# Have to hand it to Wisconsin. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 2, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330 "2011-10-02T04:35:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/1 "2011-10-02T04:35:12Z")
First: I am a B1G fan. I have no reason to dislike Nebraska. From everything I have heard, they have a class program and their fans are the best in the world. You go to their venue and you are a guest in their home. OTOH, I have no particular like for Wisconsin or their fans. Yet, tonight, Wisky manhandled the Huskers. It was no contest. It was the Huskers first game as a member of the B1G. It doesn’t bother me, and fully expect, that Nebraska will have success in the B1G. I welcome them. They should be an excellent addition. I just thought it was good for competition that the Huskers had to swallow a huge dose of reality. This ain’t no cakewalk even though a lot of people want to denigrate the B1G. (Don’t talk about the SEC, we know they are the current standard.) It should prove interesting. As for Wisconsin. I don’t like them but I am truly impressed. They have some ammunition. If they don’t run the table, based on what I’ve seen so far, they have only themselves to blame. Advice to Nebraska: Make the commitment to bring your academic and research standards up to the B1G level. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/2 "2011-10-02T04:38:43Z")
In what community is the Big Ten abbreviated as B1G? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/3 "2011-10-02T04:41:17Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > In what community is the Big Ten abbreviated as B1G? [B1G](http://www.bigten.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/4 "2011-10-02T04:48:01Z")
Well damn. Is that new branding? It makes me stabby. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/5 "2011-10-02T07:50:38Z")
Compared to Leaders and Legends, its genius. ---
**Author:** ![minkyhaha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@minkyhaha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minkyhaha)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/6 "2011-10-02T08:00:50Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > (Don’t talk about the SEC, we know they are the current standard.) Roll Tide!!! ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/7 "2011-10-02T13:22:15Z")
> [@minkyhaha](#): > > Roll Tide!!! As a Wisconsin resident, I agree! Or, Geaux Tigers! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/8 "2011-10-02T13:39:27Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Well damn. Is that new branding? It makes me stabby. Yeah, I think it’s dumb looking, too. Just in case anyone can’t see the link, the I and the G are styled to look like the number 10. So, it’s a little like B10. Get it? Bleah. The game was interesting. Pretty close early on and then a blow out. Alabama vs Florida was the same way. Sure, early on, all games are close. Hey, they were TIED at the start! ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/9 "2011-10-02T16:25:50Z")
See, you Americans make fun of how the CFL used to have two teams named Roughriders/Rough Riders, but at least the CFL never had a conference of ten teams called the “Big Twelve” and a conference of twelve teams called the “Big Ten”! Personally, given that it doesn’t have ten teams, I think the “B1G” thing is a decent idea. And I’m always happy to see the Huskers get trounced, no matter how they spell their division’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/10 "2011-10-02T16:28:40Z")
I’ve always liked Big [sic] Ten [sic]. ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/11 "2011-10-03T12:48:09Z")
We’re forced to drive over the river from MN to WI to experience what winning feels like. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/12 "2011-10-03T19:52:51Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Well damn. Is that new branding? It makes me stabby. The old branding had the “11” hidden in the negative space of the logo, so the addition of Nebraska meant they had to come up with a new conference logo even though they didn’t change its name. It’s grown on me, more so than Legends & Leaders, works well in a Twitter-ese sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/13 "2011-10-09T02:23:21Z")
A week later Nebraska is being handled by Ohio State (27-13 halfway through the 3rd). Last week Michigan State absolutely embarrassed OSU’s offensive line. I really thought that Nebraska would bounce back and beat OSU handily. Yes, OSU got their suspended players back but what happened to the Nebraska that was suppose to walk through the B1G? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/14 "2011-10-09T03:41:16Z")
So Nebraska pulled it out. Still, after seeing MSU totally shut down OSU’s offense last week it surprises me that OSU got 27 points (or any points). ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/15 "2011-10-09T04:19:46Z")
I thought Nebraska was supposed to own the poor quality Big 10, 11 ,12. They came from a far superior conference and the big 10 was so weak. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/16 "2011-10-09T04:48:57Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I thought Nebraska was supposed to own the poor quality Big 10, 11 ,12. They came from a far superior conference and the big 10 was so weak. That was the propaganda. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/17 "2011-10-09T14:24:35Z")
They’re just another major school sports program. Some weeks they suck, some weeks they win. Some years, all their weeks are non suck weeks. I won’t really be sure of their “owning” anything or not for a couple of seasons at least. They do have a good history of strong teams thru the years. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-hand-it-to-wisconsin/598330/18 "2011-10-10T02:54:39Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > They’re just another major school sports program. Some weeks they suck, some weeks they win. Some years, all their weeks are non suck weeks. > > I won’t really be sure of their “owning” anything or not for a couple of seasons at least. They do have a good history of strong teams thru the years. I agree. They may prove out. Still, I think it is good that they realize that this is no cakewalk. The Big 10 schedule is not easy unless you are UofM and can front load it. The SEC also is no cakewalk so I don’t begrudge their success. The difference between the major conferences is very slim. A very special team can win out regardless of what conference they are in. Just changing conferences has little advantage. I don’t think that Nebraska did that. They were just a better fit for the B1G and it is probably good that they are there. On the other hand, their football program probably isn’t much superior to the the competition they will face.