First off, hello board! Been lurking a while, but found this subject interesting and since most responses are based off more recent experiences, thought I would add opinion from a more long-term view.
No, I don't remember ever betting against the huskers. But I did come very close once.
I have never placed a bet with the bookies, but found myself surrounded by many who did. I always figured why give the bookies a percentage when one could usually find someone to make a straight across friendly bar bet with. It had been my experince through the 60's and 70's that point spreads were high for the Huskers and there was a tendancy to substitute freely in the second half allowing too many opponents to get within that spread. Also, the memory of the '68 KSU homecoming game remained embedded into my memory (12-0 loss in case some don't remember). Therefore, I chose to stay away from any bets with NU involved. Anyway.....
Not sure, but it was 76 or 77 when I walked into the bar on a Friday night and found out that the bookies had NU giving OU something like 7 or 8 points. As many know, NU had not beaten OU for a number of years then. A customer of mine had come in late and paid a $600 bill in cash which I had in my wallet and the temptation of getting OU and points against ANYBODY was overwhelming, but I resisted the temptation. Well, OU won (again) straight up leaving me with that disappointment (again) as well as $600 short. I figured I had missed my best opportunity and never was tempted again.
An interesting (to me anyway) anecdote: I was tending bar in a small town during the '71 season when even friendly bar bets were hard to come by when it came to the Huskers. Nobody would bet againstg them even with a ton of points. The first couple games, I was able to get a bet for a beer that NU would score first, which I won so no more takers on that one. Then I bet that NU would score on their first possession, which they again covered. Then that score was upped to a touchdown on the first possession, which they again covered. By the second half of the season, I don't recall any betting activity involving the huskers because there just wasn't anything anybody could come up with that any fan didn't think they had a great chance of covering, short of the ridiculous that would amount to making a donation.
Anyway, glad to be here, hope to post occassionally, and sorry for the rambling. Just too many great memories of the huskers over the past 50 or so years.
