Nebraska vs. The Big Ten - First Year Results

knapplc

knapplc

International Man of Mystery
About a week ago we wrapped up our first athletic season of competition against the Big Ten. Every Husker team had to adjust to new opponents, new styles of play, new destinations. For the most part, we held our own - we finished with a winning record in all but two major sports. But we did not triumph, and we most certainly did not dominate like some had hoped.

Here's the tale of the tape for the 2011/2012 athletic year in the major Husker sports:

vsb1g20112012.png


Overall, we finished the 2011/2012 season with .625 winning percentage, and barely eked out a winning conference record of .563. Much of that was due to poor seasons by Women's Soccer and Men's Basketball. We had winning records in most major sports, but only one a single conference title - in Volleyball, ending Penn State's eight-year run atop the conference.

We had three blowout losses in our flagship sport, two of which came in conference. Overall we ended with a .625 conference win percentage, but we didn't even sniff the conference championship.

Men's Basketball was, by far, the most atrocious of sports for UNL, both in conference and overall. It was a lackluster year, and it's not a surprise to anyone that we made a coaching change.

Women's Basketball fared better than the men, but a young team combined with a new conference led to an up-and-down year. There is every reason to believe this team is on the upswing, though - and I mean THIS YEAR.

Volleyball was dominant, posting a better conference record than overall record, and 2012 doesn't shape up to be any different. We lost one key senior but return five starters on an already impressive team. This should be another year in which the road to the conference championship runs through Lincoln.

Wrestling has long been a dominant sport in the Big Ten, but last year showed we are not in over our heads in this conference. With a very strong recruiting class coming in it appears we're going to be a contender for the foreseeable future.

The Fightin' Erstads had a rollercoaster ride of a season. The Big Ten didn't represent the easy pickings so many thought it would - and our pitching staff wasn't nearly as good as we'd hoped. Still, there was a noticeable difference in culture, and there's reason for optimism for 2013. There is zero doubt that our coaching staff despises losing. Anyone listening to post-season interviews very clearly got that message over the last week.

I wasn't able to follow the softball team much. Looking strictly at the numbers it appears we can contend with our new conference mates. I have no analysis to give on this team, though.

The soccer team is... a bit of a mess. We graduated a couple of solid players and in the offseason we lost to transfer the best player to play at Nebraska in years - Morgan Marlborough. Not sure what the future holds for this team, but there's a lot of work to be done, obviously.

So, that's a wrap on the Huskers' first season in the Big Ten. Overall, not terrible. But we have room for growth in many sports, and reason for optimism in most.

NOTE - there aren't tangible results for many sports, including Men's & Women's Tennis, Men's & Women's Track, Men's & Women's Cross-Country, etc. They're just not set up to be easily bracketed in wins/losses/winning percentage, or they're not major sports at UNL. You'll have to forgive their exclusion.

 
Considering the unfortunate dead weight that Men's Basketball and Women's Soccer were this season, that we had that high of a winning percentage I think speaks volumes about this program.

I'd love to see this compared to the other programs in the Big 10 to see how we fared in comparison. IIRC, the OWH ran something to this effect a few weeks ago (before conference baseball ended), and we were something like the third or fourth-best athletic program in the Big 10?

Thanks for your hard work on this Knapplc. It shows that while we're not where we want to be as an Athletic Program yet, we're certainly on the right track, and the future is bright indeed.

 
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Football is the big dog in the B10. We're quite respectable in football. And getting better. I think. Basketball--well, I'd say we're in a rebuilding mode. Except we weren't that great in the past. So I guess we're in a building mode, not rebuilding.

NU also has a pretty good track team too. There aren't as many tangible results for track, as Knap mentioned. But this pseudo poll for men's track has us second in the B10 and 10th in the nation. LINK Not sure about women's track.

 
I almost put in the "finish" for each of our sports teams. Probably should have. This spreadsheet was easier, though.

 
We didn't domintate, but we were certainly competitive. My confidence level is high that Tim Miles will make substantial improvements in our Men's BB program. Thanks for stats Knapplc. Does anybody know what our numbers were like our last year in the Big XII ?

 
Lyons in the Sea of Red. said:
Why did Marlborough transfer? I didnt follow to closely I was just curious.
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It never came out publicly. She wasn't released from her scholarship by our coach, I know that. The public version is she was looking for better opportunities to improve her game and get ready for the next level, as in, the Olympics.

 
This article describes what's out there publicly. I didn't know she had transferred until you posted that, knapp. She was amazing to watch at the games I took the kids to last year. The team, when you look at the roster, seems to be tailored for a run in '13 or '14. A LOT of freshman and sophmores. And that article also states that a close friend of hers is moving as well, so it may just be they wanted to play together, and that she was looking for a team that had more potential than what she was seeing at Nebraska. Maybe she felt she wasn't going to see the National Team potential at Nebraska.

Here's the article:

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/premier-scorer-in-country-transfers-to-scu_aid23617

I know Walker commented a couple years ago that the team was still really paying from Jenna Cooper's death. He was trying to turn that around. Maybe a new atmosphere for this group, a new focus with a younger crowd, is exactly what they need. Tough to fire a coach that has had the success at Nebraska that Walker is over the years, but if this round of recruits doesn't shine, maybe it's time to look forward. Cooper's death was just a tough ordeal, but at some point, the team has to get beyond that and show the capability it once showed.

 
Other than those two, though, the other six all seem to be on the right track in the B1G. I would have probably phrased it differently than 'eking' out an over .500 win percentage, considering the difference between wins and losses was 18 games, but meh... without the tough showing for men's basketball and women's soccer, we'd be well into the 60% win territory. Hopefully, Walker can rekindle the fire in his soccer team, and I think we have a lot of faith in Smiles, even if it may not show itself this year. Both of those programs may be about a year or so away.

 
Jenna Cooper's death was a major tragedy but it's beyond time that Walker quits using that as an excuse. That happened in 2004. The last players on the team that that significantly affected graduated 3 years ago.

It will stay with the coaches forever of course but that shouldn't prevent them from doing their jobs effectively 8+ years after the incident. If it does than that's a significant problem.

 
tschu said:
Women's soccer team parties way too much to be good, trust me
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Don't just throw crap like that out there. You are not the only person on this board who knows some of these players. This kind of crap really annoys me.

 
Overall not a bad year for your first go in the conference, .563..so you won more often than you lost across a wide range of sports.

Does it feel like home yet?

My guess is it will eventually start feeling "normal" if we add another team. For years having Penn State felt weird but now that NU's in that feeling has more or less gone away though you all seem like a more natural fit.

 
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