After months of speculation, and a week of will-they or won’t-they, the Big Ten finally has it’s 12th member.

In Nebraska, the conference adds a program with as much history as any.  The Cornhuskers are the 4th winningest football program of all time, and though they claim “just” 5 national championships, they’ve been credited with as many as 11.  From Nebraska’s 3 Heisman winners to its 52 consensus All-Americans, from the 87-year old Memorial Stadium with a 304 game sellout streak to the looming presence of Tom Osborne, the Huskers add another tradition-rich, storied program to a conference chock full of them.

But citing the history books doesn’t really tell the story of their move to the Big Ten.  For that, I enlisted the help of Brandon Vogel, of BigRedNetwork.com, a long-time, die-hard Nebraska fan, who’s graciously agreed to answered some of my questions, as we attempt to gauge the collective Nebraska fanbase on the dynamics of their shift from the Big XII (which now has 10 members) to the Big Ten (which has 12).

NWO:  So, first reaction: Nebraska to the Big Ten. What was your thought process as this story developed? Did you see Nebraska as a potential addition to the conference, or did this come completely out of left field?

BV: My first reaction was when Missouri was floated out there and I thought “Fine, have a nice trip Tigers.” I never thought Nebraska would go. As things progressed, or rather regressed in the Big 12, the Big 10 looked more and more realistic and, to be honest, more and more appealing. As a staunch traditionalist I went from dead set against it to sort of resigned to it to bittersweet excitement. That’s where I’m at now…I think.

NWO: What are you going to miss most about the Big XII?

BV: Ironically, and I might be alone on this among Nebraska fans, but it’s the opportunity to play Texas. Texas’ ascendancy and the arrival of Mack Brown sort of mirrored Nebraska’s fall under Callahan. Despite that, the two teams always seemed to come up with epic games and, generally, epic heartbreak for the Huskers. Four out of the last five games have been decided by a total of nine points. With the way the Big 12 championship game ended last year, and the fact that NU hasn’t beaten the Horns this decade, this rivalry was just heating up. Now, sadly, it’s moved from the field to the board room and that might be where it remains.

NWO: The closest thing Nebraska has to a rival in the Big Ten is Iowa, and you guys haven’t played in a decade.  What series and rivalries are you looking forward to starting up?

BV: I think the Iowa rivalry will get going almost immediately. Living in Omaha, I hear quite a bit from the Hawkeye fans just over the river. We see them, they call into our radio shows and a lot of people on both sides have always wanted a Hawkeye-Husker series. They wear “America Needs Farmers” helmet stickers so hopefully we can get things started by trumping that with “America Needs Nebraska Farmers” stickers.

The other one I think will be more of a friendly rivalry is Wisconsin. With Barry Alvarez’s ties to Bod Devaney and Nebraska, Wisconsin has always been viewed as sort of a “friend of Nebraska,” and now we’ll get to play them. Also, the two teams wear the exact same pants, so that’s neat.

Bo Pelini’s Ohio ties make Ohio State sort of intriguing.

And, of course, if Mizzou gets invited that rivalry, which has been building steadily for about a decade, will get a boost as well.

NWO: Nebraska has been merely “good” in a division that seemed custom-made for them to reach the Big XII Championship game on a yearly basis. What did Bill Callahan do, that went so wrong, in knocking the Huskers down a peg from those halcyon days of Tom Osborne?

BV: How long do we have to answer this one? My quick answer: Bill Callahan ran Nebraska like you would run some of the other big time program in the country. His focus, aside from the seismic offensive shift, was recruiting. But Nebraska’s never been about recruiting really. I think Nebraska at its best is about maximizing talent. Callahan didn’t do that. He got into the arms race and, predictably, lost. You need a “coach” at Nebraska first and foremost, not a “recruiter.”

You’re correct in saying that the Big 12 North was custom made for Nebraska to succeed. I think that’s a pretty significant advantage lost with the move to the Big 10.

NWO: Nebraska hasn’t exactly had much success in basketball, the only other sport most casual fans know about.  Other than some epic women’s volleyball matches again Penn State, what should the Big Ten be expecting to see from the Nebraska athletic department?

BV: Here’s something I bet you didn’t know: Nebraska is a women’s bowling powerhouse. Eight national titles since 1991. Also, gymnastics. We hold our own there as well.

With volleyball and what looks to be the start of a promising women’s hoops program I think NU adds some value on the women’s side of things. Men’s is a little different. The struggles of the basketball program seem never ending and what was a good baseball program five years ago is in disarray.

In summation: Big 10 fans can expect to see good football and volleyball.

NWO: The Penn State-Nebraska rivalry hasn’t exactly had many installments, but there’s some bad blood on both sides–the 1982 game saw Penn State steal a win on a bad call, likely robbing Nebraska of a national championship, while many Penn State fans feel that the Nittany Lions were overlooked in 1994, in favor of the Huskers who were voted #1.  When you think of Penn State, what comes to mind from a Nebraska perspective?

BV: First and foremost, the (Non) Catch. I was only three at the time so my heart wasn’t broken but I still watch the YouTube video and pretend like it was. I suppose you could say that we’re even. 1982 for 1994.

There’s a lot of respect for Penn State in Nebraska. I think Penn State has the reputation of being a program that “does things the right way” and that’s like gold in the Cornhusker State. Anybody who can hit Miami in the mouth and pound out a win like Penn State did in ’87 is good with us.

NWO: Lastly, now that Nebraska is a member of the Big Ten, what teams are you hoping to see the conference add further?

BV: I guess we take Notre Dame out of the question. They’ll call us when they need us, right? I think Pitt is a good fit and I’d like to see Missouri come along. Rutgers doesn’t make much sense to me other than as a way to add numbers to your media kit. Syracuse has enough history to be intriguing. The usual suspects with the addition of this one that will never happen: West Virginia.

Thanks again to Brandon for answering our questions.  You can read more of his work, and come to gain a greater appreciation of our future rivals, at BigRedNetwork.com