OT - In your opinion, what are the B1G's "helmet schools"?

[ELA]

they sure wouldn't be 20-6 the past two years with most of those L's being by a razor thin margin. Aside from the blowout OSU loss in 2015, the other 5 losses were...

@Utah at night by 7 in his first game ever as the coach with a QB that Kirk Ferentz didn't want and was OK with letting transfer in-conference.

MSU in Ann Arbor with 8 seconds left in the friggin' game off a fluke play.

@Iowa at night by 1 point after Speight got his shoulder broken half.

@Ohio State by 3 in Double OT in a thriller of a game.

FSU in the bowl game by 1 point after the best CB they've had in like a decade and who had been friggin dominant all season long gives up a TD pass with seconds left in the game.

I mean those 5 losses were by RAZOR thin margins. Losing sucks. But how you lose matters. Especially when you consider before him Michigan was getting clowned on the field by just about anybody with a pulse. I expected him to turn the ship around for sure. Didn't expect him to turn it around so freaking quickly. Especially when he wasn't left with a whole lot at QB.

I think 2017 the schedule sets up very nicely and by 2018 he should have this program firing on all cylinders going forward and at the point where he doesn't have to replace because all he'll do is just reload like the BAMA and OSU's of the world.

It was too easy to pass up though

[Mdot21]

I'm just saying that to an outside observer (like me as a Purdue fan or OAM as a Florida fan), it looks like this is an ax to grind as an OSU fan against Michigan.

Michigan in 2 years has better recruiting, better W-L record in a tougher division, and [although I hate to acknowledge the degree to which this is important] about $50M more in annual revenue. You claim they haven't been elite since the 1940's, but given their recruiting, I think their ceiling is the national championship. Not saying Harbaugh will or won't win one, but they have the talent and recruiting to do it.

Although Nebraska was consistently a 9-10 win team under Pelini, that seemed like their ceiling. They were the "kings" of the B12 North, the weak division, and now they're in the B1G West, the weak division, where they're 1-3 against the top team in that league, Wisconsin. They seemed to think that replacing the coach would break through that ceiling, but recruiting is dropping under Riley and it's hard for a team like Nebraska to remain relevant going forward. And... They lost to Purdue under Darrell Hazell! 

Nebraska could turn that tide literally instantly if they axed Mike Riley and threw the money it takes to land Chip Kelly. Football revenues would go up pretty quickly too.

Before Harbaugh the tickets to a Michigan game were stupid cheap. Hell they were running a promotion where you'd get a ticket for buying a bottle of coke. Tickets were still easy to come by and pretty cheap. People were just sick and tired of the losing. You could get tickets to the stinker games like UNLV, Oregon State, BYU for $30 or less on re-sale sites like StubHub and SeatGeek. After fees. Try getting tickets now on those re-sale sites to games like Cincinnati or Air Force. $100+ for the same quality of seat that two years ago were $30 for games of that caliber. Forget about the MSU/OSU games. He's brought so much excitement, enthusiasm, and MONEY to the program. Not a coincidence that Michigan football revenues have gone up since they hired Harbaugh. If he ever wins a National Title- revenues will just continue to explode.

Alabama was in the same position before Saban. Say what you want about how much they pay Saban- but the money he's brought them has DWARFED what they've paid him.

Chip could compete for titles at Nebraska. No doubt about it in my mind. Not saying he'd win a Title, but he'd have Nebraska knocking on the door. B1GCCG and Playoff berths would happen. He'd cost a lot, but he'd also bring in a heck of a lot more than he'd cost.

Takes money to make money.

[Cincydawg]

Do the higher ticket prices benefit the athletic department or the folks selling tickets on stubhub?

[Mdot21]

Michigan recruits only slightly better right now, with excessive advantages in regional recruiting and two coaches who were supposedly recruiting at a much higher clip than they were accustomed.

Michigan THINKS they hired an elite coach. The jury is still out on that one. Right now, he's Bo Pelini, only with a worse record in rivalry games.

Ummmm, what planet do you live on dude?

Harbaugh is eviscerating Riley on the recruiting trail. Just look at their respective 2016 and 2017 classes, the current 2018 class and the future 2019 classes.

Jim Harbaugh is Bo Peilini? Lol. I think I've read it all now.

[Mdot21]

Do the higher ticket prices benefit the athletic department or the folks selling tickets on stubhub?

just the people selling tickets on StubHub. But there is far greater demand for tickets which is why the re-sale sites are getting that kind of money now and which is also why the AD has raised the price for single game tickets by almost $4 a ticket and they've raised PSD's by 5% for 2017 and 2018. They don't do that and still sell out if they are losing and Hoke is the coach. I'll tell you that much right now.

Stadium holds over 109,000 and they have 8 home games a year basically. Even a small ticket increase is an extra couple million of dollars a year in revenue.

Also can't discount the increase big money donations winning generates from rich boosters with too much money and time on their hands nor the increased revenue from increase in merchandise sales. That's 100000% Harbaugh.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Nebraska could turn that tide literally instantly if they axed Mike Riley and threw the money it takes to land Chip Kelly. Football revenues would go up pretty quickly too.

