GOBLUEjaysDDS08

I'm calling KC Husker out on this one specifically, this one's for you pally... If you guys played in the Missouri Valley, you would finish somewhere in the ballpark of 5th-6th(generously). I definitely place UNL behind Creighton, Southern Illinois, Wichita State, and Missouri State for sure.. possibly behind Northern Iowa as well. All of the aforementioned teams have more tourney experience/better RPIs/overall better success than the inept Huskers. Don't give yourself so much credit- the Missouri Valley is a much better conference than you would care to admit. I'd even consider placing you guys 7th behind Bradley, but Patrick O'Bryant left for the NBA. Either way, the Huskers would be just as unsuccessful in the MO Valley as they are in the Big XII. An objective and knowledgable NCAA hoops fan knows the MO Valley is rapidly becoming a conference you don't mess with (with regards to the top half of the conference). P.S. If the MO Valley is so weak, then why did we have two teams in the Sweet Sixteen last year? You think because you play in the Big XII that it makes you good? Congratulations on being the sh*tbird of your conference, you must be very proud. If you think our conference is so weak, see how your AD would feel about scheduling Wichita State, SIU, and Missouri State along with us for more non-con games. I really think you'd find getting wins in there would be practically non-existant. If you really think MO Valley is weak, either you've had your head in the sand the past few years and haven't noticed the talent cropping up there or you're just frusterated that a so-called mid-major conference could have so many programs with more success than the pathetic big school Huskers. If you plan to reply to this, bring something tangible to show to me that the Huskers are/have been better than the top half of the MO Valley. Good luck.

A program like KU or UNC? Gee, maybe Nebraska can start winning Final Fours. Maybe all the big bluechip recruits will want to play Husker basketball in the palace known at the Devaney Center. Then you guys would be pretty darn awesome. Ppffththththtthh! Dude, come back to planet Earth. The other goal- that it would be nice to start to even up the rivalry with Creighton. That would be a more reasonable goal for you to shoot for. Even at that, you're WAY behind. Dana Altman is a superb coach and Creighton's recruiting classes are picking up steam as the Jays become more and more of a national player. So even tackling that task is very steep. Turning into a powerhouse program like UNC? That's... well that's pretty much ridiculous.

You guys are comparing apples to oranges if you think you can compare the Creighton-UNO exhibition match to the UNL-UNO regular season game. Guys, Dana didn't press UNO. The defensive intensity in a Creighton exhibition game is essentially zero. He runs those games as if it's a NFL pre-season game. We played like total crap last monday and still beat Mississippi Valley State by 40. Basically, the Jays are going to roll into Lincoln on saturday night and beat them up for 40 minutes in the Devaney Center. UNL is going to get a beatdown, but that really shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. I do really respect that you guys do bother to support the basketball team though. That's good to see. Hopefully NU will become a Big XII player someday to reward you guys. For now though, Creighton is far and away the best program in the state.

Oh, and upon reading some other posts on this thought, I also wanted to mention that I too was impressed by the classiness of the Husker fans that I came in contact with. I've been to several NU games at Memorial, but this was the first one that I showed up to wearing the other team's garb. I attended the game with a classmate that is a Longhorns diehard and for the sake of making her feel less "alone" in the sea of red, I pulled on the burnt orange (frankly, I wasn't really swayed one way or another going in). In the past I have been somewhat skeptical of NU's claim to being the classiest of fans, but in actually going through the "visitor" experience firsthand I need to comment upon this... Before the game I received some good-natured ribbing and by-and-large was treated VERY cordially and had a great time sitting in with Husker fans. What I was most impressed by, however, was the way we were treated following the game. As usual, there are a few yay-hoos that walk by and say something rude (which occurs everywhere) but I was probably congratulated and offered a handshake nearly TEN TIMES walking out of the stadium. This really embodies what competition is all about folks. With all the garbage going on with brawls, disrespect, and the like it was very encouraging to see that kind of sportsmanship. I've been to many Michigan games against traditional rivals and I can't say we offer nearly that kind of graciousness. I'm not a Husker fan (or Texas fan for that matter) but it's hard to not like NU with that kind of respectful fanbase. By the way, the way the fans cheered the Huskers off the field... very nice to see- I was as equally impressed by the fans as I was by the team.

