knapplc

Now banning ItDtG for agreeing with Fro.... Edit - I appear to have hit the BAND button, not the BANNED button. My mistake.

It's OK, guys. Once we leave the Big 12, Fro is going to switch teams and join the Good Guys. He'll be a Husker, you wait.

I think this goes along with the question of a pollster's philosophy in their poll. Do you try to create a poll that reflects where you think teams will end up, or where they are on paper? I typically go with an "as is" approach, not looking at schedules. I doubt seriously that the Longhorns will get through their four-game stretch of Tech, UCLA, Oklahoma and Nebraska unscathed, and I really think they'll lose two of those four. But on paper, they have all the players to make another run at the MNC, so I put them higher than where I think they'll finish.

I'd rather go to The Big House than watch the W. Kentucky game on pay-per-view, too. If I were you I wouldn't feel bad about this at all. What really sucks is having tickets to the W. Kentucky game and not being able to go. And the Idaho game. And neither time will I be going to another game. Family obligations.

So many preseason polls coming out, with Nebraska ranked anywhere from the top five to the top 15. Where do we belong? If you'd rank us up in the top five, why would you put us up there? If down in the upper teens, what's holding us back? Personally, I still have my doubts about QB play and the O Line. I have high expectations for the defense once again and I think we're in good hands at RB. While we should be better and more healthy at O Line, the depth we're adding isn't experienced - Sirles, Hardrick and Ash are talented, they just haven't played. No matter which QB starts, we're still looking for consecutive good games vs. BCS opponents. That said, I think it's fair to put us about 10th-12th in the country. I think a fair top 25 would be: 1. Alabama - The Tide return a ton of talent. They belong here for now, but the SEC gauntlet makes a repeat title difficult 2. Boise St - I cringe putting them here, but they have the offensive weapons to dominate. VA Tech will make or break the Broncos. 3. Ohio St - Terrelle Pryor is a Jr. with the tools and the talent to lead the Buckeyes all the way to the championship. 4. VA Tech - Tyrod Taylor is a SR. His experience, a good O Line and a great stable of RBs will keep VA Tech atop the rankings. 5. TCU - Oregon St will give them their only real challenge of the early season. They could be in the top five all year. 6. Florida - No Tebow? No problem. Look for talent-rich Florida to challenge Alabama for the league crown. 7. Oklahoma - Stoops has trouble with the big games, so early dates with FSU and Cincy will show whether the Sooners belong here. 8. Oregon - I've never understood the lack of respect the Ducks get at HB. This is a talented, well-coached team. 9. Texas - This is could be a team that plummets FAST facing Texas Tech, UCLA, Oklahoma and Nebraska in four consecutive games - three of them on the road. They're talented, sure, but that's a hell of a four-game stretch. 10. Iowa - Defense wins championships, but having a competent offense helps. Iowa has both, and less questions than Nebraska. 11. Nebraska - We know about the Blackshirts. Let's see the offense hold up their end of the bargain, and this will be the lowest the Huskers are ranked all season. 12. Wisconsin - They return 10 starters on offense. It's their D Line that has to reload. The Badgers should contend with OSU for the Big 10 title. 13. Miami - It starts to get pretty fuzzy here, and Miami is a confusing team. Jacory Harris needs to be better. 14. Pittsburgh - Three of their first five games are against Utah, Miami and Notre Dame. We'll see what they're made of then. 15. Arkansas - Ryan Mallett will once again star, and the Razorbacks could be a sleeper SEC Championship pick. 16. Penn State - After the top 15 it gets really difficult, and these next ten could go any number of ways. 17. Georgia Tech 18. USC 19. Texas Tech 20. LSU 21. Cincinnati 22. Florida St 23. Oregon St 24. Georgia 25. Clemson

Look what I just got in the mail!

Happy birthday, BW!! Enjoy these younger days. They go by fast.

I would prefer to see the Michigan/OSU game stay intact, first of all. But if you're giving me a choice of which existing Big 10 team to play the day after Thanksgiving, I'm choosing Michigan every time. They have one hell of a tradition there, and although they're down now, they won't be down for long. PSU or OSU would be acceptable, but with Penn State you have the travel time to consider, which is just about a deal-breaker for me. That's a long commute.