Chip could compete for titles at Nebraska. No doubt about it in my mind. Not saying he'd win a Title, but he'd have Nebraska knocking on the door. B1GCCG and Playoff berths would happen. He'd cost a lot, but he'd also bring in a heck of a lot more than he'd cost.

Takes money to make money.

Well, that might or might not be true. He managed to take Oregon to heights they'd never seen before, but he also had the benefit of Phil Knight's money. And while he was somewhat revolutionary with his schemes at the time, it's not like what he was doing is not much more well understood now by other coaches. Could he truly recruit at the level necessary? Lincoln is a LONG way from anywhere.

I think he'd be better than Mike Riley, though.

[Brutus Buckeye]

I'm just saying that to an outside observer (like me as a Purdue fan or OAM as a Florida fan), it looks like this is an ax to grind as an OSU fan against Michigan.

If I had an ax to grind, it would be against Nebraska. They have a much better win percentage vs OSU so far this millennium.

Of course so does Purdue, so....

[FearlessF]

love the discussion... really and truly




but the jury is still out on Harbaugh and Riley




for the past 68 seasons Michigan and Nebraska have nearly the same winning percentage




for the past 6 seasons the winning percentage is nearly the same




for the seasons between the past 68 and the past 6 the Huskers have the better winning percentage




History, tradition, trophies, awards, wins and losses the two programs are nearly equal.




obviously past performance is no indicator of future success, but a couple recruiting classes is also no indicator




My guess is that both programs will remain very strong and retain the helmet status




neither program is willing to squander the effort it took to gain this status,  It's worth WAY too much filthy money!




which program will have a better run over the next 5 or 10 or 20 seasons?  Hard to tell.  I feel it comes down to coaching.  Is Harbaugh that much better than Riley?  Could Harbaugh out recruit Riley if he was in Lincoln, NE?  Could Riley recruit better in Ann Arbor? 




IS it all about recruiting?  I think so, but you need the type of recruits for your program.  And you need some luck to get those recruits to pan out and become all-conference and all-american caliber.




It appears to some that Harbaugh has the upper hand after two seasons.

[FearlessF]

Pretty big IF. Not a believer in Frost. At all. There is way too much assclown and not enough great football coach in him to put up with the insane amounts of assclown.

Nebraska has the money. If the AD had half a freaking brain he'd fire Mike Riley's old mediocre ass today and back up the Brinks truck to a guy working at ESPN named Chip. Instant credibility. Instant home-run. Instant winning. Culture fit- he's got a Tom Osbourne style offense but for the 21st century. Swing for the fences. Go big or go home Big Red.

this from a fan of the biggest assclown in college football?

and you know as well as anyone, if Riley doesn't pan out, the AD will swing a little bigger next time

[Mdot21]

this from a fan of the biggest assclown in college football?

and you know as well as anyone, if Riley doesn't pan out, the AD will swing a little bigger next time

Lol. I don't dispute Harbaugh's level of assclown. At the end of the day though he's a HELL of a football coach. He really truly is. There is just no denying it. He is a HELL of a football coach. Scott Frost ain't. Neither is Mike Riley.

If I'm Nebraska, why wait? Chip is there for the taking. So go get him. Make it happen. Do what it takes. Go get the best. Spare no expense. You already know what you have in Mike Riley. It ain't much. I thought there was no way Urban was going to Ohio State after the Tressel scandal. Thought there was no way Harbaugh was skipping out on NFL jobs to go to Michigan. Both happened. Why? The AD's had balls of steel and did whatever the F it took to get the best guy period. The best guy period out there right now for Nebraska is Chip Kelly. Nebraska needs to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Michigan wasn't really shelling out the big bucks until Urban came into the picture.


Riley had a far better resume than Brady Hoke.

[FearlessF]

I'd rather Chip was hired three years ago than Riley, but Riley is the coach and I'll support him until he proves he can't win the Big Ten.


Hopefully his team improves in it's 3rd season with a QB that can throw the ball and a real defensive coordinator


2018 is the make or break season for Riley in my opinion.  If Riley can't win 10 or 11 games and the West tile in 2018 I'll think he's no better than Pelini and it will be time to find a better coach.


Riley does seem to be recruiting better than Bo.  We shall see if that helps him be successful.

[FearlessF]

I don't fault Michigan's enthusiasm, but riddle me this.


Where would they be right now if Harbaugh had taken an NFL job instead?

Where will they be when Harbaugh goes back to the NFL?

[847badgerfan]

Well, that might or might not be true. He managed to take Oregon to heights they'd never seen before, but he also had the benefit of Phil Knight's money. And while he was somewhat revolutionary with his schemes at the time, it's not like what he was doing is not much more well understood now by other coaches. Could he truly recruit at the level necessary? Lincoln is a LONG way from anywhere.

I think he'd be better than Mike Riley, though.

Chip did have Knight's money, but he didn't have Big Ten money. And it's not like Eugene is a cultural mecca. 165K people live there. Lincoln as 275K.