Curious Hair wrote:
Why do you care what the Big Ten "does"?
Numerous reasons:
1. Longstanding FB rivalries between ND and Purdue and Michigan St., and since the latter part of the Schembechler era, Michigan as well. First game attended as an ND student: Faust loss to MSU, '83.
2. ND connections to past B1G seasons: Parseghian formerly of Northwestern; Alvarez building Wisconsin program; Holtz formerly of Minnesota.
3. Family connections to Purdue and Indiana, along with possibly Northwestern upcoming as well.
4. Past following of the Illini under Mike White, John Mackovic, and successors. I used to be able to watch all of the televised home games decades ago.
5. Former annual basketball matchup -- ND vs. Indiana.
6. History with ND: Michigan's Fielding Yost leads the blocking of ND's entry into the conference in the Rockne era in a flurry of anti-Catholicism, altering the course of both ND and college FB in the 20th century.
And other reasons that come along with living in B1G country. I like all of the schools more or less except I can't stand Michigan, PSUcks, and Ohio State football. Most eras I would add MSU to that, but I like Dantonio so they're OK as long as he's coaching.
Finally, I care what
Akron does because Terry Bowden is one of the best damn FB coaches out there. Also I've been familiar with the program since back when G. Faust was worked in as head coach in '86, another sad chapter in his bio.
Bo Schembechler on Lou Holtz: "He's a great coach, we all know that. He knows how to line 'em up and play 'em."
Bo Schembechler at the expanded ND Stadium: "How many seats do you have now? 80,000? That's nice."