AndyDufresne

I should be but I haven't switched into Big 10 mode yet. Quite honestly . . . I haven't hardly thought about the switch. I've been so Big 12 focused for so long that it's not going to be an easy transition. Also . . . I don't know who would be our recruiting competition in the Big 10. It probably is at least partially dependent on how the divisions are broken down. I'd guess Iowa might be a good comparison but I really don't know what to think. I assume OSU and PSU are probably like the OU and UT of the conference in that NU probably will usually be beneath them in class rankings. In short, I wouldn't know where to begin with that comparison. I agree about not knowing where to begin. I have read that they will announce divisions in August. I've looked at Big 10 recruiting quite a bit honestly, and while OSU is at OU and UT's level, none of the other schools are. PSU and Michigan are about at A&M's level, probably a little stronger.

The 2011 class will be our first in the Big 10. Shouldn't you be comparing this to the Big 10 schools?

I think Sarao/Santos is a good guess. Sounds like if Sarao doesn't make it and the coaches let him, Santos will be happy to snag that LB ship. I also wouldn't be surprised if the next commit comes out of nowhere.

I am with you on that one. Me telling Bo that his CB recruits are perhaps not up to snuff is akin to me telling a Mayo Clinic surgeon that his methods are lacking (and... I am not a doctor). +1 Does anyone really trust the Sean Callahan's and Jeremy Crabtree's of the world over Bo freakin' Pelini? I mean cmon now. That is certainly not my point. I never stated that I thought either of these guys were bad offers and I have always been happy with our staff and their recruiting efforts. It is one of those "Which one of these is not like the others" things that just stands out to me, and I am simply curious. Rivals has some weird discrepancies, that is for certain. Browsing commit lists of our Big 10 brethren, check out Indiana's two four star (and Rivals 250) verbals. One committed in April and the other just a few days ago. Between the two of them, they have 4 BCS offers other than Indiana - Cincinnati, Illinois, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Now check out the offer lists of 3 star players like Michigan's Chris Rock, Ohio State's Devin Smith, or our very own Kevin Williams. Now offer lists certainly don't mean everything and there are tons of underrated players out there, but nevertheless this raises questions in my mind at least.

Just for reference, from 2005-2007 we signed 15 four star high school players. From 2009-2011, we have signed or received verbals from 17 four star high school players. This number is likely to grow prior to February.

There is no way that Sterup should be ranked ahead of Reeves. There are just too many questions surrounding Sterup. Reeves is one of the top 2 or 3 centers in the country. He is a road grader who we offered immediately and who received interest from USC. I also think that Fisher should be ranked ahead of Lampkin. The only thing keeping him from taking off as a recruit is his knee. Just my amateur opinion, not really based on much factual evidence at all. With three players in the top 10, Crete has no excuses not to win Class B this year. And what is up with Nebraska class A football? No players in the top 3 and only 5 out of the top 10.

Here is BigWillie's post from the Bouzos thread: "Personally, I don't like any of the comparisons being thrown around because we are all comparing him to safeties. Aaryn is being recruited as a CB, where Bo LOVES him at."

For two years in a row, our staff has targeted a low rated, not highly sought after cornerback from California fairly early in the recruiting process. Aaryn Bouzos initial Rivals rating is a 5.4 2-star. This was the same for Joshua Mitchell last year (even though he was later upgraded to a 5.6 3-star). Aaryn Bouzos listed offers are New Mexico State and Wyoming. Mitchell's wasn't much more impressive with Colorado State, Idaho, San Diego State, UTEP, and Washington State. In fact, I didn't even know Bouzos was being recruited as a CB until BigWillie posted this in another thread. I watched all 9 minutes of his linked film and there was almost nothing in it showing his coverage skills. With our recruiting momentum and the recent successes of Amukamara and Dennard, I have to think that our coaches are only offering CB's that are high on their board (I heard that at one point last year Mitchell was squarely at the top). So what do you think they are seeing that other staffs are not? Note: This is meant to be a discussion. I don't think the coaches are doing a poor job nor do I think that I possess even an iota of their ability to evaluate talent.

I'd say Bouzos will get a 3rd star. 2 star basically means they haven't been evaluated doesn't it? Description of a Rivals 2-star: "5.4-5.0 Division I prospect; considered a mid-major prospect; deemed to have limited pro potential but definite Division I prospect; may be more of a role player"

Equate Texas to the power hungry boss always looking for better opportunities and the little 5 as his assistants. Sure, I would be all smiles and ass kisses while I get the boss a cup of hot coffee, but when he's not looking I'm going to be updating my resume and checking Monster and Careerbuilder. If I found a more stable job with slightly less pay, you bet I'm gonna bolt.

I was pulling for him to get an offer and I'm glad he made the right choice! Come on Sterup, make it a Thursday Two-fer!

The Buff's one was after the 2008 CU game.

I will only add one more to keep this thread from locking up everyone's PC's, but here is my favorite:

Here's the Holiday Bowl one:

If you guys haven't seen LSUfreek's other work, you should check it out.

