Remember This!

We're all about progress at the Rustbelt and as we progress through our Memorial Day Weekend celebrations with a special guest from far flung NYC, we're not going to be doin' any more postin'. However, we want to honor and pay tribute to our favorite soldier, The Ol' Dirty Bastard himself, Mr. Russel Jones!

Enjoy the video!

Being all you can be

Alright, after a week of unorganized discourse regarding teams and their non-conference scheduling a conclusion has been drawn. For many teams the difference between a bowl game and a losing season is the NCS games at the start of the year. However, if we're to argue that if a team needs to beat D-1AA U. to get to a bowl game they maybe aren't fully deserving of a bowl game. In these rankings we have four tiers, Top o' the Heap, Middle of the Pack, Losers, and Bigger Losers.
The Top o' the Heap squads for the most part have had more difficult NCS than the rest of the conference and that has arguably made a difference. For example OSU (last Big Ten team to win a national title) their 2002 season they played Texas Tech and a Washington State squad that ended up playing in the Rose Bowl. Since '02 tOSU has played North Carolina State (not great but bear with me, Phillip Rivers decent qb...) and Texas twice and have future dates with the Trojans of USC twice and the Hurricanes of Miami twice. Bottom line tOSU has manned up in a big way and Tress in some sick and vaguely masochistic thought process has decided to go back to the man up table for a second and third helping.
It's not like the Buckeyes are winning every one of those games - just look at V. Young at Ohio Stadium last year. However, the Bucks also didn't fall too much in the rankings after that loss and still wound up thrashing ND in the Fiesta Bowl.
For a squad like Wisconsin to begin making a case for truly being considered an upper echelon squad conference and nationwide, scheduling a tougher NCS makes sense. They might lose a game or two but eventually they'll catch someone they're better than and begin rebuilding some cred/luster that has rusted and pitted in the face of time and mediocre scheduling.
For the Losers category, hey it never hurts to get smacked around by a bigger, better team than you and it always looks better when that team is from a power conference as opposed to a mid level.
For any of the teams they have nothing to lose, but especially for the teams in the Middle of the Pack and down there is nothing to lose, unless your unwilling to look past the potential financial windfall of the Wells-Fargo sponsored Sun Bowl.


Team/Credentials or rants*

Top 'o the Heap:

University of Iowa/ Big Ten Title, and only one losing season since 2000, grindin' straight grindin'

University of Michigan/ 3 Big Ten Titles, note, none outright, U of M hasn't won an outright title since 1997

Ohio State University / National Title, 2 Big Ten Titles, no losing seasons since 2000


Middle of the Pack:

University of Minnesota / Have only missed one bowl game once since 2000. Nothing outstanding, just consistent, polite and probably a little too proud of what they've accomplished, much like this state as a whole.

University of Wisconsin / Close to .500 since their back-to-back victories in Pasadena. Would definitely be competing w. tOSU for the lead dog slot if this were a breakdown of "extra-curricular" activities during the off-season.

Indiana University / Psyche! These losers are at the bottom of the list. You're telling me this is only team from the Big Ten not to make it to a bowl in the 2000s? Ha, losers!

Purdue / Remarkable in their complete and unremarkably unaccomplished period of 8 or 7 win seasons. Even their Rose Bowl season of 2000 was blemished by finishing with 4 losses and tying w. Northwestern for the title, lost to U of Washington in Pasadena. Incidentally, 2000 a down year for the Big Ten. Purdue seems to constantly be on the "brink of something big" uhh, at least according to Stewart Mandel and other pundits.


Losers:

Penn State University / Hmm, two winning seasons in six years, nice work guys. Seriously, this is a tough call. If you look back the Nittany Lions have in years past had some tough games USC in 2000, Miami in '01, and home & homes with Nebraska and Boston College in '02-'03 and '03-'04 respectively. But also have inexplicable losses at home against Toledo and Pittsburgh in 2000.

Northwestern / Get far too much cred for stringing together winning seasons due to NW's rep as a "really good school." That being said Randy Walker and his smoke and mirror option offense is a major pain in the ass for D's to defend.


Bigger Losers:

Michigan State
Illinois


*Criteria is based off overall team success since 2000. If a team had a fluke year, ie: Illinois in 2001 (Hello Big Ten title and inevitable smackdown at the hands of LSU in the Sugar Bowl) it matters less when compared with the not so Fightin' Illini's embarrassing track record through the rest of this century. Further evidence see Penn State's two winning seasons and one Orange Bowl win in 6 years does not a King Big Dick football team make.

Continued moaning and consternating regarding NCS*

< *That's non-conference scheduling to all y'all ig'nant mofos.>

Okay a few bookkeeping matters to get out of the way. One, a number of readers have remarked to the staff that:
A) I should include the schedules of teams I'm complaining about. Fair enough. I'll start that off in a sec with a retroactive sked for U dubs.
B) I should make it clear that this is all beta testing. Yes, much like the "Universal Re-Monster," Rustbelt-Express is a work in progress.

"The Re-Monster? We're still, uh, beta-testing that.

Alright now on to the complaining and (limited) thoughts.

