I can defend the Chryst firing. The big ten west has about two more years until we go to a 3-6 scheduling scenario with nine games and three locked opponents, which is far more likely with the conference's geography in 2024 and beyond. PC was good for beating Iowa and Minnesota but not for being OSU, Michigan, USC, and Penn State regularly. Best to start the rebuild now and be in a good position to compete than later after the conference is more competitive and the top two teams play in Indy (or los angeles).
Of all the teams in the B10 West, Wisconsin has the most to lose 'after the merge' (survivor reference). Their brand of football dominates the West, but they have a hard time recruiting skill position players, have pretty tough academic requirements relatively speaking, and have to compete with the Packers for revenue. They can't really expand facilities and Camp Randall needs a facelift. Practice facilities are some of the worst in the P5 and Madison isn't exactly set up for new construction. They don't even have a 100-yard practice field.
Nebraska, on the other hand, has all these things going for it with room to grow. I don't see Michigan or Penn State being more competitive after merge, I see Iowa having an absolute shytshow to deal with in the near future with their administration and staff, and Michigan State is locked into a bad contract with a coach who's juggling knives with his roster. USC looks fine for the long term, but they'll probably drop one every year in November when they have to play Illinois or Purdue in freezing temps.
The way I see it, the Chryst firing is just confirmation that Nebraska is in a good spot. The narrative that came out after the frost firing about the 10-year plan for the big ten has schools like wisconsin and iowa afraid to wait. I don't think timing could be worse for them and better for us.
Of all the teams in the B10 West, Wisconsin has the most to lose 'after the merge' (survivor reference). Their brand of football dominates the West, but they have a hard time recruiting skill position players, have pretty tough academic requirements relatively speaking, and have to compete with the Packers for revenue. They can't really expand facilities and Camp Randall needs a facelift. Practice facilities are some of the worst in the P5 and Madison isn't exactly set up for new construction. They don't even have a 100-yard practice field.
Nebraska, on the other hand, has all these things going for it with room to grow. I don't see Michigan or Penn State being more competitive after merge, I see Iowa having an absolute shytshow to deal with in the near future with their administration and staff, and Michigan State is locked into a bad contract with a coach who's juggling knives with his roster. USC looks fine for the long term, but they'll probably drop one every year in November when they have to play Illinois or Purdue in freezing temps.
The way I see it, the Chryst firing is just confirmation that Nebraska is in a good spot. The narrative that came out after the frost firing about the 10-year plan for the big ten has schools like wisconsin and iowa afraid to wait. I don't think timing could be worse for them and better for us.
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. :B) 