Moos' Rebuild of Husker Athletics Still a Work in Progress

[Mavric]

Quote

In other sports, the Nebraska men’s indoor track team won a conference title. The volleyball, baseball and women’s gymnastics teams all finished third. The men’s gymnastics team finished in a tie for sixth — that’s last — but then went on to finish third at the NCAA championships, which surpasses any league achievement. The men’s and women’s outdoor track teams both finished fourth. The women’s indoor track team, men’s golf and women’s soccer teams all finished fifth. The women’s basketball and wrestling teams finished sixth.

 

That’s 12 of the 21 sports, or 10 of 19 if you prefer to lump outdoor and indoor track together. It’s safe to say Nebraska wants a higher batting average, and more league titles, but it speaks to relative success across the athletic department.

 

Of the nine sports that didn’t finish in the league’s top half, only women’s cross country finished last in the 14-team league. Men’s cross country, women’s swimming and softball finished eighth, football finished in a tie for ninth overall and in fifth for its own Western Division. Men’s tennis finished 11th, women’s tennis finished 12th and, in the most stunning finish, men’s basketball finished 13th after being picked by the media to finish fourth.

...

Quote

If you look at the Learfield Cup, which assigns points to schools for its national finish, Nebraska ranks eighth in the Big Ten and 26th nationally. The Huskers aren’t likely to finish 26th — somewhere in the mid-30s seems to be the spot, but they should hold on to eighth in the league, and perhaps even slip into seventh, ahead of Iowa.

 

According to the latest April standings of the Capital One Cup, the Husker women lead the Big Ten and rank eighth nationally — that’s largely on the strength of the Husker volleyball team’s performance — with 36 points. The Husker men have one point and are tied for 78th.

Moos has repeatedly said finishing in the top half of the league is a basic goal for any team. Contend for a league title, and contention for national titles will follow.

 

“The Big Ten is a tough conference, but none of them have anything we don’t,” Moos said last June. “Maybe a couple facilities we’re working on — and I’ll give some slack there. We’ve already made some changes, and I’ll be monitoring this close. And I want to make sure our coaches have everything they need, and in my opinion they do need to be competitive and be in a position to compete for championships.”

 

Since those comments, Nebraska has cut the ribbon on a new gymnastics building. Moos is trying to get an on-campus practice facility for golf, as well. The lack of such a facility likely cost the Husker men in their pursuit of champion Norfolk golfer Luke Kluver, who instead chose to attend Kansas.

 

At any rate, the rebuild of NU’s athletic department continues. Since Moos has arrived, he’s switched out coaches in football, men’s basketball, men’s tennis, men’s golf, women’s gymnastics, rifle and, soon enough, women’s golf. He may not be done, either.

 

OWH