A Big Ten fan base that every SEC team should welcome with open arms for 2020
I have a lot of friends in the Midwest who are hurting right now. A lot.
No fall football. Spring football is a distant, perhaps unfeasible vision. Fall as they know it is empty.
(By the way, it’s OK to feel that way whether you support the cancelation of the fall season or not. I’m guessing if you’re reading this, most of you probably aren’t in that group? Regardless, the point remains.)
But what’s the Southern thing to do? Be hospitable. Welcome a new fan base along for the ride.
Who cares if it’s “jumping on the bandwagon” or whatever. If there was ever a year to allow that, this is it.
So, I’ve got a Big Ten fan base that every SEC team should adopt for this season:
Alabama
Big Ten team to adopt — Wisconsin
The default answer here is Ohio State because they’re the Alabama of the Big Ten. But this isn’t just about who you share the most similarities with. Think about this as a Wisconsin fan. You know your team always has that ceiling that’s just short of the Playoff/national championship. Wisconsin fans would do anything for that 1 year when they could truly feel like their team is national championship-worthy. Let the Badger fans, who are now dealing with a cold fall without college football, have 1 year of feeling like their team can win it all after being on the brink of elite for so many years.
Arkansas
Big Ten team to adopt — Rutgers
What’s the old saying? Misery loves company?
Auburn
Big Ten team to adopt — Ohio State
What’s the other old saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Shoutout to Dwight Schrute. It seems like if there’s something of interest to Ohio State fans in 2020, it’s hoping that a team like Alabama or Clemson, or even LSU, doesn’t look like a juggernaut. This is a year when an elite program like Ohio State wants madness. The Buckeyes should be rooting for one of those chaotic Auburn years when it takes a Hail Mary or 3 to win a national title. Ohio State fans, just be aware. Chad Morris is not Ryan Day.
Florida
Big Ten team to adopt — Michigan
When these 2 schools inevitably meet again in a bowl game in a year or 2, it’d be nice if their fans could have the common ground of talking about the time they rooted for the same team. Lord knows there are already plenty of Michigan graduates in the state of Florida. Actually, Michigan graduates are everywhere. And why do they always feel the need to wear multiple pieces of Michigan apparel at the same time? We get it, guy. Also, if this is the year that Florida beats Georgia, Michigan fans can just tell themselves it’s like they finally beat Ohio State.
Georgia
Big Ten team to adopt — Michigan State
First of all, I bet Mel Tucker is already planning on rooting for Georgia this year. That’s an obvious connection. But Michigan State prides itself on smash-mouth, run-stuffing defense. That’s exactly what the Dawgs embrace. And while I don’t know what’s in store for Todd Monken’s version of the Air Raid offense from a production standpoint, I do feel like Michigan State fans deserve to treat themselves to a modern attack on that side of the ball after how rough it’s been in recent memory. Plus, if Georgia can prevent Alabama from winning another national title, maybe it’ll make Spartan fans avoid thinking about Nick Saban as the one who got away. It won’t matter? OK, moving along.
Kentucky
Big Ten team to adopt — Iowa
This is really two things, but it’s sort of one. For starters, Iowa fans can root for Mark Stoops, a former Hawkeye. Duh. Stoops is a bit like Kirk Ferentz in terms of how he prides himself on developing the under-recruited player and turning him into a legitimate NFL draft pick. It’s blue collar. It’s letting the offensive line do the talking. It’s sound tackling. It’s a natural fit. It’s too bad it’s a year late for Iowa fans to root for former Hawkeye basketball player Ahmad Wagner, who spent 2019 as Kentucky’s pass interference-forcing, big target receiver.
LSU
Big Ten team to adopt — Purdue
Again, this isn’t about “which program is most similar.” We’re talking about adopting a fan base. Purdue fans are accustomed to a high-flying, explosive offense. Who just put up the most points of anyone in college football history? LSU. I can guarantee that Jeff Brohm and Co. would salivate watching the Tigers spread teams out and light up scoreboards. Gone are the days of Danny Etling. Hey! See what I did there? Even if they don’t do that at a historic pace in 2020, Purdue fans will still get treated to a dynamic, well-coached offense. And, hey, Boilermaker fans would love to know what it feels like to be in the national title hunt.
Mississippi State
Big Ten team to adopt — Minnesota
Think about it. Gophers fans need an excuse to wear all of that maroon in their closets. Boom. Minnesota fans embraced P.J. Fleck, who’s a quirky guy who doesn’t care if he upsets those in his coaching fraternity. Call me crazy, but that sounds a bit like a certain Mike Leach. They’re just a couple of offensive-minded coaches who go to the beat of their own drums and admit that they’re not for everyone. Gophers fans anticipated a high-octane passing offense with Tanner Morgan and Rashod Bateman that was ripped out from under them. They’d settle for watching Leach air it out 55 times every Saturday.