Lincoln, NE- Before the game began, I had a difficult time fighting off thinking about Michigan's pending afternoon clash with redemption-seeking Iowa- but when the ball kicked off at 11am I found myself completely enthralled by this Big XII majors bash. Here are a few of my observations concerning the game... 1) Nebraska's Red Zone Defense: I was really impressed with the short field 'd.' I believe Texas was stopped short on close yardage at least 3 or 4 times. 2) Zac Taylor: I'm really impressed with the way Taylor plays as a mature general that plays within his abilities. I have a hard time recalling many plays where I felt he made poor decisions. His execution is solid and I think NU should be pleased with the way that he has come along. 3) Creativity: As a Big Blue fan, it's no wonder that I would be impressed by this (I'm still not convinced that our playbook contains more than 6 plays...). The back-to-back plays of 1) triple reverse and 2) halfback pass left me with just one word: wow. 4) Memorial Stadium: I've been there before, but I have never, EVER been anywhere louder EVER than it was today. What an atmosphere today... 5) Nebraska outplayed Texas: The redemptive quality for Texas today was that they were able to finish the game. It required them to put that ball in the hands (or rather the foot) of a green kicker in order to get to that, but in reality that was the only thing UT had on NU today. It really is unfortunate that the 3rd down reception was fumbled because aside from that, Nebraska truely earned victory today. The reality is that Nebraska is a fumble away from being at or around the Top 10. In my opinion it's a travesty that Nebraska will likely drop in the polls tomorrow given what I saw today. If NU plays to it's potential, there is no reason NU shouldn't be seeing a rematch with UT in the Big XII title game on December 2nd with a possible BCS berth. (Just hopefully they won't end up playing against Michigan again because I'm hoping for a date on January 8th in Glendale...) Keep your heads up NU fans, your team is coming around. I really think both of our programs have been taking steps forward this year. GO BLUE! GO BIG RED!

Nebraska 24 Texas 31 Passing: 247 Rushing: 120

If anyone is willing to sell me 2 NU/UT tickets please e-mail me at tsk04786@creighton.edu with your price. Thanks. GO BIG RED! - Todd

That would be the definition of a pipedream

While I think Nebraska has an outside chance at a BCS game, I think looking at the National Championship as a possibility is purely wishful thinking. Why? 1) You can pencil in either #1 Ohio State or #2/3 Michigan as one of the contenders already. Ohio State play a few woeful opponents prior to the Michigan game and if Michigan can defeat Iowa at home this saturday the same goes for them up until OSU. That said, if both teams stay undefeated then one will be in the NC game. 2) It is unlikely that USC will lose two games this year- to both California and Notre Dame. HOWEVER, if they do, it would likely strengthen either team's resumes for playing in that game. For example, the only game Notre Dame could feasibly lose from this point on would be against USC- and if they do defeat the Trjoans- they will be a 1-loss team with a solid shot for making the game.. come on, it's Notre Dame- what BCS computer wouldn't love them. 3) Whatever team wins the SEC Championship will need to be a special team, probably one that will have one loss. That team, in my opinion, will likely be Florida, Tennessee, or Arkansas. If an SEC comes out with only one loss, I'd find it hard to believe they'd finish behind Nebraska. 4) Either Louisville or West Virginia figure to finish the season undefeated- unless upstart Rutgers can defeat both programs this year. Those teams are currently ranked 5th and 7th, respectedly, in the BCS and passing the undefeated program (whichever one it is) strikes me as unlikely. Is that fair? No, (as a power conference backer I don't like it either) but that's the way it probably is. The ACC elite won't likely effect this whole situation one way or another in my opinion. Clemson and Georgia Tech are programs that are standing out, but the two programs square off this weekend and beyond that there are enough questionable games that predicting results can go all over the board. While I think dreaming of a Nebraska National Title appearance this year is something of a pipedream, a BCS game appearance is anything but. The Huskers do not even necessarily have to win this saturday to achieve that. A Big XII title appearance seems likely as UNL is in the driver's seat in North. A showdown in Kansas City could certainly yield a Nebraska victory and BCS appearance. As far as National Championships go though... I'd start thinking about the '07 season.

Hello Husker fans, While I definitely agree that Nebraska is a solid team this year (particularly on the defensive side of the ball; I really like your front seven... hmm.. that reminds me of another team haha) I believe that Nebraska will need to secure a win against a bonafide opponent before I'd consider them fair valued around the Top 10. I recognize that UNL has only lost one game, however the victories thus far are all against inferior opponents. Now before you all start getting excited, please keep in mind that I'm not saying UNL should not be 'fair-valued' around #10-or-so. However, I do believe that a home victory against Texas or a road victory at Texas A&M would be far more convincing than beating up on teams taking up residence in the dumpster (i.e. Kansas State(4-3.. two of those wins against IAA comp& FAU(practically IAA comp)), Iowa State(3-4.. wins consisting of UNLV, Toledo, and UNI), Troy, Louisiana Tech(1-4), Nichols State(IAA). I would consider Kansas a somewhat reasonable victory, but to date 3-4 KU's most impressive victory resonates somewhere between South Florida and Louisiana-Monroe. Is this Nebraska's fault that the competitition they have played against thus far is subpar? No- and UNL will have an opportunity to prove it's worthwhile in the weeks to come. I think that Colin Cowherd's #11 ranking might be a little high considering that UNL hasn't really defeated any proven teams this year, but in the weeks to come the Huskers will have every opportunity to make such a statement.