Rhule finally feels like the "right coach" for Nebraska

Bo finished 3rd, 1st, 2nd and 2nd in the Big Ten. I don't know if that is really out of his pay grade.

He finished

- 4th in 2011 behind MSU, Michigan, and Wisconsin
- 2nd-ish in 2012 behind either/or OSU (postseason ban but undefeated) & Wisconsin (worse record but annihilated us and got the championship). In the top 25 we finished fourth.
- 5th in 2013 behind MSU and Iowa in our division and OSU and Wisconsin in the other
- 5th in 2014 behind OSU and MSU in the east and Wisconsin and Minnesota in the west

I'm incredibly curious where you got or created your made up numbers
 
As mentioned, Bo Pelini had the worst record against ranked opponents of all but 2 Power 5 programs in his 7 years here, and I think one was Duke. It wasn't our imagination. Bo Pelini's Nebraska didn't frighten anyone.

While we'd be thrilled to get ranked again, most fans didn't think Pelini finishing his last four seasons #24, #23, #25 and Unranked was worthy of the program. Or paygrade.

But just to be clear, SuperBigFan69 is NOT defending Bo Pelini.
 
NU should be a 9 win team during the "bad years" The big ten is lame.

With the exception of OSU, and even last year shows that NU can hang with them just fine, the other teams in conference are lame.

NU just needs to stop losing to the super crap in this conference. Minny, NW, Iowa, MD, Wisconsin (who a lot of NU fans loved for some reason), these teams are not good and will never be good.

That is the good news, NU doesn't need to worry about those teams once NU just fixes themselves.
The Big Ten handled the SEC last year. Maybe I'm in the minority but I think the Big Ten and SEC are about equal in football and men's basketball and there is a gap between them and the ACC and Big XII as far as strength of the conferences in football for sure. SEC blows the doors off the Big Ten in baseball and Big Ten has an edge in volleyball.
 
He finished

- 4th in 2011 behind MSU, Michigan, and Wisconsin
- 2nd-ish in 2012 behind either/or OSU (postseason ban but undefeated) & Wisconsin (worse record but annihilated us and got the championship). In the top 25 we finished fourth.
- 5th in 2013 behind MSU and Iowa in our division and OSU and Wisconsin in the other
- 5th in 2014 behind OSU and MSU in the east and Wisconsin and Minnesota in the west

I'm incredibly curious where you got or created your made up numbers

Divisions. Not conference. Sorry!

The great thing is using your “standings” puts NU and Bo in the current playoffs at least once in 4 years. We would all take that.
 
Last edited:
As mentioned, Bo Pelini had the worst record against ranked opponents of all but 2 Power 5 programs in his 7 years here, and I think one was Duke. It wasn't our imagination. Bo Pelini's Nebraska didn't frighten anyone.

While we'd be thrilled to get ranked again, most fans didn't think Pelini finishing his last four seasons #24, #23, #25 and Unranked was worthy of the program. Or paygrade.

But just to be clear, SuperBigFan69 is NOT defending Bo Pelini.
Thank you! Finally!
 
The Big Ten handled the SEC last year. Maybe I'm in the minority but I think the Big Ten and SEC are about equal in football and men's basketball and there is a gap between them and the ACC and Big XII as far as strength of the conferences in football for sure. SEC blows the doors off the Big Ten in baseball and Big Ten has an edge in volleyball.
I agree.

I’m just saying the big ten has a lot of really lame teams.
 

Divisions. Not conference. Sorry!

The great thing is using your “standings” puts NU and Bo in the current playoffs at least once in 4 years. We would all take that.


No it doesn't. The playoff is currently top 12, with conference champ auto-bids. Not only was Bo never a conference champ but he was also nowhere near the top 12 after conference championship weekend any time in his tenure.
 
No it doesn't. The playoff is currently top 12, with conference champ auto-bids. Not only was Bo never a conference champ but he was also nowhere near the top 12 after conference championship weekend any time in his tenure.

Closest to glory was the morning of December 1, 2012 in the Big Ten Championship game. Because Ohio State was out of the picture, all we had to do was beat an unranked 7-5 Wisconsin team we'd already beaten in the regular season. With a win the Husker would have been a Top Ten team playing in the Rose Bowl. That was a helluva meltdown.
 
Okay, the DL is going to be an issue. It just is.

NU is going to have to run blitz the crap out of teams on first down...in hopes of making it 2nd and 8...so that on 2nd down they can play base stuff and get to 3rd and 4.
 
And 8 out of 10 colleges would die for this stat. 9-10 wins would be considered a great year. We were probably above average during the Bo years but it felt like a bust because he couldn't win the big one and he had to many big losses. Who else couldn't win the big one until he finally did? Tom. No Bo would never have come close to TO's success but I could see him wining 1 conference championship in the Big 12 if we had remained. Coming to the Big 10 - Bo found himself out of his pay grade
Fully agreed with your statements until the last part. Arguably, Bo had positioned Nebraska to solidify themselves in the top 3-4 of the conference annually. FWIW, I still think it is amazing that we made the conference title game three times in Bo's seven years at the helm. Not winning any of the three obviously hurt, but carrying success over that period was an accomplishment, especially when factoring in the conference switch right in the middle of it all.

I believe he and the staff were building a team that was better suited for the Big 10 versus the roster we carried over from the Big 12. Clearest indication was along the defensive line where for the 2012 title game against Wisconsin, we started a ~260 lbs. Cameron Meredith at defensive tackle because Baker Steinkuhler was injured. That year we had Valentine & Moss redshirting, with Collins & Gregory coming the next year. I remember some chatter about pulling the redshirt for Valentine as a gap filler, but the staff wanted to do right by the guy. Outcome wouldn't have changed, but it wouldn't have been so ugly IMO.

Bo did not do himself any favors with the media or administration, but there is no doubt that he could coach and the loyalty of his players indicate (to me) that they were doing at least a few things right internally. I understand why half the fanbase thought the next guy would be better and the thin-skinned administration couldn't stand him, but I think there are only 5-10 elite coaches that would have found success given the fan demands and administrative expectations (ie- stroke the egos of the AD & Chancellor) during that period.

I am very glad we have Rhule now, but the decade after Bo was anything but enjoyable.
 
Back
Top