Warning, this is a long post, if you want to see what I think of the other 11 Big Ten teams, scroll down.
It being bowl season, or rather the end of bowl season, I know many of us like watching the rest of the Big Ten play in their bowl games, especially considering Minnesota isn't in one this year, so we don't have our own bowl game to distract us from what's going on with the rest of the conference that are playing post-season games. Some of us are absolute Gopher fans, caring about Minnesota and only Minnesota, and want only for the Gophers to go 14-0 and for every other team in the conference to go 0-12. Others of us care about the prestige and national reputation of the conference to the extent of cheering on the Badgers and Hawkeyes in their bowl games.
I'm somewhat in between the two ends in that I like to see most of the conference succeed, but I wouldn't cheer for Wisconsin or Iowa. I was quite happy to see Michigan State win today; I kind of sympathize with them over how they've been snubbed out of BCS bowls the last two years, last year tying for the Big Ten title with Wisconsin and Ohio State, having beaten one of them and not played the other and getting shafted, and then this year Michigan getting the BCS bid instead of MSU, even though MSU won head-to-head. Technically Michigan had the better record of 10-2 versus Michigan State's 10-3, but that essentially penalizes MSU for going to the conference title game, which I don't think is right.
I was very happy to see Wisconsin lose as I believe most of us were, except those of us who believe having our rival win a Rose Bowl raises our school's reputation in the eyes of recruits. I was somewhat happy to see Ohio State lose as well. My younger brother and my dad, who was born and raised in Ohio, are Ohio State fans, and my brother, who only started following the team in 2007 or so, has known little other than perpetually being in the top 10 in both football and basketball, so I think was good for him to "suffer" through a 6-win season. Living with them and hearing them lord their athletic superiority over the Gophers is what breeds my hatred of Ohio State.
I wasn't as happy to see them lose today though, because they weren't as good this year. I think that is what controls how much I want to see the teams I don't like fail. I didn't even know when or who Iowa was playing in their bowl game this year until today when I saw on ESPN that they had lost to Oklahoma. And because Iowa wasn't all that great this year, I didn't take great joy in seeing that they lost. (Don't get me wrong though, I was elated when we beat them this year!) Wisconsin's Rose Bowl losses this year and last made me very happy, because Wisconsin has been very good these last two years, so seeing them lose the big games is more satisfying than learning that Iowa lost in the Insight Bowl. I enjoyed watching Ohio State lose their two National Title games a few years back, but I wouldn't have cared much either way if they had won or lost the Gator Bowl today.
Another reason I started this thread was when I was looking at the "Gunner Kiel to LSU" thread today, to see that some were happy to see him leave the conference because it was beneficial to the Gophers. I can understand this viewpoint, but seeing as Indiana is the one program in our conference that we can look at now and say, "they've got it worse than we do," I feel bad for them for losing this recruit. He could have brought hope and excitement and maybe some success and an upward trajectory to a downtrodden football program, not to mention being a feel-good story about a top national recruit rejecting the big boys to play for his own hometown school, and being forever loved by Indiana football fans. Him coming to Indiana would have directly affected the Gophers in 2 games. I would think we especially, as Gopher fans, would be able to be happy for a historically bad program having a glimmer of hope for the future, but I guess not everyone shares my viewpoint on that.
So, my opinion on the other Big Ten teams:
Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, potentially Michigan - I hate these teams (not Michigan just yet, but I'm starting to dislike them as I believe Michigan State deserved their BCS bid). I enjoy watching them lose, I especially enjoy watching them lose to Minnesota (though I haven't seen any of them except for Iowa lose to Minnesota since I started following the team in Brewster's fist year, though Brew should have probably beaten Wisconsin in all of his first 3 years here). I hated seeing Wisconsin's fans run over here in full doosh mode after beating us again this year, and I can't wait till the ax comes back again and starts coming back again with regularity so we can start increasing Minnesota's lead in the all-time series once again. I also enjoyed seeing Ohio State get sanctions, although it seems like this will be their only down year; with Urban Meyer coming in they will probably be ranked for most, if not all, of next season and seasons to come.
Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State, Nebraska, formerly Penn State - Watching bowl games, I would be happy to see all of these teams win. They, with the exception of Penn State and Nebraska, and with the possible addition of Northwestern, represent the middle of the conference, generally decent teams that have great seasons periodically, but not often enough that their fans become full of themselves and I get sick of seeing them win all the time. Nebraska, while a national power, seem like a pretty likable team and fanbase, especially from what I heard from a post on this board from a Northwestern fan who went to Lincoln to watch his team pull an unexpected upset of the Huskers. I didn't mind Penn State, Joe Pa used to be a lovable character, an icon of college football, but after the Sandusky incident, it's kind of hard to pull for them, but at the same time I don't want to spit on them, it wasn't the players' fault. It's also unfortunate that they just kind of wrecked the lone 5-star recruit we've had in the Rivals era. I've heard the poor guy still doesn't walk quite right.
Indiana, Northwestern - These teams generally aren't great, and Northwestern has given us some very evenly matched football games the past few years (unfortunately they've won most of them), as well as regularly beating Iowa. It's hard to dislike these teams and easy to be happy for them when they win, with Northwestern being very academically respectable and upstanding, and Indiana having had even less success than we've had. I was happy to see Kiel commit there, and felt bad for them when he de-committed.
Sorry for my rather long and rambling post, but thank you to those who actually read the whole thing, and I really would like to know what everyone else thinks of the rest of the Big Ten.
