I have a good friend of mine that wrestled for Michigan State from '67-'68 to '71-'72 as mostly a reserve that had a handful of varsity matches & one Midlands appearance. Of course, all these years later he's a huge Iowa fan & I'm not sure if he can even name a single Spartan. Every time I see him, we talk college wrestling and I don't know how he does it, but he always seems to ask me a question that leaves me flabbergasted.
"Stephen," he says to me. "Would you say the BIG 10 is better now during the Sanderson era or was it better during the Gable era?"
That's a Hell of a good question.
BIG 10 wrestling has always been good. Today it is, hands down THE college wrestling conference.
Was it always?
To my surprise, no. The BIG 10 wasn't always as dominant as some like to make it out to be. Matter of fact there were years during Gable's era, when Iowa was the only top 10 team in the NCAA DI from the BIG 10.
Now let's take a few things into consideration....
For starters the BIG 10 is a lot bigger now than what it was when Gable was Coaching.
Penn State didn't join the BIG 10 conference until the '93-'94 season. From '77 to '93 Penn State placed in the top 10 NCAA DI 12 times. That would make a big difference, but during those years Penn State was EWL.
Nebraska didn't join the BIG 10 until the '11-'12 season. From '77 to '97, the Huskers placed top 10 NCAA DI on 8 occasions. Once again, that's pretty significant, but during Gable's time they were BIG 12.
Objectively speaking, the BIG 10 has been far more competitive for the most part during the Sanderson era than what it was during the Gable era.
All feels & subjectiveness aside, the #'s don't lie.
Here is the comparison....
So here are the results in black & white, make of them what you will.
Obviously adding in Penn State & Nebraska results makes a difference, but even then, I think this debate goes to Sanderson.
The BIG 10 1980 through 1987 was NOT the conference in NCAA DI wrestling.
During Sanderson's time at Penn State, the BIG 10 has had the best showing of all conferences every season.
