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Post being replied to

Fair, although I think it's close by Freight Train

Regardless, there are 3 tiers in the Big Ten:

1) UM, OSU and PSU (barely)
2) UW, MSU and Nebraska and Iowa (maybe, based on fan support)
3) Everybody else

Now that it's headed into the Big 12, UC is basically a top Tier 3 team with potential to get to Tier 2 over the next few decades. It sits in a fertile recruiting territory in which it can live off the crumbs of the Tier 1 teams, as it's been doing since Dantonio arrived in 2004. Fickell definitely upgraded with UW but he landed lower than I think he could have.