Regarding Wisco, grade wise, ehh, we can call it a "D." Consensus? A lot of very easy (if not worthwhile/fun/impressive) non-conference games to cushion the inevitable beat downs administered by the Big Ten.
*L
**W
Prediction, 7-5
09/02-Bowling Green, in Cleveland**
09/09-Western Illinois, Camp Randall**
09/16-San Diego State, Camp Randall**
09/23-@ Michigan, Ann Arbor*
09/30-@ Indiana, Bloomington**
10/07-Northwestern, Camp Randall**
10/14- Minnesota, Camp Randall*
10/21- @ Pudue, West Lafayette*
10/28- Illinois, Camp Randall**
11/04- Penn State, Camp Randall*
11/11- @ Iowa, Iowa City*
11/18- Buffalo, Camp Randall**

Ann Arbor and Color Coded Titties

We all like pretty women, right? And we all want pretty women to kiss us, right? And if we can't kiss pretty women we like to ogle them, right?

strange and less than magnificent

That seems to be about the chain of quasi-logic spewing from the mind of whoever set up this website. That, or, maybe even more likely, some meddlesome undergrads in Ann Arbor taking an entry level computer programming course hacked into their poor Latvian grad student's account and published this site. "But, Profeeessor, I cannot even emaghine posting dis breasts of women on Interweb. I homosexual!!" Yeah, meddlesome undergrads, that's the ticket!

Whatever, as long as it gives Lloyd Carr something else to think about during coitus with the wifey. God, I can just picture that banshee yelling at Lloyd about not beating Ohio State and Notre Dame and being too conservative on offense.

yellow bellied varmints

After the NCAA approved a 12 game schedule for the football playin' time the Pac 10 Conference went ahead and made everybody play everybody in conference. Meanwhile, the Big Ten was left twiddling around with it's collective thingy, with teams for the most part using the schedule expansion as an opportunity to add another cupcake team to their schedule. Bearing that in mind the Rustbelt staff is fully aware of the fact that another cupcake to any big schoo'sl sked. will not be making or breaking their season in BCS standings or what have you. That said we just feel that.. you know the teams could've manned up a bit as opposed to say, adding Buffalo to the schedule. With that in mind the staff of Rustbelt would like to offer a breakdown of the teams that have been added and a general looksy at the non-conference schedules.



Very likely the culprit behind scheduling UW Madison's candy ass non-Big Ten schedule


"Wuss"consin

The guiltiest party regarding soft-as baby's ass-scheduling (for this season) could very well be UW. Not only do they face Bowling Green in Cleveland. [Weird contract obligation for determining game's location. Thanks to savvy BG Athletic Department telling UW, "You can kick our ass, but we want to be smacked around in downtown Cleveland. Look, this is as close as some our boys will get to playing at the next level."-Ed.]
The Falcon's starting qb and convenient scapegoat for what will most likely be a 'rebuilding' season with the departure of Omar Jacobs, Anthony Turner, has been suspended for the season opener against the Badgers. So, yes, more than likely the Badgers will be undefeated following this one.
Following the clash in Cleveland, Wisco faces off with the always dangerous and perenially D-IAA, Western Illinois University and the marginally more talented and alma mater of Marshall Faulk, San Diego State the week following with both games in Madison.
Now a few years ago (2002) UW barely defeated the talented directional University in Illinois (NIU, if you're keeping score at home) could this happen again? Not bloody likely. In spite of their Marine based moniker-Leathernecks-WIU has a snowball's chance to beat UW. Seems as though Barry, Brett and the boys learned their lesson after getting burned by the U of Cincy in '99, Fresno State in '01, UNLV in '03 and countless close calls, U of Cincy in '00 and NIU in '02 for starters to fuck around with mid majors that might embarass the Cardinal and White.

Remember that in 2001 Fresno State was not regarded as the giant slayers of mid-conferences that they are nowadays. No, this was still pre-Pat Hill going all Scarecrow on the coaching staffs across the country. So in some respects UW has reason to be afraid of those non-conference games. However, the question will always remain: Really you had to schedule Buffalo? I mean why not just Syracuse or some school with a degree of modest acclaim that's in a downspell? Shit, why not have some balls and schedule the U of Miami or a team from another power conference.

Pat Hill is inside your head, are you listening Les Miles?

It's structural perfection is matched only by it's hostility. You have my sympathies.

Thousands of legs, indeed!

Nothing to report on the Big Ten Football front, however, I do have good news on the homefront! Yes, friends, finally my new roommates the millipedes have moved into my house. Seems with the coming of Spring and with the icy cold stranglehold of Winter lifting, millipede families by (rough estimate) the tens of hundreds have moved into the walls of my shower and are now crawling around. Yep, I saw one of the fellers climbing along the window sill and then I spit some water at him to let him on the clean good fun. Word is, love is in the air and that there might be soon hundreds of thousands of the little critters. Remember, God loves all his creatures, alas, I do not have that sort of affection/restraint.

Getting to know the Captain and the Rustbelt

Alright well, youi're already here. Please, make yourself comfortable, this could get long and ugly before the end. This is my blog and it is will largely pertain to Big Ten related items. As the season grows closer you should be sure to look out for brazen predictions and bold plans to unfurl.

For now, let's go over the basics, I am Captain Rustbelt and I grew up in Toldeo, OH aka, the Glass Capital aka the Ass Capital. Ha! See that, that is comedy, I deftly switched out the "Gl" of Glass and instead Toledo became the capital of butts. Ha, boy, I sure am funny. Seriously, the Toledo Rockets compete in the Glass Bowl and uhh, the city has no identity besides that and Jamie Farr, Mash, Mudhens, Katie Holmes and being Detroit's sphincter. Ok, so around the age of 18ish I decided to go and get some fancy book learning beyond the high school diploma. Much to my parents chagrin instead of attending THE roughneck Ohio State University, I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison which I was to learn was just as roughneck at least as far as football programs and not quite as accomplished as tOSU's.