Even more pressure this season?
- Thread starter husker_99
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Same ol' same ol' like any other year. Some years we're bound to be favored and some years we're bound to be underdogs. It's just how these things go.
One positive the team has is they showed how easy it is to beach yourself like a whale at the end of the season. Hopefully they remember the end of last season and what they can do to remedy it.
One positive the team has is they showed how easy it is to beach yourself like a whale at the end of the season. Hopefully they remember the end of last season and what they can do to remedy it.
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Not toward Knapp at all ... but just for us all to consider...
Precisely how many conference championships have the Huskers won in the the past 10 years? What does the scoreboard show?
Hmnn... based on the answer to the last question, is it reasonable to expect a B10 championship this next year? Of course that was then and this is now... and anything can happen.... but still, how often, in the immediate and even somewhat distant past, has NU won a conference? We, as a fan base, sure expect a great deal out of a program that has not met the expectations in... a long, long, long time.
I just expect that they play hard, entertaining, intense, football, representing the university well and hope something good happens. But expecting a conference championship is not in view... if the past is any indication of the future, it will likely be a time before conference championships come.
That said, the OSU thing might make the path somewhat less daunting... but we really were not a major player in the B12 conference championship picture in the last 10 years and have a ways to go to before it is likely that we factor overly in the B10. But we are on the right track and the future is brighter than the past. Anything can happen... but really we have no more legitimate a chance than do say...3, maybe 4 other B10 teams. I can reasonably hope for a B10 championship soon (perhaps this next year, who knows)... but I cannot expect one... or see us as favorites for one.
bshirt
Banned
We came within an eyelash of winning the BigXII twice in the last two years. Consider that Debbie Downer.
NU gets a decent offense and we can play with anybody. We have a returning qb, better recruiting each year and a new OC who can hardly do worse. With Ohio State in deep, deep do-do the Big10 is NU's for the taking.
Not a Debbie Downer at all. Perhaps, I am the opposite. NU football is a blast and I am excited about this year. It should be a fun year. I am simply saying that we should not expect a conference championship --- we have no legitimate claim to a championship expectation as we have not been particularly championship rich for a long, long time now. We should also not see this year as a failure if someone other than us wins the championship. The thing is, many here (it would seem... not certain, of course... but it seems this way) --- many here measure a season as a failure if NU does not win a championship. On that basis, year after year it has been a failure. But those expectations are simply not realistic and that measuring stick for success is perhaps not the best one.
I viewed last season as somewhat of a failure because NU did not improve its fundamental football (penalties, fumbles, drops, unnecessary sacks taken, etc.) and because they often were unprepared and played, at times, without the fire we are used to seeing --- and because we got worse (or stayed the same)in these areas rather than get better as the season wore on. The fact that we did not win the conference was not so much the point. Still, the season was fun and interesting and had plenty to suggest that maybe we are improving in some areas (but certainly not all areas... penalties, drops, fumbles, fire on the field, etc.) Our talent level seems higher and, perhaps, recruiting is better --- and maybe the coaching changes will help with some of the persistent problems that have not gotten better.
The next season will be a success if NU plays with more passion, plays with heart, improves in terms of penalties, the fumbles, the dropped passes, the needless sacks... even if we do not win the B10. That is not a Debbie Downer... at least I do not think so. It is placing lower expectations upon the team than do most posters here... I am, certainly, guilty of that. But, lesser expectations seem more in line with what we have on the field (and among our coaches)--- and certainly more in line with the past 10 years or so worth of on-field performance.
knapplc
International Man of Mystery
Why would you quote me if you're not responding to me? :corndance
It doesn't matter that we haven't won a conference championship in ten years or 100 years. Every year I expect to compete for the title. If Nebraska isn't expecting that, it's time for a new coach, new AD, new everything. That's what pillar programs do.
It doesn't matter that we haven't won a conference championship in ten years or 100 years. Every year I expect to compete for the title. If Nebraska isn't expecting that, it's time for a new coach, new AD, new everything. That's what pillar programs do.
