and entrance..

 

[M1911A1Hawkeye]

I get that. It's just that I don't ever remember BTN showing the Iowa band for 10 minutes before kickoff and the the tunnel walk and entrance..

Same here. However, I think it had to do with fans being back in the stands and football being back to normal more or less. I noticed the start of the Penn St Wisconsin game was the same way they spent a bit more time showing the marching band.

 

[uihawk82]

BTN hypes everything, they have to especially when Illinois visits Rutgers in football

 

[dahlhawk]

I felt the announcers were really building up Nebby against Illinois throughout the game. Hyping their transfers and trying to build up Frost. Didn't really talk much about Illinoy or the new coach. At least not until the end when it was apparent Nebby was going to lose. That's OK it just makes them look like shit when they lose, especially through stupid play.

 

[ssckelley]

Every year, honestly it really sucks for the BTN that Nebraska is bad.

 

[MikeyLikesIowa]

No, it doesn't. Gerry DiNardo totally threw Nebby some shade last night during their IL vs UTSA postgame show. He said that UTSA (University of Texas - San Antonio; the Conference USA school that Illinois lost to 37-30 yesterday) was a better football team than the Nebraska team that Illinois beat last week. The others seemed to agree with them too.