Did The Hoosiers Make a Case For The Big Ten As The Best Football Conference?

So who's better?

Is the Big Ten the best college football conference in the country? Based on the past three seasons, it is. What makes the three consecutive Big Ten NCs even more remarkable is the crowns have been won by three different teams: Michigan in '23, Ohio State in '24 and Indiana this year.

But if we look over the past 25 years, the SEC has won twelve NCs while the Big Ten has won only five. Even if the two championships won by USC in '03 and '04 are included, the Big Ten's numbers still lag way behind the SEC. (USC was a member of the PAC conference at the time.)

So before the Big Ten can lay claim to the best football conference, it's going to have to win a lot more national championships.

How many 16 win college football seasons have there been?

Dang few, In fact it's happened only three times. Indiana got its 16 th win Monday night to go 16-0 for the season. To find the first college football team to do it, you have to go back to 1894 when Yale won 16.games.

The third team? FCS North Dakota State did it in 2019.

Pretty rare air, indeed.

18-0 and #7

Speaking of rare air, Nebraska men's basketball just received its highest ranking in program history. NU is 18-0 (7-0 in the B1G) and has earned a #7 national ranking. Up next is Wednesday night when NU hosts the 10-8 Washington Huskies at PBA. Tip off is 8:00 pm CST on BTN.

Games looming at Michigan (1/27) and at home with Illinois (2/1) and Purdue (2/10) will reveal just how good Fred Hoiberg's team really is.

Nebraska Women's Hoops

Amy Williams' 14-4 Husker women's team remains at #24 in the AP poll. NU has lost some games it should have won. The toughest one came last week when NU lost a heartbreaker at Michigan State 71-73.

The Huskers travel to Wisconsin Wednesday night for a 6:30 CST tipoff. The game will be televised on B1G+

Question

Did you think you'd ever see the day when Indiana wins the college football national championship and the Husker men's basketball team is ranked #7?

Yeah, me neither.

Another one bites the dust

Word got out just this week that Husker special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler was leaving his home state of Nebraska to run special teams for the Southern California Trojans. Just last year, Ekeler transferred to NU after a four year stint at Tennessee. Of all the Husker assistants at Nebraska, it seemed a lock he would remain on Matt Rhulel's staff. That's because in just one season, Ekeler took the Husker special teams from the outhouse to the penthouse. So why leave?

Mike Ekeler during his first stint as a Nebraska assistant football coach, circa 2010 — Mike Eleler Nebraska football | Nebraska Athletics

There could be several reasons. Mike made it known that this fall, he wanted a bigger role with the NU defense. Matt Rhule had just hired a new DC Rob Aurich from San Diego State. Maybe Aurich had his own coaches he wanted in his system at Nebraska and didn't have a place for Ekeler. If USC head coach Lincoln Riley promised Ekeler a future expanded role with the Trojan D, that may have been more than enough to lure him to SoCal. We may never know for sure.