Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[Woody1968]

All Southern states grow cotton, but not all cotton growing states are Southern...or something like that. The fact that they grow cotton is due to geography, not culture.

The point is that in the 1800s, cotton growing was a culture. This is not really in dispute - most historians who cover the period leading to the civil war will tell you that one of the big events that led to the South's dependence on slave labor, and ultimately the war itself, was Eli Witney's invention of the cotton gin in 1790.

BTW, this is now getting completely off topic, so I'll rest my case about Texas being culturally different from the Big 10. I'll conceed that Texas is pretty diverse, and has some elements similar to the Midwest.

glenn, thanks for the links.

 

[glenn]

hey, i know you guys are basking in the nice feeling of a rose bowl win. i know i do after a big win. but i thought i'd post a link to a texas highlights video of our close game with nebraska. what nebraska did to arizona makes me feel a little better about the tight nature of our game with the nebs.

we need to complete the dismantling of the sec/pac-10 monster, and, hopefully, walk into a new conference pairing the two teams who cut them down to size. this vid only shows our highlight plays, so it isn't representative, but i particularly hope you'll take a look at a couple of guys who give me heart going into the game who weren't likely to be go-to guys by this part of the season.

what i would love to show you is an offensive lineman or two who have just come of age who can handle ndamukong suh, but, alas, we don't have such. these two guys are offensive players, though.

malcolm williams (9) is a sophomore wr who showed flashes last year and earlier this year of being a real hoss, but problems with inconsistency have dogged him. colt won't throw when he has doubts about a guy. he has seemed to find a grove late in the season, and he's becoming a big source of production. plays at 4:06, 7:38, 7:54.

we've struggled all year to find somebody at rb who can function effectively and stay healthy. rs freshman tre' newton (23) has shown the skillset and resolve we need but missed some time due to a mild concussion (don't tell mike leach we didn't play him). tre' is son of former dallas o-lineman nate newton, and came to us lightly regarded. the regarders were wrong. he had been a fixture in multiple state championship runs in high school, playing in an offensive similar to ours. he started the season way back in the depth chart, but when given the opportunity to show what he can do fairly early in the season, he responded. i like what i think he can do in the game thursday. some plays: 0:06, 2:42, 4:56. nice fake at 2:02 which drew a linebacker away from the play.

a look at the future: true freshman marquise goodwin (84) at 8:14. goodwin started the season as a track scholie football walk-on. obviously he is a football scholie now. earned his new paper in the first game of the season. watch out for him; he was a 3-star. texas and ohio state know a thing or two about 3-star players. : ) goodwin scored the late kick off td that sealed the game with the ags.

Nebraska Game Highlights

one guy on defense needs mention. soph christian scott is very good and was set to start the season beside earl thomas at safety, but he was disqualified for lack of academic progress. he has addressed the problem and will play thursday, but we doubt he sees much work at safety. probably show up for special teams. wherever he plays he might be worth watching.

one more thing. after talking about how horns like pryor and how he is doing, i saw a post over here that said just the opposite. i realized that i need to say that when i speak of what a horn fan says, i'm probably not talking about some ding dong with a keyboard, but one of the guys on burnt orange nation or barking carnival. those guys know what they are talking about, don't get caught up in silliness, and have large readership following them.

congrats again, bucks.

 

[glenn]

sure thing, woody. hope you can find some comfort in our diversity and look for the good in us.

more: you are right when you say texas is culturally different from the midwest, but person after person here, many of whom live or have lived in texas, have assured that the differences are small and are largely inconsequential. moreover, the nature of this state and its economic base in the nineteenth century isn't that reflective of the state today. i say relax and expect something beneficial if things go our way.

i also say don't necessarily expect the same results from a southern school. : )

 

[TheIronColonel]

With the direction Pelini has Nebraska going, one would think that they'd start looking more appealing. It may have been discussed already here, but how are their academics?

 

[Jagdaddy]

Well Glenn, you'd better hope Texas is a southern state or Bama will be way too fast for y'all . . .

My Dad grew up in Brooklyn and went through Army medical basic training at Fort Sam Houston in the mid 1960s before shipping off to 'Nam: Said he got to see two foreign countries . . .

I also agree with you completely on NYC vs. New England. New Yorkers can come off as shockingly loud and blunt for many Southerners and Midwesterners, but I've never had a problem with one (I'm also a little "East Coast" in verbal matters even though I'm from Ohio): In contrast, there's a reason why the term "Masshole" exists.

 

[glenn]

colonel, here's a couple of good things to read. pay particular attention to how these guys frame the question. there are multiple issues at play, and a good candidate isn't good enough. they are looking to hit a home run like when penn state came in.

http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/buckeye-football/618450-team-s-will-join-big-ten.html#post1628403

The Big Ten Expansion Index: A Different Shade of Orange ? FRANK THE TANK’S SLANT

edit: phooey. i forgot to say look for the handicap post in that first link. post #10, i think.