In the Deed the Glory
All-Conference
WE ARE NEBRASKA
It is time we all start remembering what that means. Yes, you are damn right we should be expecting to compete for the conference championship every year.
When our expectations drop as a fanbase, then the money goes away, players stop wanting to come to Nebraska, we lose a good coach and replace him with one not as talented, and the programs sinks into mediocrity.
High expectations allow us to recover like Texas, Oklahoma, and USC did. Lowering our expectations turns us into Pitt, Notre Dame, and worst of all...Minnesota.
It is time we all start remembering what that means. Yes, you are damn right we should be expecting to compete for the conference championship every year.
When our expectations drop as a fanbase, then the money goes away, players stop wanting to come to Nebraska, we lose a good coach and replace him with one not as talented, and the programs sinks into mediocrity.
High expectations allow us to recover like Texas, Oklahoma, and USC did. Lowering our expectations turns us into Pitt, Notre Dame, and worst of all...Minnesota.
At a certain level, what you say makes sense. Perhaps it is semantics. Perhaps not. If by expect, a conference championship each year you mean to hope for -- and deeply hope for... to have as a goal ..sure. That is me too. If by expect you mean it is the birthright of the Husker fan to win championships, that we are the best program out there and always must be the best, and success is defined as having been achieved only when we literally are the best... then, well no. There are many great programs out there... we are, perhaps, numbered among them (certainly we are historically). But, championships/repeat championships/domination is/are few and far between in the college football world of today --- there is a great deal of such parity --- to "expect" seems to me to be a bit presumptuous. Unless, again it is semantics. If we can say that it is equally reasonable for the Ohio State , the Penn State, and the Wisconsin fans to say the same thing (We are OSU, We are Wisconsin, We are PSU... we expect to win the Championship)-- and it is nearly as reasonable for the Iowa and Michigan State fans to say the same thing --- if that is the case ... we are on the same page and the only difference is semantics.
I think you are correct though, when you say "When our expectations drop as a fanbase, then the money goes away, players stop wanting to come to Nebraska" --- or, at least, fan expectations are a contributor. Too low a fan-base expectation is indeed a problem. But so too is too high a fan-base expectation. I’d contend that unrealistically high a fan expectation may have a greater impact (a negative impact) on the team than too low an expectation. In any event, I am not calling for low expectations in the absolute sense — just lower and more realistic expectations in the relativistic sense. Or... maybe that is not as accurate as saying this... I am calling others to maybe have more patience in expecting (in the literal sense of the term expect) championships. We have had to climb from a pretty big hole... we are climbing, sure, and it is reasonable to hope... but not expect (literally). Yes... We are Nebraska — but we are not the only talented team in the conference and have no more a legit warrant to expect the conference championship than an array of others. That said, no one has a greater warrant than us. We have a shot
The Dude
Heisman Trophy Winner
What would you think if Bo said that kind of garbage to his players? If you don't expect to win, just stay home.
Of course Bo can't say that --- he is a coach. He must motivate his players and cannot speak in a manner counter to such. As fans, we are free from such constraints. Coaches are not.
You talk as if "we" are on the team --- "expect to win or go home." When we --- as in us personally -- are in actual competition we need to be driven... but we are only fans. What... do you pretend you are on the team or something --- do you think your attitude effects the team?
As fans you simply assess the landscape as it is --- NU has a reasonable shot, I suppose, at winning the B12 --- comparable to 3 or so others. That is just reality. I certainly wish that NU would win it --- and they might. But, they have about a 1 in 4 chance (assuming that 3 others are, essentially just as likely to win). Thus, with 1 in 4 odds, I do not expect. I hope.
The Dude
Heisman Trophy Winner
I was just illustrating how it's a terrible attitude to have. Nebraska should always be striving to be the best. It's never ok to lose. Just because we haven't won as much as we would like in recent years doesn't make it ok. If think fan expectations don't impact a program you're lying to yourself. And yes as fans it is our job as fans to motivate the team, that's kinda the point. And I'd say our chances of winning the B12 are about zero since we're not in that conference as of July 1.
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