NU # 9 all Sports - again B1G10 - what's wrong

[TGHusker]

http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/sipple/steven-m-sipple-another-collapse-caps-another-unremarkable-year-for/article_8a7c565e-347a-5f7b-9116-001851c17146.html

Sip talks about the season ending collapses in the 3 major men's sports -- Basketball, Football, Baseball.

We finished ranked 9th in the Big 10 in all sports. Pretty pathetic for a school of our resources, facilities and fan support. I do not believe we are getting our money's worth - but then again maybe we are - based on the $$s we are paying our

coaches. This ranking, (and it was worse a couple of years ago) speaks loudly to me that we do not have the combined coaching talent and recruiting power to get it done. We have to pay big league salaries to get big lead results and attract talent to NU. With TV money and every team on TV now, this isn't the 1990s anymore where a power team like Nebraska could dominate because we were one of the relatively few that were on TV every week.

Quote:

Many Husker sports fans are fired up, some fed up. They wonder what in the world is going on with their teams, especially the high-profile ones.
Meanwhile, the Nebraska athletic department continues to rev up what's become a formidable public relations/marketing machine, especially on social media. Other than John Cook's potent volleyball program, the PR/social media wing at North Stadium may be the department's strong suit.





Media types generally are a cynical bunch. But in this market, some stumble all over themselves to praise the Huskers' slick social media presence.
Trouble is, all the creative social media campaigns in the world can't hide Nebraska's ninth-place standing in 2016-17 in our annual compilation of average finish in Big Ten competition across all sports. The Huskers' final average of 7.00 trails powers Ohio State (4.29) and Michigan (4.30), which lead the way.
They're followed by third-place Minnesota (4.79), Wisconsin (4.91), Penn State (5.26), Northwestern (6.00), Indiana (6.78) and Purdue (6.95).
Nebraska also was ninth in 2015-16 and 11th in 2014-15. The numbers are troublesome considering the generous amount of resources, passion and energy that NU pours into it athletics. The Huskers should be knocking on the top four on a regular basis.

In defense of NU athletic director Shawn Eichorst, his focus on maximizing the "total experience" for student-athletes is admirable. He's proud, and rightfully so, of the achievements of Husker athletes in academics and life skills. He believes that if athletes are doing well away from the fields and arenas, they're more apt to excel when the lights go on — when everyone is keeping track. It seems a sound credo.

 

[Mavric]

I'd have to get some more info on what sports are available and/or included in the rankings to know where we *should* be ranked. For example, I recently saw that Maryland has the most conference championships (not sure if that was men only or all) since they joined the conference. They obviously aren't doing that in football or basketball so they must be loading up elsewhere.

So I said 4-6 because I think we're at an offering disadvantage.

As to why, I think your two "impossible"s should be changed to "difficult" to be more realistic. But I think a lot of lies in simply not having the right coaches.

 

[NUance]

I didn't see the B1G all-sport ranking that Sipple is referring to. But I'd hazard a guess as to two of the reasons the Huskers are ranked ninth:

• No hockey, lacrosse, men's soccer, field hockey, etc.

• All sports are weighted equally. (Instead of weighting them by revenue or attendance)

 

[84HuskerLaw]

I didn't see the B1G all-sport ranking that Sipple is referring to. But I'd hazard a guess as to two of the reasons the Huskers are ranked ninth:

• No hockey, lacrosse, men's soccer, field hockey, etc.

• All sports are weighted equally. (Instead of weighting them by revenue or attendance)

Indeed, I would need to know more about the method of calculation and how we compare in terms of the number oif sports offered, etc. As I recall, we used to be at the top or close when in the Big 8 and big 12 in terms of offering the most sports and fielding competitive teams. Nonetheless, Nebraska ought not be amongst the bottom tier in terms of overall sports success. We have solid mens and women's track, women's gymnastics and historically men's gymnastics, football, baseball, women's softball, etc. Not sure which programs are on the bottom to put us that low overall. Of course, men's BB has been poor but that is nothing new and should not be considered a sport where we might regularly finish in the top 4. Otherwise, the rest of the sports have every opportunity to compete in my view. If we are regularly near the bottom of the league, changes should be made in the coaching, programs, etc to make improvements happen. Football is NOT the only program that should be expected to compete for conference titles. Each and every program (except men's BB which has NEVER been good really) rightfully should be above average line at a minimum.