This is probably the widest gulf between SEC fans and Big Ten fans. I have a hard time rooting for the top tier programs in the Big Ten to defeat non-cons. I honestly think conference disgrace is a better alternative to Jim Tressel smiling next to 3 NCAA trophies. Well, maybe not smiling, but looking less displeased.

Mostly because i don’t think the conference thing really matters. People will point out that if you go undefeated but your conference has no “respect” you may be shut out but it’s clear from the past that the voters simply look at the teams and the potential matchup, not sagarin’s conference rankings.

Also, laughing at your enemies is fun.

I root for the other Big10 schools OOC, simply so it’s more impressive when we beat them.

I’m sick of people who say “You only beat Purdue, or you only beat Wisconsin.”

I get it that people are only impressed with wins over OSU or Michigan, but to demean our victories for not being good enough is silly. Curiously, it’s mostly PSU fans bitching about being 29-9 with three bowl wins over the past three years who say these things.

So did you feel bad when Michigan lost to Appalachian State last year?

But it’s still hard as hell to cheer for a Michigan or OSU or even Illinois. I’m a die hard Steelers fan and I’m still coming to grips with Santonio Holmes – let alone we just picked up Mendenhall – who freaking torched PSU last year.

this was only meant to include games involving Big Ten schools.

I agree, that is a very interesting game, but I think we can all agree it’s going to be easy to root for OSU in that one.

It’s a matter of two things:
1. Fan camaraderie
2. Hate

I’m with you: I also just can’t cheer for certain teams. Notre Dame sits at the top of my list of Teams I Hate. And there’s myriad reasons. Number one of which is the holier-than-thou-ness of their fans. I don’t have any friends who are Notre Dame fans. The people from my hometown who are, are just not cool. And I’m an openminded and very diverse guy. I’ve got friends in New Zealand and Korea, but no Notre Dame friends. Why? Mostly, their fans suck. And, I’ve also been lucky I’ve never met any cool people who also happen to root for those guys. But, it’s possible I may still. I’m only 37. That’s a bunch of years of opportunity to meet many hundreds of cool people. So, it could change. History says it will. (tho, granted, they’ll have to start out pretty freakin cool to sustain the hit they’ll take when I learn they’re an nd fan).

The older we get, these Teams We Hate do change. In the 90s, my top 3 were Nebraska, Miami & Ohio State. In 99, Chafie started a fuse that’s burned up through the larry coker caricature brawl era, them beginning to really suck, up to now a coach who I really respect in Randy Shannon. I couldn’t stand Nebraska’s cornfed stereotype and the fauxness of the ‘blackshirts’ on a bunch of white boys. And Tom Osborne? Hated him. He was always getting credit for being JoePa, but had no personality. 94’s shite nailed the coffin. But him leaving, them thinking Solich wasn’t good enough, a sweet beatdown under the Beav’s lights in 2002, and an unbelievably friendly visit to Lincoln in 2003 (tho we both sucked), and they’ve kinda dropped off my hate list. My gawd, those fans were great! And now I’ve got two good Ohio State fan friends. And with their dominance and my maturity, they’ve dropped off my Teams I Hate list and sit firmly atop the Teams I Want PSU To Pound the Shite Out Of list. But them goin out to Southern Cal? I only slightly cringe as I write ‘go buckeyes’

It’s all about people, man. Fans I meet can sway my Hate List real quick. In either direction. Right now, because of the people I know, I root for the Big Ten in OOC. Who knows? If I can ever get myself out to Columbus, or Madison, or Ann Arbor, maybe that would change.

Michigan
Florida State
Miami

Just can’t do it. As Dana Carvey would say, “Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it.”

Michigan gets one win all season, against Ohio State, who is then dropped 10 spots in the BCS for losing to a one-win team.

Lose to Notre Dame? How, oh how can you root for this?

“we beat michigan, we beat michigan!” awesome.

And then, on the way out, you hear some old guy “that’s the last time that happens!”…just priceless stuff.

The whole game was on ESPN Classic yesterday from about 1-3pm.

I’m sorry to say, I have no life and I watched the whole thing. I never have been able to catch the full game, and I can’t tell you how much joy it brought me to see ASU flat out SHRED Michigan. I never realized how sweet a defeat it was, but App. State OWNED them that day. They were doing whatever the hell they wanted pretty much for 4 quarters. I loved every minute of it.

But don’t you think since the BCS is largely about POLLS, and since we know that Poll voters care about who you beat and how good they are that in the end it’s better if we play teams that have great records.

For example. If we beat an Ohio State team that has not lost a game yet with an OOC win against USC, don’t you think that can drastically effect our rankings in the Polls which factor into the BCS rankings.

That’s why I’ve always felt it’s best to root for all B10 teams. Not because I’m so in love with the B10, but because I’m selfish, and I know if the B10 looks good, that when we run the table (or not) we look that much better in the National picture. I do think it makes a difference.