The problem is that you are comparing one state in a conference to an entire conference region. The numbers don't look skewed in your comparisons, but add in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas to the mix and things don't look as comparable.

i think we can't lose the texas connection as texas kids bring a certain something i believe that isn't widely seen in the big ten.... we maintain texas and venture out a little more into other regions but i think honeslty our recruting will remain the same for the most part...... its getting to be (hopefully) that kids wont care who nebraska plays or where they are or what the weather is like.. kids will just want to come here..... Double post.

i think we can't lose the texas connection as texas kids bring a certain something i believe that isn't widely seen in the big ten.... we maintain texas and venture out a little more into other regions but i think honeslty our recruting will remain the same for the most part...... its getting to be (hopefully) that kids wont care who nebraska plays or where they are or what the weather is like.. kids will just want to come here..... I hope you're right. Instead of being one of the northern most schools in a relatively warm weather conference, we will be one of the southern most schools in a cool weather conference. In 2010, there were approximately 30 more 4 and 5 star prospects in Big 12 states than in Big 10 states. Looking at the state rankings for both conferences in 2010, the best prospects in the Big 12 states tended to stay within the conference. The best prospects in the Big 10 states tended to branch out more. California has been pretty good to us, but the Big 10 hasn't gotten many Cali kids to commit to them in the last several years. Of course, it is all relative as well. While Ohio State is a recruiting juggernaut and Michigan and Penn State aren't too far behind, the rest of the conference hasn't recruited consistently as well as Nebraska over the last several years. I think our recruiting can drop off some and we can still be firmly at the head of the pack of the second tier of Big 10 schools. Perhaps being one of the southern most states in the conference will work in our favor. I guess we'll just have to see how everything plays out. Perhaps our coaches will surprise me and we won't see much of a drop off at all. Perhaps we will see a resurgence of effective recruiting in New Jersey and Florida (a surprising number of Florida kids head to Big 10 schools). As of now though, I am a bit concerned.

I hate to leave the relatively weak Big XII north and I hate the uncertainty of recruiting in the Big 10. Then again, I'd hate even more to agree to the new revenue sharing model of the revised Big XII and actually have to acknowledge that we are a second class citizen in an unstable conference. Imagine the gloating by Texas, and any rebuttal by us would be pointless because they would know that they own us. I'll also believe the revenue numbers that Beebe is throwing around when I see actual confirmation.

I think we get the two instate kids we've offered. I also wouldn't be surprised if one of the verbals above decommits. Us going to the Big 10 and the increasing possibility that the remaining Big XII schools will remain puts us in a disadvantage in recruiting many kids within the Big XII area. I would be pretty ecstatic with your list, but I think we need to lower expecatations for this class with the way things have shaken out over the past week.

I think we can still have success in Texas, though we are probably talking 2009 success (beating out A&M for Texas recruits) instead of 2011 success (beating out Oklahoma for Texas recruits). That is long term. In the short term, I have to think that Nebraska's crucification by Texas' media puppets and scathing commentary in Texas' editorial pieces are going to hurt recruiting worse than the conference move. It will be hard to predict how we will do in our new conference recruiting map. Being the new kids and the talk of the media can only help in the short term. Establishing relationships will be what seals it in the long run. I hope we continue to focus on recruiting speed and hopefully the increased exposure will only help to improve already solid (if unspectacular) results in California. Regarding surrounding states, it partially depends on what happens with other Big XII schools. If MU goes to the Big East or MWC, NU will have an enormous opportunity to increase our presence in a fertile (for the Midwest anyway) recruiting ground.

Notre Dame prides itself on it's independence and despite the downturn in the economy, their endowment is still substantial. If everything is status quo, why would they join a conference?

Another from csabataka1 (another reliable poster in the past) - see full thread for reactions: "Expect an announcement as soon as the next couple days, NU is waiting for the right time to announce. Deals have been made and it has been voted on. The wait might have to do with ND and MU. This is from a worker within the Athletic Department, one degree of separation from me"

I don't know how many of you browse the HI free board, but Tim_may64 has proven over and over again that he has connections and what he posts is as gold as it gets (for anonymous message board posts anyway). Here is a post from him this morning: "I agree with some of that. This is not about Texas or the Big 12 for Nebraska. This is about a better oppurtunity for us in the Big 10. Osborne and Perlman are not rolling the dice on our future because of some personal grudge against Texas. The "reasons" given (Primarily by the Texas media) are not the reality of the situation. What will probably come out at some point is that Texas was our partner in this process just a few weeks ago. In fact it was the Texas flirting with other conferences that put our efforts into high gear. When it came out that Texas was shopping around it became clear to us that the future of the Big 12 was on a shaky foundation. Texas of course was not allowed to take Tech to the Big 10 so that seems to have fallen through for the moment. As Dodds said a couple of months ago, Texas is going to do whats best for Texas. As they should. So should every other school. What is best for Texas right now is keeping the Big 12 together. They are pulling out all the stops to do so. What they dont realize is that the ship had already sailed by the time they imposed their "deadline." It is business, not personal. As for the Big 12 business model, that simply isnt a huge issue. A big 12 network would make the Big 12 more attractive to NU, but not enough to turn down the Big 10. Moving the championship game to Dallas is an issue but not one that would cause Nebraska to leave the league. Nobody cares about partial qualifiers anymore, another red herring. No one can really blame Texas for closing down the Big 12 after we leave. Its not like they dont have calculators in Austin."

Underrated. More than held his own at the junior All-American combine. Looking through all of the offensive prospects that we are interested in and their ratings, it seems like more so than in years past Rivals' initial ratings are particularly low.