Nebraska in the Big 10 (12)

So my wife was confused about why Nebraska playing Wisconsin on Saturday night in football is such a big deal.

I had to explain to her that this is Nebraska's first game playing in the Big 10 conference, which kind of felt like to her, "you mean I have to memorize another team in the Big 10?"

Camp Randall in Madison, WI at night
photo credit to ESPN

She knows the irony of the Big 10 having 11 teams prior to the arrival of Nebraska, and yes, after about 5 minutes, she was able to successfully name all 12 teams.

Nebraska is more less in the Big 10 because of a public spat that many teams in the Big 12 conference are having with the University of Texas.  Nebraska left the Big 12 earlier this year because of the development of the Longhorn Television Network, which will reward Texas with revenue that they will not share with other teams in the Big 12.

In the Big 10, all television revenue is shared equally between all 12 teams, which makes everyone rich, even if you are the University of Minnesota, which embarrassingly lost a football game to North Dakota State on Saturday.

Later on, I had the nerve to tell her that the conference known as the Big 12 has 10 teams, which prompted an eyeroll.