Purdue

Minnesota

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Look at those two schedules. Look at 'em! The latter looks like an old catcher's mitt. It must be a sick joke, right?

Basically, Nebraska received this memo in 2010: "Congratulations, you’ve been promoted to the most distinguished conference in America. You’ve been given a lifeboat out of a league polluted by Texas politics. It’s your lucky day!"

The 2014 memo goes like this: "Sorry, your dates with Michigan and Ohio State have been replaced by Rutgers and Illinois. You can’t get a lick of national respect even after an 8-1 start. And that despicable Big 12 you left? Well, your old nemesis is a punchline, your little brother down Highway 77 turned into a Top-10 program and the league has never been more fun."

Seriously, what evil man is pulling the strings on this?

(One thing worth pointing out: Based on the facts Harvey Perlman and Tom Osborne had in 2010, I believe they made the prudent decision. The 12-team Big Ten did look more attractive. The Big 12 did appear doomed. Unfortunately, the facts changed.)