BeatVisitor Dot Com Cleans House and Prepares for the B1G Time

On this day after the Pinstripe Bowl loss to the team with the most obnoxious drunken fans in college football (some Golden Dome supporters in section 322 provided a strong argument against ever serving beer at R House), I decided to refresh the BeatVisitor dot com sidebar to your right (if you're viewing this on a non-mobile device). I've removed the links to the USFs and UConns and Temples and replaced them with links to the Ohio States and Penn States and Michigan States on our football schedule for the foreseeable future. If you know of any strong or humorous Big Ten blogs that I haven't included in this first pass, please suggest them in the comments.

I was thinking of mentioning the interim conference we're leaving, which I've never mentioned by name here in this blog, to complain about their bad officiating and petty money grubbing, but I won't bother naming them now; they're in our past. Rutgers should post a picture when their ugly logo is removed and the B1G logo is painted on our field. That will be a day to celebrate.

I've also placed the 2014 schedule high on the sidebar. 2013 is over. Life begins again in Seattle on August 28th. Keep Calm and Chop Cougars.

Conference Age and Tradition

Watching the Premier League Club Guide on NBC Sports this morning, with all its stress on the age and tradition of England's top professional football teams, made me think about the age and tradition of America's college football teams in the 2013 Rump Big East (now known as the American Athletic Conference) and the 2013 Big Ten and what the move of the oldest school in either conference from one to the other will do to the average ages of both.  Here are the results of some quick internet historical research about the dates each of these schools was founded.

AMERICAN			B1G
UCF	1963		Illinois	1867
Cincinnati	1819		Indiana	1820
UConn	1881		Iowa	1847
Houston	1927		Michigan	1817
Louisville	1798		MSU	1855
Memphis	1912		Minnesota	1851
Rutgers	1766		Nebraska	1869
USF	1956		Northwestern	1851
SMU	1911		Ohio State	1870
Temple	1884		Penn State	1855
2013 Average	1881.7		Purdue	1869
			Wisconsin	1848
			2013 Average	1851.583

There's already an average 30 year difference in the Big Ten's favor even with the 1766 Scarlet Knights in the Rump Big East, but look what happens when Rutgers and Louisville check out next year and the difference extends to 50 years.

UCF	1963		Illinois	1867
Cincinnati	1819		Indiana	1820
UConn	1881		Iowa	1847
East Carolina	1907		Maryland	1856
Houston	1927		Michigan	1817
Memphis	1912		MSU	1855
USF	1956		Minnesota	1851
SMU	1911		Nebraska	1869
Temple	1884		Northwestern	1851
Tulane	1834		Ohio State	1870
Tulsa	1894		Penn State	1855
2014 Average	1898.90909		Purdue	1869
			Rutgers	1766
			Wisconsin	1848
			2014 Average	1845.786

The Big Ten will become 6 years older with the addition of 1766 Rutgers and 1856 Maryland, but the American Athletic Conference (if it's still calling itself that in 2014) will have become 17 years younger and only the addition of Tulane will keep the conference's average age just barely in the 19th century. Only two of the AAC's 2014 members will have been founded before Rutgers was already playing football in 1869.