“Ranking the B1G’s top 5 all-time QBs.”

When I saw that tweet from the @ESPN_BigTen account, I was curious. I clicked the link to see ESPN’s opinion on the matter to compare it with my own. Quickly, I realized that ESPN’s top B1G quarterback of all-time was not a guy I even had on my radar. In fact, I wouldn’t have even put ESPN’s No. 1 choice in my top 200 B1G quarterbacks.

That’s because ESPN’s No. 1 was former Nebraska star Tommie Frazier, who was extremely successful, but he never played a game as a B1G quarterback. So, like many others, I fired off a snobby tweet questioning the logic behind putting a guy who played his entire career in the Big 8 as the best quarterback in B1G history.

Here was my back-and-forth with ESPN’s Josh Moyer, who wrote the story:

This was the explanation that Moyer referenced:

“We’re also technically doing some cheating here because we’re picking players that come from teams currently in the Big Ten. In other words, expect to see a few Nebraska and Penn State players — even if they didn’t technically compete in the conference.”

 

So why “cheat” at all? As Moyer later explained to me, some B1G all-time rankings would be dominated by Michigan and Ohio State if not for cheating. It opens the floor for non-Michigan and non-Ohio State fans to argue that the ranking was biased. And on that front, I actually agree with Moyer’s logic. I’ve stopped working on a B1G all-time ranking story after realizing it was all Michigan and Ohio State because frankly, that doesn’t feel like a conference-wide discussion. Instead of bending the rules, I looked for something different to write about.

But let’s get back to the bigger issue at hand. What counts as B1G and what doesn’t?

This is a question for the digital/cable-TV era. It’s often offseason rankings stories and summer programming slots that bring this debate up again.

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If you’ve watched Big Ten Network in May, you’ve probably seen the 1986 Fiesta Bowl show up on “Big Ten’s Greatest Games” and thought, hey, Penn State wasn’t in the B1G in 1986. You, person with at least basic college football knowledge, would be correct.

The truth is, networks and publications bend the rules so that Penn State and Nebraska fans can feel included in the same capacity as every other team in the conference. It doesn’t hurt that both of those programs have plenty of historical moments that the B1G doesn’t mind claiming as its own.

But it shouldn’t.

Nov 19, 2005; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins tight end Vernon Davis during a game against the Boston College Eagles. Mandatory Credit: Pouya Dianat-US PRESSWIRE Copyright © 2005 Pouya Dianat ORIG FILE ID: 20060422_rvr_sd8_548.jpg

Guys like Eric Crouch and Todd Blackledge, while great, were not B1G players. You won’t find Ndamukong Suh, Vernon Davis or Devin McCourty on any Saturday Tradition list of “all-time great B1G players.” Will they be the subject of stories that appear on this site? Sure. Nebraska fans still care about Suh, Maryland fans are still interested in Davis and Rutgers fans still follow the McCourty brothers.

It’s my job to write about all things that interest B1G football fans. But if I want any ranking or debate to be considered fairly and critically, they can’t be included.

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Sorry Nebraska fans, but the only Husker quarterbacks eligible for a list of “B1G’s top all-time QBs” are Taylor Martinez and Tommy Armstrong. Oh, and the engineer of the Mustache Miracle, Ron Kellogg III.

Consider that one of the few drawbacks of joining a new conference. A team’s history essentially starts over within the conference. The SEC Network was unwilling to accept the fact that Von Miller played at Texas A&M before it joined the SEC:

But facts are facts. If a player never played in a conference, he can’t be considered part of its history.

Think about it in terms of another sport. Paul Molitor earned a spot in the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame after spending 15 years with the Milwaukee Brewers, three with the Toronto Blue Jays and three with the Minnesota Twins. He played his entire career in the American League and is considered by many as the greatest designated hitter of all-time.

Five years after Molitor left the Brewers, they went to the National League. So would Molitor show up on a list of “greatest National League hitters of all-time?” No way. That’s silly.

Sports can be complicated, but this discussion shouldn’t be. A player has to have played in a specific league or conference to be claimed by that league or conference. This isn’t about taking history away. It’s about properly evaluating history in the era of conference expansion.

If someone wants “cheat” in an all-time conference-wide ranking in order to appeal to a wider market, that’s their prerogative. But any legitimacy it might’ve had is lost.