Big Ten, big deal.

In the interest of full disclosure, I want to be perfectly clear. I used to make fun of the Big Ten.

That's for all of the readers with splendid memories, who, since last summer, have pointedly asked, "Now that you're a Big Ten homer, are you going to point out how you used to rip the Big Ten?''

Who, me?

For pure sport, every September, I would remind readers that the Big Ten was the most overrated collection of blowhards in the country.

I would point out that every Big Ten stadium must have been filled with quicksand, because that's what Big Ten teams looked like running down the field.

As teams from the Big Eight, and later Big 12, played regularly for the national championship, I would wonder aloud, "Does anyone care about the Rose Bowl anymore?''

Of course, I couldn't leave out our good friends to the east, the Hawkeyes, who would poke a stick at Nebraska anytime the Huskers lost. I would have to remind them that they played in a league with one BCS bowl team a year, and three top 25 teams in a good year.

And I used to laugh at all of that arrogance, over what? Average football? Fight songs? Big, gray battleship stadiums that painted the perfect image for a dinosaur league stuck in the stone age?

Yeah, there may be some truth to that. But I have a confession to make.

I was really jealous of the Big Ten.

I'm a college football traditionalist. The Big Eight didn't have many football traditions, other than Nebraska-Oklahoma. And we saw how much that mattered once the Big 12 started.

The Big Ten paid homage to a tradition every week.

It had "On Wisconsin.''

The Big House.

The Horseshoe.

Floyd of Rosedale.

"Hail to the Victors."

The Old Oaken Bucket.

The Big Ten did something I found very curious. In the Big Eight, and Big 12, the national championship was the thing. Nothing else mattered. In the Big Ten, every rivalry mattered. The Rose Bowl mattered. Nothing else did. Big Ten teams and fans played with such passion, and the national title had nothing to do with it.

That's pretty cool.

And while I used to have my fun with Big Ten arrogance, it struck a chord. Why are these people so boastful, so brash, so proud of who they are? They're on the outside looking in most every year, playing their meaningless Rose Bowl game, not in on the action.

The answer was easy. Big Ten football was special, and it didn't need the validation of a national title. Honestly, I always wished the Big Eight could have had more self-esteem, showed more bravado. The Big Eight was more passive, not bold, a trait that would be to its detriment as it entered the Big 12 and handed the keys over to Texas.

I covered the Michigan-Ohio State game in Columbus in 1996. I was in awe of the place. The next year, I did the same game in Ann Arbor. The Big House is all that and a bag of chips. When Nebraska played at Michigan State in 1995, I walked across the MSU campus with my jaw open. Stunningly big and gorgeous. At Penn State, in 2002, the tailgating went for blocks, almost miles.

There were some really wonderful things about the Big Eight, and even in the Big 12, but none of it could match the Big Ten. I would never admit it, but I ripped the Big Ten to hide my jealousy.

So now that I own a Big Ten membership card, it's unreal. I've covered a lot of chases for national titles. I'm looking forward to Bo Pelini getting in the hunt, too.

But I'm really looking forward to classic fight songs, cool rivalry trophies, old battleship stadiums, sprawling campuses and maybe a gray October sky or two. If they still sell felt pennants in the Big Ten, it's over.

The timing of this is perfect for me. After a career of worshipping the mythical national title, I'm ready to enjoy the little things, the important things in college football.

Let's face it, though. This is going to take time.

After years of being able to drive down Interstate 29, I-35 and I-70 on auto-pilot, after knowing the menu at Eskimo Joe's and closing time at Harpo's and Kite's, I find myself a stranger in a strange land.

I know nothing about Madison, Wis. I don't know where to get a postgame burger in Iowa City. I have no idea how to get to West Lafayette, Ind.

State College, Pa.? I've been told I need to leave tomorrow for the Nov. 12 game.

Then there are the traditions of each school, the styles of play, the histories of programs. I knew Oklahoma State has had talent but underachieved for decades. Who's the equivalent in the Big Ten?

It's a little awkward. It's a lot exciting. We're all in this together in Nebraska. This is historic, big stuff. But it's like moving to a new town. It will take time before we can leave the map home.

I wonder how this conference will affect Nebraska. Will fans pay more attention to the NU fight song? Will the school give its plain Jane campus a makeover? Will Husker fans put more emphasis on the Rose Bowl than the BCS title?

The latter will be interesting.

Whatever happens, it's here. Nebraska is in the Big Ten. And it's a very big deal.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

twitter.com/tomshatelOWH

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