Mizzou
Big Ten team to adopt — Illinois
Play nice, you two. I know there’s some animosity between the fans, but it’s somewhat rare that there’s geographical crossover between an SEC fan base and a Big Ten fan base. That should be embraced in a time like now. That doesn’t mean they need to talk baseball or anything like that, but they can enjoy one another’s company and talk about how weird it is that they’re both in the Midwest but somehow in different Power 5 conferences.
Ole Miss
Big Ten team to adopt — Maryland
I will not make this a DJ Durkin thing … I will not make this a DJ Durkin thing … I will not make this a DJ Durkin thing … oops. Maryland fans who don’t want to think about that angle could instead embrace the start of the Lane Kiffin era, which will feature one of the DMV’s finest, Demon Clowney (Jadeveon’s cousin) suiting up for the first time this fall. Maryland fans are certainly familiar with being at the basement of a loaded division while also rocking some sweet uniforms in the process. At the very least for Terps fans who have felt all sorts of frustration in the latter half of the 2010s, there are worse things to hitch your wagon to than The Lane Train.
South Carolina
Big Ten team to adopt — Indiana
Poor Indiana. This was supposed to be the program’s best year of the 21st century. While someone like Tom Allen is probably rooting for Ole Miss (where he coached for 3 years on Hugh Freeze’s staff), let’s think about what Indiana football fans need. They need a team that can entertain early but will be out of the hunt by the time that basketball season starts. South Carolina shouldn’t have any problem doing that. Maybe they can have that random game against a contender that they push to the brink. These are things the Hoosier faithful are familiar with. And rooting for a team with a coach with an in-game heart rate of 190 beats per minute won’t be anything new.
Tennessee
Big Ten team to adopt — Nebraska
Y’all can just relax and talk about how great the ’90s were. Weren’t they awesome! You could just hand-pluck talent from the West Coast and compete for national championships every year. Back when the shoulder pads were massive, the neck rolls were poppin’ and the jerseys somehow couldn’t hit the belly button. Man, simpler times.
Texas A&M
Big Ten team to adopt — Penn State
A seamless transition from the Big Ten East is the SEC West. These teams aren’t that different if you think about it. Both make a habit of dominating lesser teams, they recruit a ton of talent, they play in front of over 100,000 fans in non-pandemic years and they struggle a lot more against the elite teams than the average fan probably realizes. If this is the year that the Aggies get over the hump, if there’s any fan base that can appreciate that, it’s Penn State, which didn’t even get to represent the Big Ten in the Playoff in 2016 when it won the conference title.
Vanderbilt
Big Ten team to adopt — Northwestern
Because when the game inevitably becomes lopsided, it’d be nice to have someone to talk to who’s on the same intellectual level.
SEC teams adopting a Big 10 school ? We are the SEC.
I am in favor of every SEC program welcoming a Big-10 fan base. It would be like a Big Brothers of America program where SEC fans would spend quality time with underprivileged football fans who live in the football ghetto known as the Big-10 Conference. It is time for us to come together as a conference and give back to the less fortunate.
Indeed. We all have our crosses to bear …. and philanthropic causes to support.
I suspect a lot of Big 10 fans will become SEC fans once football actually starts. All will be welcome.
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You see. Even a Tennessee spelling bee fumble can be an outreach.
After spending his entire life living in B1G country, Connor O’Gara moved to the South in 2015. In 2020 he moved back to the North where he will remain for the rest of his life with out pencil and paper.
Connor, I got as far as Georgia-Michigan State. Ugh. A real slow read. Here in the SEC we don’t need any association with the Middlin10. First, they have a goofball as their new commish. Head slap emoji. No second needed.
Anybody that thinks Warren is actually calling the shots in BIG probably also believes Sankey is in the SEC. Not quite, both are just figureheads. when the real decisions have to be made, in the BIG anyway. the board of regents makes them. In the the SEC’s case it’s ESPN. $300 million annually calls the shots. Like the Nebraska-UK connection. Both were once great programs. Play Ball!
Nobody ever called Delany a figurehead. The contract with espn has already been signed, so they don’t get much say other than enforcement of the contract. Enjoy your nonseason with your figurehead.
Got to go. My mom just brought down my grilled cheese sandwiches. If you don’t think the SEC says’ “how high” when ESPN tells them to jump, well then, better call yourself a coward. 2.25 billion dollars is in charge now. Live with it.
