You see Oklahoma State bringing in 50 transfers and Colorado with 43 new faces and I just think about what we used to have in this conference. The Big Ten meant something when it was ten schools who actually cared about the rivalry trophies and the history. Now we are chasing TV money and letting schools like UCLA and USC waltz in while our kids jump from program to program like they are renting apartments.
I remember when a road trip to Iowa City or a cold November game at Michigan State actually meant something. Those were real rivalries built over decades. Now we are supposed to get excited about playing Oregon or Washington in conference play? No offense to those programs but that is not Big Ten football. That is corporate expansion dressed up as progress.
The worst part is watching these massive portal classes at places like Oklahoma State and Colorado and knowing that the old way of building a program is dead. You used to recruit high school kids, develop them for three or f...