Cracks in the B1G?

Ok well if the Big 12 North didn't suck, then neither did the B1G West. I looked at some numbers...

From 2000 to 2010, the Big 12 North finished with 3 ranked teams once. It finished with 2 ranked teams four times. It finished with 1 ranked team four times. And it finished with 0 ranked teams two times.

From 2014 to 2023, the B1G West finished with 3 ranked teams two times. It finished with 2 ranked teams three times. It finished with 1 ranked team four times. And it finished with 0 ranked teams one time.
So was the B12 North horrible like you stated or not? The b10 had Iowa and Wisconsin, that was basically it, Nebraska was decent for about 4 seasons and then totally tanked, the other teams generally struggled the entire time.
 
So was the B12 North horrible like you stated or not? The b10 had Iowa and Wisconsin, that was basically it, Nebraska was decent for about 4 seasons and then totally tanked, the other teams generally struggled the entire time.
Yeah I think it was pretty bad. I'm not saying the B1G West was better, obviously there was one more team in the B1G West, which would probably explain it having more ranked finishes. But the B1G West is widely regarded as the worst division in college football history, so the fact that the Big 12 was essentially on par with it ain't good.
 
And unlike the Big 12, when the Big 10 was actually 10 teams, they didn’t have a round robin, I forgot about that.

They did from 1981-84.

It was a full round-robin except, curiously, Iowa didn't play Ohio State in '81 and '82. That helped Iowa get the Rose Bowl in '81 -- they tied with tOSU, didn't play them, and had the longer Pasadena drought.

The bigger laugher was the 10-team SEC playing a SIX-game conference schedule all the way up through 1987, then just a SEVEN-game slate until the expansion in 1992. But that's a different thread.
 
do you need another hint?
OOh ooh, I know, I know.

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That is nothing more than a B10 myth, that year after year the B12 north was horrible, but when you look at when the Texas teams came in, OU and UT were both struggling, but Nebraska, KSU and Missouri were strong teams. The North division was bad for about two years, but overall it was not.

'04 and '05 were the bad seasons for the Big 12 North and somehow that carried over to a narrative that it was always terrible.
 
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They did from 1981-84.

It was a full round-robin except, curiously, Iowa didn't play Ohio State in '81 and '82. That helped Iowa get the Rose Bowl in '81 -- they tied with tOSU, didn't play them, and had the longer Pasadena drought.

The bigger laugher was the 10-team SEC playing a SIX-game conference schedule all the way up through 1987, then just a SEVEN-game slate until the expansion in 1992. But that's a different thread.

tOSU also wasn't that good throughout much of the 80s and Michigan had maybe two legit teams.

Iowa's only real legit team ('85) that decade beat a very good Michigan team that season so credit there.
 
Agree and disagree about the B12 north. Near the end it was like the B10 west and would get smacked by the south in the championship.

Hot take but I think if ISU, Baylor, and Kansas were where they are now as far as program strength and investment, the old B12 is still together. There was so much dead weight in those days including ISU. If there were some solid middle/upper mid tier schools in the mix I don’t think folks would have jumped