There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the addition of the University of Nebraska to the Big Ten in the first step of conference expansion, from the new tradition of a conference championship game to the money and fan base that Nebraska brings that will likely benefit the entire conference. Still, we hope the conference will go a different route with at least one of any future additions.

With the addition of Nebraska, NU remains the only medium-sized private institution in a conference otherwise made up of state-school giants. After NU, Nebraska is the next smallest school in the conference, with well over twice NU’s undergraduate population. In an editorial last spring, The Daily expressed the desire to find another school “like us” to ensure that NU’s voice doesn’t get lost at the Big Ten decision making table. Adding a smaller, private school would have given NU a natural political ally in the conference as well as another natural rival in athletics. Although, based on last Wednesday’s story on the expansion, NU football players don’t seem phased about remaining the smallest school in the conference and facing Nebraska, one of the four historically strongest teams in the conference, every season.

When future expansion is considered, we also hope that academics continue to be a factor. The Big Ten is at the top of the class of the six major conferences when it comes to academics, and though Nebraska’s academics are nothing to scoff at, it is clear that academic superiority was not the top consideration in this addition.

While we will continue to hope that future conference expansion will include an university that is more similar to Northwestern, we acknowledge that Nebraska brings valuable resources to the Big Ten, including its funding and fan base. After all, we’re used to being the conference anomaly, so we can wait a few more years to meet our Big Ten match.