You got it completely backwards.
Poor Tom. His next valid point will be his first. Just a little 10 fan stalking the SEC trying to rain on our parade. Every single one of his posts is negative. Must be a sad life in that basement.
Tom…You’ve got to get something positive in your life. That mold in the basement must have affected your brain. Sorry for you to say the least.
Thanks for your heartfelt concern. It is a little damp down here. Just not down with all the aloof foolish post. Sankey hasn’t done diddly but you guys keep throwing him bones. LSUMC is heavy into name-calling but his post are weak-minded at best. You think that’s positive? I guess we’ll know more in a week. I’ll try and stay positive. Try this on. I think the top 3 SEC teams are really good.
So LSUMC’s heavy into name-calling because he called you a poor little 10 fan sad basement dweller? Really?? You apparently don’t spend much time here lol. MC’s pretty reserved and for all anyone knows he’s completely right, you could be a small person who lives in a basement and is sad because you’re a fan of the Ohio State conference. Wait till some of the other posters hit you up…
Who are your top 3 SEC teams?
Tom, if you don’t want to meet some of the actually bad posters TIGAH is talking about, I recommend you don’t answer that question lol
Lol Investi-gator so true. I’m wondering who’s rounding out his top 3? LSU/Georgia/Florida?
I had to get the pleasantries out of the way before I could ask him…
Hey little Tommy, anybody that thinks the SEC needs your garbage 10 around is a moron.
I’d love to see us play Ohio State. Analyst say they think it’d be a very close game. Low scoring too.
What analyst is saying that?
A 247Sports analyst said in in an article a few months ago.
Who is analyzing a game that isn’t scheduled?
It was an article that said something about what if every SEC team played an out of conference power 5 team or something like that. Thus, the author analyzed what might happen if that were a real game.
Just laughable..
Why is it “Just laughable..”??
You know wde0012, everyone says I post crap but you sure do take a lot of shots, especially at me, and that’s crap in my opinion..
I don’t care what you think. You post nonsense all the time. It’s laughable. There are 4 people who challenged your post so I’m not the only one.
True but you may be the only dirt bag here calling me out on things.
Oh and by the way… The original post isn’t “laughable”. I backed it up..
Plenty of people have called you out on crap, not just me. Also it’s laughable for several reasons. It’s not even a scheduled game. You are to homer to believe we would be close with ohio st and actually post it.
Oh my gosh dude there’s literally an article about it if SEC teams played power 5 non conference teams… That’s how I backed it up. It’s not laughable..
No it’s still laughable. If you actually believe it would be a close game then I have some beachfront property to sell you in downtown Denver.
I don’t think it’s laughable to say it would be close. From a team that beat Bama last year with a true freshman and kept things close with LSU in Baton Rouge…there’s nothing laughable about it.
On a neutral field Auburn loses by 14+ to OSU.
OSU is loaded and there is a reason they were preseason top 2 in just about every poll. I love Auburn to death but we were very fortunate in the Iron Bowl last year. LSU game was close but the yards were still over 500.
It’s our defense that makes it close. Last season we lost to LSU (the most unstoppable offense in CFB history) by only three on the road because of our defense. Our defense can give us a shot in any game, in any year… It would be a 10 point difference at the most.
With what we lost on defense versus the weapons they have returning on offense it would be at least 14.
Yeah Derrick, Marlon, and Igbinoghene were big loses, but we’ll still have a great defense. I don’t think it’s a two score difference.
You really post some silly things.
Why is this one silly?? Check the replies to BT and LSUSMC
Sounds like a Trump tweet.
Another clown bringing politics into a sports discussion. Grow up.
Take your political-spewing to another site. This site’s focus is SEC football not political-crap. What an idiot.
For real
You can say things about politicians without being political. You don’t think Trump likes to attribute random comments to unnamed persons, references?
Why are your panties so tight?
This has already happened in a way in this area. So many Big Ten ex-pats have moved to Middle Tennessee, in the last 10 years that when you listen to local sports talk radio, the callers are just as likely to be Buckeye Bill, Nate the Nittany Lion, MGoBlue Mike, and Wisconsin Willy. There were rumors in 2013 that Vanderbilt was seriously looking at joining the Big Ten, and it had gotten past the talking stage, as the Big Ten had evaluated and chosen to offer Vanderbilt admittance. A journalist at the Des Moines Register broke the news that the Big Ten was getting ready to invite Vanderbilt and Virginia as the 15th and 16th teams. That news forced the powers that be at Vanderbilt to come out and deny everything, and it killed the process. I have heard that Vanderbilt was serious about making the move to a league full of Association of American Universities in a league with an even bigger annual payout to its members.