It being bowl season, or rather the end of bowl season, I know many of us like watching the rest of the Big Ten play in their bowl games, especially considering Minnesota isn't in one this year, so we don't have our own bowl game to distract us from what's going on with the rest of the conference that are playing post-season games. Some of us are absolute Gopher fans, caring about Minnesota and only Minnesota, and want only for the Gophers to go 14-0 and for every other team in the conference to go 0-12. Others of us care about the prestige and national reputation of the conference to the extent of cheering on the Badgers and Hawkeyes in their bowl games.
I'm somewhat in between the two ends in that I like to see most of the conference succeed, but I wouldn't cheer for Wisconsin or Iowa. I was quite happy to see Michigan State win today; I kind of sympathize with them over how they've been snubbed out of BCS bowls the last two years, last year tying for the Big Ten title with Wisconsin and Ohio State, having beaten one of them and not played the other and getting shafted, and then this year Michigan getting the BCS bid instead of MSU, even though MSU won head-to-head. Technically Michigan had the better record of 10-2 versus Michigan State's 10-3, but that essentially penalizes MSU for going to the conference title game, which I don't think is right.
I was very happy to see Wisconsin lose as I believe most of us were, except those of us who believe having our rival win a Rose Bowl raises our school's reputation in the eyes of recruits. I was somewhat happy to see Ohio State lose as well. My younger brother and my dad, who was born and raised in Ohio, are Ohio State fans, and my brother, who only started following the team in 2007 or so, has known little other than perpetually being in the top 10 in both football and basketball, so I think was good for him to "suffer" through a 6-win season. Living with them and hearing them lord their athletic superiority over the Gophers is what breeds my hatred of Ohio State.
I wasn't as happy to see them lose today though, because they weren't as good this year. I think that is what controls how much I want to see the teams I don't like fail. I didn't even know when or who Iowa was playing in their bowl game this year until today when I saw on ESPN that they had lost to Oklahoma. And because Iowa wasn't all that great this year, I didn't take great joy in seeing that they lost. (Don't get me wrong though, I was elated when we beat them this year!) Wisconsin's Rose Bowl losses this year and last made me very happy, because Wisconsin has been very good these last two years, so seeing them lose the big games is more satisfying than learning that Iowa lost in the Insight Bowl. I enjoyed watching Ohio State lose their two National Title games a few years back, but I wouldn't have cared much either way if they had won or lost the Gator Bowl today.
Another reason I started this thread was when I was looking at the "Gunner Kiel to LSU" thread today, to see that some were happy to see him leave the conference because it was beneficial to the Gophers. I can understand this viewpoint, but seeing as Indiana is the one program in our conference that we can look at now and say, "they've got it worse than we do," I feel bad for them for losing this recruit. He could have brought hope and excitement and maybe some success and an upward trajectory to a downtrodden football program, not to mention being a feel-good story about a top national recruit rejecting the big boys to play for his own hometown school, and being forever loved by Indiana football fans. Him coming to Indiana would have directly affected the Gophers in 2 games. I would think we especially, as Gopher fans, would be able to be happy for a historically bad program having a glimmer of hope for the future, but I guess not everyone shares my viewpoint on that.
So, my opinion on the other Big Ten teams:
Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, potentially Michigan - I hate these teams (not Michigan just yet, but I'm starting to dislike them as I believe Michigan State deserved their BCS bid). I enjoy watching them lose, I especially enjoy watching them lose to Minnesota (though I haven't seen any of them except for Iowa lose to Minnesota since I started following the team in Brewster's fist year, though Brew should have probably beaten Wisconsin in all of his first 3 years here). I hated seeing Wisconsin's fans run over here in full doosh mode after beating us again this year, and I can't wait till the ax comes back again and starts coming back again with regularity so we can start increasing Minnesota's lead in the all-time series once again. I also enjoyed seeing Ohio State get sanctions, although it seems like this will be their only down year; with Urban Meyer coming in they will probably be ranked for most, if not all, of next season and seasons to come.
Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State, Nebraska, formerly Penn State - Watching bowl games, I would be happy to see all of these teams win. They, with the exception of Penn State and Nebraska, and with the possible addition of Northwestern, represent the middle of the conference, generally decent teams that have great seasons periodically, but not often enough that their fans become full of themselves and I get sick of seeing them win all the time. Nebraska, while a national power, seem like a pretty likable team and fanbase, especially from what I heard from a post on this board from a Northwestern fan who went to Lincoln to watch his team pull an unexpected upset of the Huskers. I didn't mind Penn State, Joe Pa used to be a lovable character, an icon of college football, but after the Sandusky incident, it's kind of hard to pull for them, but at the same time I don't want to spit on them, it wasn't the players' fault. It's also unfortunate that they just kind of wrecked the lone 5-star recruit we've had in the Rivals era. I've heard the poor guy still doesn't walk quite right.
Indiana, Northwestern - These teams generally aren't great, and Northwestern has given us some very evenly matched football games the past few years (unfortunately they've won most of them), as well as regularly beating Iowa. It's hard to dislike these teams and easy to be happy for them when they win, with Northwestern being very academically respectable and upstanding, and Indiana having had even less success than we've had. I was happy to see Kiel commit there, and felt bad for them when he de-committed.
Sorry for my rather long and rambling post, but thank you to those who actually read the whole thing, and I really would like to know what everyone else thinks of the rest of the Big Ten.
