Big Ten coaches happy about Nebraska's arrival

CHICAGO | The Big 12's loss is unquestionably the Big Ten's gain.

That was the prevailing opinion of coaches Monday at the 39th annual Big Ten football media day at the McCormick Place Convention Center. To a man, in fact, they rolled out the welcome mat for Nebraska, which officially became the newest member of the conference on June 11.

The Cornhuskers will play a final Big 12 season this fall, then begin Big Ten competition in 2011. Nebraska is the conference's first addition since Penn State in 1990.

With their rich gridiron history -- which includes more than 800 wins, 46 conference championships, 24 bowl victories and five national titles -- the Cornhuskers are certainly a formidable addition to the Big Ten. Following a brief dip in fortunes a few years back, they've enjoyed a revival the past two seasons under coach Bo Pelini and appear poised to become an immediate player of note within their new conference.

That would seem to be bad news for the Big Ten's power programs, but there was no evidence of worry while coaches took their 15-minute turns at the dais.

"I think change is exciting," said Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, whose team has won five straight conference crowns. "And when you add Nebraska and their tradition and academic excellence, it's even better."

"I have a tremendous amount of respect not only for (athletic director and former coach) Tom (Osborne), but the University of Nebraska," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "We had played Nebraska before we got into the Big Ten, and we had some great, great games with them. We've had a good relationship with them and I think it is a really good addition to the Big Ten."

"It brings so much value to our league -- you can't buy anything like that," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. (And) to me, it opens up more recruiting possibilities to the west."

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said a divisional structure of the soon-to-be 12-team conference will likely be decided upon within the next 30-45 days and that a championship game is the "direction we're heading." He also stated that Nebraska doesn't signal the end of Big Ten expansion.

"We'll pause, but we're not necessarily turning our back on (further) expansion," Delany said. "(But) we're not actively involved in any expansion initiatives at this time. One-hundred percent of our energies are focused on integrating Nebraska into the conference."

In the opinion of several coaches, a point of consideration for the conference's decision-makers will be the retention of long-standing rivalries. Minnesota coach Tim Brewster weighed in on the Gophers' annual battles with Wisconsin and Iowa, which feature Paul Bunyan's axe and the Floyd of Rosedale pig as tangible artifacts attached to the winning of those respective contests.

"It's absolutely vital for the University of Minnesota to play Wisconsin and Iowa every year," Brewster said. "It is very important to those states."

Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz preferred to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

"I've never been through an expansion process, but I'm sure there are some traditional things that will get changed," he said. "But once everything settles in, I think everybody will be happy and everything will be just fine."