So, maybe Vanderbilt should be adopted by all the Big Ten schools, because it is highly likely Vanderbilt will win the same number of football games this fall as the 14-team Big Ten will win.
A journalist? Sure. Right up there with dinosaurs. The story doesn’t seem credible at all.
I’m not understanding what you mean about dinosaurs? Seriously
Basically, the entire media is biased. He used the term journalist like that meant the person had credibility. They just don’t any more. Pretty much everyone has an agenda now. An unbiased media member is as realistic as a dinosaur. Neither exist.
Gotcha. Don’t necessarily disagree. I trust some outlets more than others, but they can be dry and boring – but better than the partisan drivel that passes for reporting these days. Dinosaurs indeed!
But I have to throw this in there – dinosaurs are alive and well in the form of birds! Just ask any 6-year-old…
Finding the truth now is harder than ever. If there is a story out that I am interested in, I will go to three or four sources to try and gather info from both sides. The truth is normally somewhere in the middle, but not always.
So, let’s see. They were going to do it, but word got out, so they didn’t. Makes sense.
To absolutely no one.
Sorry LH…nobody wants Vandy, not even the ACC.
Here is what happened. Big Ten Commissioner at the time Jim Delany had been the commissioner of the OVC with headquarters here in the Nashville area–Brentwood. He actually established the initial contact with Vanderbilt to gauge whether there was any interest, basically as one of about eight schools the Big Ten discussed at a league meeting.
The league wanted to expand to 16 schools, and the two main keys were untapped media markets and AAU membership.
Vanderbilt officials, including members of the Board of Trust, met with Big Ten officials in Chicago. The meeting was one where both sides showed interest in the deal. A further evaluation of four or five schools ended with the Big Ten evaluation team recommending Vanderbilt and Virginia. Vanderbilt was unanimous. Virginia and Georgia Tech were finalists, and I never found out why Tech lost out, unless maybe they opted out before the news broke.
Vanderbilt was then put into a deliberation time. They were not proceeding quickly, and rumors began to circulate that Vanderbilt had discussed Big Ten membership. The rumors were quickly denied, but then the former Indiana football coach made a quip in a press conference that he welcomed establishing a rivalry with Vanderbilt. This was dismissed as humor. But, when Des Moine Register Sports Editor Bryce Miller officially broke the news in the major media, the local media in Nashville, totally caught off guard, quickly acted like today’s far left political propagandists and began panning this potential decision. Vanderbilt had to quickly deny everything. Later, the AD David Williams admitted that Vanderbilt had participated in a listening event from the Big Ten, which sort of contradicted the school denying “everything.”
Don’t think that public outcry at the wrong time can kill a deal, especially at Vanderbilt, where the MO for athletics is “whatever it takes to not spend money or make media waves.”
The same thing happened in the last two years. Vanderbilt was all set to announce a move to a new stadium off campus. Normally, this would have meant a larger, more SEC-like stadium. But, in this case, it was the other way. The plan was to move to the future Nashville SC MLS stadium, the one to be constructed in the part of town where all the retail signs are in Spanish, except for a handful of stores where the owners openly brandish firearms. This stadium with all of 30,000 seats would be 4 miles off the campus.
The key to this deal is that the athletic department’s number one benefactor, John Ingram, owns the soccer team.
The media and fans quickly did to this deal what they did to the Big Ten. So, Vanderbilt remains the harlot of the SEC, getting screwed by other teams so they can collect the big paycheck. They continue to play in a football stadium the equivalent of the South Bronx of venues with plumbing that doesn’t always work, a scoreboard that frequently crashes, and a true football fanbase in the low hundreds. The school is one of the 15 best academic institutions in America, and the policy is that athletics are to be tolerated but not emphasized in any way. FWIW, Tim Corbin and his baseball team are not universally loved by the inside cabal.
And, the new chancellor has quickly shown his endorsement of the “Vanderbilt Way,” and he’s taken it a little farther. His concentration in athletics is to improve intramurals for the student body. He came from the University of Chicago, where the football team plays in front of dozens of fans after once being a proud member of what we call the Big Ten today.
Vandy is one heck of a school. There was a time in the SEC when no one spoke badly against Vandy around SEC ears.
Isn’t it the other way around? A B1G fan base adopting an SEC team which is actually playing. Another time-wasting exercise.
Michigan can go drown itself in their lake.
And please take that non-coach Jim Harbaugh with them.
Go write about the big 10 if thats your passion. Our passion is the SEC and I’d prefer to read about them.
