Enough fan bases are delusional just like much of the SEC. Michigan who was only relevant because of cheating hangs their hat on “most wins ever” which in part is because they’ve been around longer. Look at their record year by year over the last 20 years. Nothing spectacular. Iowa thinks they’re top tier in their conference but scores more points with their defense.
Penn State is such a little brother thinking it’s big brother. Can’t win anything of meaning. Nebraska is all about “1995 we had the greatest team EVER” and they struggle with Iowa every year thinking they’re a contender. Half of Oregons fan base are fans because of Nike and the “cute color combos”. I could go team by team, but it’s not even the B1G anymore with 20 something teams or whatever they’re aiming for.
P.S…… I am a fan of the B1G in general. More than the SEC. But the way they’ve managed this growth and the way the fans of each team act, it gets to be too much talk. They’ve got some growing to do. And I don’t mean adding more teams. I’m not confident they can lock down the NCAA like the SEC did for so many years.
Agree with everything you said, and I hope you’re right about them not being able to lock down the NCAA. In fact, it would be in everyone’s best interests if no conference is able to do so the way the SEC managed to in the pre NIL days. Otherwise, the entirety of college athletics is gonna get swept away