Nebraska officially joins the Big Ten

Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb.

Nebraska has officially tied the knot with the Big Ten and, unlike its marriage of convenience with the Big 12, both parties enter this one believing they’re a perfect match.

Nebraska, which became an active Big Ten member on Friday, gets the stability of a 105-year-old conference that includes some of the biggest names in college athletics and an association with some of the most prestigious public institutions in the land.

The Big Ten gets a valuable national brand in the Cornhuskers, one that gives the conference leverage in future television rights negotiations.

Nebraska loses its games against schools with which it has had century-old relationships, such as Kansas and Missouri, and gains a border war with Iowa and high-powered matchups with Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin, among others.

Commissioner Jim Delany said the Huskers are a natural fit.

“They believe in broad-based programs, we believe in broad-based programs,” he said. “They’ve had success in a lot of different programs, as we have. They believe and value the notion of sportsmanship at a very high level, which we believe in and value. There is a lot of connectivity.”

For all that, this was purely a football-driven move. Five national championships and a coast-to-coast fan following made Nebraska extremely attractive to Delany and the many millions watching on ABC/ESPN and the Big Ten Network.

“I would assume that if we didn’t have a good football tradition that we probably wouldn’t have been invited,” Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said.

The Huskers are in the Legends Division with Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern. They’ll find out just how good they are in their inaugural season, starting with nationally televised cross-division night games at Wisconsin on Oct. 1 and against Ohio State in Lincoln the following week.

The Huskers host Michigan State and Northwestern before back-to-back road games against Penn State and Michigan, and Iowa will visit Lincoln the day after Thanksgiving. They miss out on playing two of the three teams with losing records last season.