“Ohio State fans, just be aware. Chad Morris is not Ryan Day.” What does this even mean if you’re going to trick me into reading about the Big 10 it should atleast make sense.
Take your big 10 crap and hit the road jack.
Gotta love a Tiger fan talking trash about the BIG. Let’s go over all your team’s accomplishments. Okay, that’s over. If they could boot you out of SEC, they would.
Ok guy you’re the worst kind of fan out there…
Ohio State carries the conference. SEC dominates you across the board.
If you could be the SEC, you would…and then you’d screw it up.
I think Connor is running out of ideas. I heard this story line earlier this week. But it was reversed with Big 10 teams adopting SEC teams. It was much better than this.
Connor’s doing a lot of click-bait articles…but sadly we’re clicking & posting…that’s our bad.
You are on crack if you think any Mizzou fans are allowing Illinois to jump on ship
The players from the Big Ten schools that want to play this Fall may better be allowed to transfer quickly to SEC schools. Vanderbilt just had a half-dozen more players, including their top defensive player and top offensive lineman opt out for the year.
I have also received an email from a friend with a legal background. He told me he had heard from a Vanderbilt insider that there could be a significant legal and financial hurdle that may not be fixable that will prevent any college football team from playing this Fall. He then referred to risk management experts that are involved, which could cause most of the teams still planning to play to change their minds.
Connor….This is nothing more than the SEC shaping itself up to be the last conference to denounce their season. There will be no college football played in the fall.. The SEC is upset because they weren’t able to say..”We led the way!”
If the SEC were to play amidst everyone else not, how would that make the SEC look? Texas already ostrasized CU, NU, A&M and Mizzou from the Big 12.. The SEC is shaping themselves up to be the Texas of the Southeast.. They should follow suit!
You do know the SEC isn’t the only conference that has said they’re playing In the fall right?
Right now 3 of the 5 said they are playing… So who is really going against the grain currently?
FYI it’s “renounce” the season, not “denounce.” And I’d be shocked if one conference, any of the remaining 3, played alone.
He’s just another guy that is a part of the scared crowd. PAC and Big fans should form a self help group to help them cope.
If the SEC were the only conference playing…then we definitely will will the 2020 National Championship. *But we’ll win it anyway.
The ACC will play…gotta keep their only real-team in the mix.
Every article on this site is ripped by commenters! This is fill in crap until there is something to REALLY report! Sure I bet O’Gara is running out of ideas so why don’t some of you Enstiens suggest some articles? Actually, I think the OSU fans should adopt South Carolina – that way they could be on the WINNING side for once! For those not familiar with our ENTIRE HISTORY, we are UNDEFEATED against the Buckeyes!
The SEC will play football
..I don’t know if they will finish but they will play and thank God for it! People will always say what you can’t do on all levels…and really in a couple months nothing will change…it might be worse…SEC will play because it means just a little bit more…..
Did I really read that?
I am in favor of every SEC program welcoming a Big-10 fan base. It would be like a Big Brothers of America program where SEC fans would spend quality time with underprivileged football fans who live in the football ghetto known as the Big-10 Conference. It is time for us to come together as a conference and give back to the less fortunate.
“Mentors For Meagers” Maybe we could get Subaru to paint a graphic on an Outback and include it in a commercial.
Uh, hell no. I’d adopt Nebraska first, and despise Nebraska…
Just shows how much of a mirror image these two conferences truly are.
Mirror image? Is that sarcasm?
I took it that way, or at least I hoped it was sarcasm.
Indiana. Thanks for taking the time to take another swipe. If you were to move back to the Non10, there would be nigh a tear shed.
I’m sure that JUSTIN FIELDS and OHIO STATE fans might also want to watch UGA!!!!
whoa, hold up. an article that has any combination of ‘beat Ohio State’ and ‘michigan’ in it, even vicariously, has lost all credibility. it made my stomach churn just typing that.
and if i were going to pick only one sec team to root for this year, it’d probably be lsu (despite 2007). i still have some good feelings about Joe Burrow and the tigers. really wish it would’ve been the Buckeyes playing lsu last year.
Yes, Chad Morris is not Ryan Day. He was never handed a program stocked with talent as a first time head coach and told just to keep it between the lines in order to have a great season. He had to actually coach players.
Lazy writer, Had to take a pop shot at Vandy. How about it would be nice not to be the only team in the SEC without multiple serious NCAA infractions?
Does multiple rapes count less than infractions? Or, how about the only school to have a major steroid scandal? Sorry, but Vanderbilt is no angel in their athletics program. They have the best academic institution in the league, but the SEC doesn’t allocate money or reward trophies for classroom performance. Vanderbilt has more in common with Sewanee than Alabama.