If so it'll come down to coaching.

I just ran into Kaitlynn at the grocery store. I was standing behind her in a really, really slow line. We talked for a while about her situation, the team this year, Nebraska weather - just general stuff. She's yet another really nice athlete I've met recently, another great example of the kinds of kids we want representing the Huskers.

I keep forgetting to post this. Last week I was walking by the stadium and there was a crew drilling into the dirt about 30 feet from the East Stadium's outer wall. I asked the guy what they were doing and he said they were testing to see how far down the bedrock was. I asked him if that was for expansion of the East Stadium and he said, "Probably."

It's Bleacher Report. It's a blog. It holds as much water as a sieve.

They've almost got the new trophy case finished. Walked past it at noon on my daily campus walk, and they've got everything in there except the National Championship trophies. It's a nice display.

Best article by Forde I've read in a while, but he couldn't resist continually linking the second put back on the clock with Nebraska's decision to leave. He minimized the real reason (academics) and he minimized Nebraska's impact on the BTN. But those are small gripes. Overall, good article.

He's gotta catch on somewhere. The guy is just a gamer. Gritty, determined, all the things you would want in a DB. He also just happens to be a damned fine tackler, and he spent a lot of time around the ball last season, much to the chagrin of ballcarriers.

Why Martinez over Green? I might probably agree with you, just wondering what your reasoning is. I'm really on the fence on this.

Last reminder. Let's keep it cool, all right folks? No personal attacks, no craziness. Please, for your best buddy knapplc? OK?

We're going to take a breather from the really partisan discussions in here, OK? Let's wait until next year to start drawing battle lines. It's kind of nice to be on good terms with fan bases from a whole conference for once. It'll end soon enough when the chinstraps get tightened, so let's enjoy it while we can. And certainly let's not spill milk over a rumor. Of all things to get into a discussion about, this is the least meritorious.

I'll just about guarantee it. Michigan didn't become the winningest college football team of all time by accident. They have a huge fan base. They have boosters up the wazoo, with money up the wazoo. They have a huge, great, destination school. They have tradition that 95% of all college football teams can only dream of having. They are among the elite for a reason, and one or two bad coaches in a row isn't going to be enough to keep them down. It would take generations of horrific play to fully dampen the ardor from Ann Arbor. We saw this stumble with Nebraska. We saw it with Oklahoma. We saw it with USC. We saw it with Miami. We saw it with Alabama. We saw it with any one of another ten schools, just like we're seeing it right now with Notre Dame and Michigan, but I will double-dog guarantee you that both Notre Dame and Michigan are going to rise up again. Gonna happen, not a doubt in my mind.

Holy Cow! MAN, did I have a crush on her when I was a young'un.

Yep. Bo posts once in a blue moon on Twitter. He's no FakeTomOsborne.

The 'problem' is explained by this guy: A Buckeye The problem with this is you're talking to a fan base who had their best game of the year taken away entirely, not just moved to a different day. You're not going to get a lot of sympathy here.

I think all anyone has been asking you for this whole time is, who is that QB, and on what do you base that "upside?" I would say any of the QB's might have a better upside then the one that struggles to score one td a game, or is that the high water mark for this offense? What are you afraid of that they might score more then one td? The fact is that we know Lee's basement. We have no idea what TMart's or Green's basement is. What if these guys come in with their zero game experience and score one field goal per game? You have no idea that they'll be better than a second-year starter. You're willing to risk an entire season's worth of 2009 ISU games because Lee had one. "Might" might be worse.

Is that all you people have? Fat jokes? Boring!

Remember the lesson of DeJon Gomes. Gomes didn't start until after the Missouri game, but he became one of our better defenders as the season went on. Maybe our QB isn't Lee, maybe he's just starting until someone takes his place. Maybe it's TMart, maybe Green comes on strong, maybe LaTravis Washington is the secret weapon that the coaches aren't even talking about. You just never, ever know.