Illinois expat in the Mid-Atlantic. Non-tenure track history nerd.
Update: The original version of this post included Purdue-Ohio State in the final 25. This was in error; Purdue has lost over 70% of the games against Ohio State, failing test number 4 below (despite its more recent win percentage against the Buckeyes). The final top 25 now includes
Over at the venerable publication The Athletic last week, B1G beat writer and Iowa insider Scott Dochterman ranked the top 100 CFB rivalries. The metric appears to take into account the frequency of games played, importance of each rivalry to the CFB landscape, the intensity of the hatred, and the
The game wasn't competitive. It wasn't remotely close. Ohio State won 35-7 after 3 Emeka Egbuka TDs. Fans had already poured out of Ohio Stadium by the time Iowa put a damn point on the board, courtesy of a Kaleb Johnson 4th quarter garbage time
By my rough and likely inaccurate calculation, the Big Ten played in 81 conferences games and 154 total games last season. Some of them were stunning, exciting, wild affairs. And some of them involved Purdue! As we approach the 2025 season and the second year of the Bigger Ten, we&
Consider this some sort of a founding document.
At least it isn't Monday
* Official AP Preseason polls are out! * Paul Finebaum on Big Ten football fans: "They act like they invented football!" Sir, have you forgotten about Rutgers?
IT'S FRIDAY, BABY!
It's Thursday, it's August. In 16 days, we'll be watching the Iowa State-K State Farmageddon game in Dublin. We're almost there, folks. Prepare yourselves accordingly.
* And then what happened with the SBNation redesign, Axios? And then what happened?! * Six Big Ten teams in the AP Preseason Coaches Poll, including Illinois and Indiana? Strange days. * I guess Kirk Herbstreit's kid is a CFB pundit now?