 

[MuckFighigan]

Hope we get a team for then we can finally have a conference championship

 

[glenn]

jag, if we have to be truly southern to stay with them we are in trouble.

sorry about your dad's experience. brooklyn is a world apart from texas, but it is a world apart from the entire rest of the country, really. i lived in nassau county twice when i worked jobs for grumman, and once just inside suffolk, but i spent a decent amount of time in various parts of the city. i mentioned earlier that new yorkers have a brusque and fast-paced lifestyle, and that takes some getting used to. the thing i found, though, is that most new yorkers are really very nice people and not at all cold-hearted or disinterested. numerous times strangers saw i was a newbie and offered advice on where not to park, for instance. they didn't have to do that. low on fuel once (mostly i drove in manhattan very early on sunday mornings--a bunch of cabs and i owned the place) a cabbie at a red light led me to a service station and wouldn't hear of me paying for his time. said, 'pray for me,' and roared away. i have enormous fondness for new york and new yorkers, but i do agree that they take some getting used to.

 

[glenn]

muck, i think you have an errant 'g'.

 

[glenn]

a lot of people don't like the conference championship games, muck. a lot of coaches don't like them. it's another really good place the wheels can come off, and a great shot at going to a title game can founder on those rocks.

the reality, though, these days is that money is tight and will likely get tighter. the payout to a conference can be huge. that's why the sec maneuvered so hard to get an unbeaten bama and florida matchup. mega bucks for all.

as i've mentioned, what happened this year with the sec refs delivering the goods to the ccg is a real knock on that system. many are asking for refs to be ncaa, not conference. that may happen.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

you know, max, the funny thing about what you said is what you didn't say. you didn't say 'florida'. florida is deep in the south and was part of the confederacy and almost no one ever considers that. isn't that strange? some want badly to think that texas is fundamentally a part of the south and it isn't, but florida, which is also not very southern in nature gets a pass. was ist los? a sliver of texas is marginally close enough to the south to have some consequence, but florida is deep, deep in the south and you can't drive from florida to anywhere else without passing through the deep southern states or getting very wet...

Everyone is right. Several studies of culture have shown that Texas culture leans West, South, and Midwest.

Here is a link to the 9 nations study that became the basis of Lynn Kahle's work on defining cultural regions in the US.

The thing about Florida is this: the farther south you go, the farther north you get.

The Florida panhandle is very much a part of the Deep South. Miami is pretty much the furthest southern Jersey suburb of New York City.

The study quoted by Steve was done in 1981. Since then, Florida has changed dramatically. I have lived in Ft. Lauderdale, the Tampa area and Tallahassee, and I can tell you that what MaxBuck says is so true as to be a cliche here. In the peninsula they say "you have to drive north to go south" and in the panhandle they say "the fastest way to get to the north is to drive south". Too far south into Miami and you arive in Cuba though. Much of Miami might as well be a different country now.

As for Texas, I've lived there too. It is more a cultural fit for the Big Ten than ANY part of Florida. The only problem I see is that some Texans that I've known are tediously arrogant about Texas. If I had a nickel for every time I heard, "Never ask a man where he's from. If he's from Texas he'll tell you. If he's not, there's no point in shamin' him"... And then there was, "There's only two kinds of people in the world. Texans, and those who wish they were."

For my part though, I consider the Texan attitude as only fuel for new rivalries though. What would TSUN be without their arrogance? (There ability to maintain it while sucking is impressive). At least with Texans, it's good natured condescension.

 

[DaveyBoy]

Texas, Kansas, and Pitt would be the best combination in my opinion

FB: powerhouses OSU, UT, UM, PSU plus Pitt, Wisky, and Iowa...that is tougher than the SEC even with UM sucking so badly right now

BB: powerhouses KU and Michigan State with near powerhouses Purdue, Pitt,TExas and Ohio State.....this would surpass the BigEast in upper level and mid level quality

The BigTen Network would open up its overflow channels and have more quality to show to many more people. The BTN would challenge ESPN and could possibly allow the BigTen to tell ESPN to fly a kit unless they pay the going price and not get all the juicy games.

Texas vs PSU or UT vs OSU or UT vs UM on BTN....this would drive every cable company to pick up the BTN....across the country

If Texas left the Big12, I wonder if KU would consider coming along.

 

[glenn]

if it makes you feel any better, daddy b, that stuff gets old for everybody. but, really, only when they are serious about it.

i've got a youtube for you. you may safely ignore the pics. the group is the austin lounge lizards.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBe5Dx6kSJg"]YouTube - Stupid Texas Song 0001[/ame]

i didn't realize that study was that old. not that the validity is diluted all that much for today, however. very interesting. i'm glad it was linked.

i've never made the drive down florida. absolutely must do that when it warms up. i'm guessing you can drive all the way to key west?

davey, some here are saying that pitt may not be a good direction to go.

 

[glenn]

here's another good one from austin lounge lizards:

Lala Song Player - Leonard Cohen's Day Job by Austin Lounge Lizards

 

[matcar]

Hope we get a team for then we can finally have a conference championship

I really don't want a conf championship, but I'd like to have Texas nonetheless.