Best Games in Big Ten Football History: Nominate Yours for OTE Films!

Taking a trip—together?—down memory lane by watching and recapping some of the best in Big Ten history.

By MNWildcat and Jesse Collins Mar 16, 2020, 11:45am CDT

So...uh...looking like it’s gonna be a while.

In that spirit, with sporting options now limited to Turkish and Australian soccer (God bless beIN Network and ESPN+), it seems like now is the time to take a little trip down memory lane in the world of football.

Commenter Kind of...but not really—a nom de plume which really messes with trying to introduce him—has already kicked off an amazing multi-multi-multi-part retrospective series on great forgotten moments in NCAA Tournament over in the OTE Fanposts; check those out, too!

What we are going to do—

—sorry, cue this up:

What we are going to do at OTE to try and provide a little internet social un-distancing is bring back one of our favorite in-season experiences (no, not SMCD), but adapt it to an off-season and retrospective kind of perspective.

That means: GAMETHREADS!

Yes, as part of a new series we’re lazily calling OTE Films, we’ll be finding the best games in Big Ten* history, tracking down full games on YouTube, and creating a gamethread to watch them!

*”Big Ten” can refer to any of the current 14 teams in the conference, regrettably.

Here’s how it’ll work:

Once or twice a week (depending on how popular this is), we’ll announce a game to be watched in a live thread. Time will tend to be around 7 or 8pm CT, hopefully to allow parents to get kids to bed but still be awake to watch, even on the East Coast.
That evening, at about 6pm CT, we’ll post a gamethread with an embedded clock (for reference for when to start) and an embedded YouTube video so you can enjoy in one tab or open into your own window, if you’d like.
You comment on the games however you’d like—treat it as an open thread, talk about the game, or talk about your memories of the game.
The morning after, a few of the writers from those various teams might have a little recap or retrospective for you.

What games will we watch?

Glad you asked, or I would’ve forgotten to tell you. Any classics deemed as such by you, the commenters, are fair game! Here’s how you nominate games to watch:

Think of games you want to see. (duh)
Check on YouTube to make sure a FULL game video exists! A “full game” can be one that’s sped up to eliminate most of the between-play commentary, but it should not be truncated in any other way—i.e., just the fourth quarter of a classic.
Post that game as a stand-alone, non-nested comment! Don’t reply to someone else who says “Michigan vs. Northwestern, 2000” by saying “Yeah, and Michigan State vs. Northwestern, 2006!” First, wanting to watch the latter game makes you a bad person. Second, it makes it tougher for me to find those games.
Rec the comments of games you want to see! Giving a rec to those games will help us ID which ones to watch first. We might choose games by vote, as well.

The First OTE Films

We’ve already picked your first game of the year to watch! Since this was the suggestion of the inimitable Game Thread Meister himself, Mr. Dead Read, we’ll be enjoying...

...

1982: Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions!

Yes, we’re going for it riiiiiight off the bat with two teams that weren’t in the Big Ten at the time but now duke it out regularly for the honor to see who can wax more nostalgic on years gone by and use that history to pretend actions don’t have consequences!

Won’t it be fun?

Here’s how to watch and join in:

Date: Wednesday, March 18
Time: 8pm CT
Where: Gamethread to be posted at 7pm CT

Questions? Let me know in the comments. Otherwise get to nominating games!

And wash your hands, for the love of God.