I might be giving the B10 too much credit... I admit. What makes me wonder is the reality that you have pointed out ... the top of the B10 has not been overly relevant.I think you're giving way too much credit to the Big Ten. With us joining the Big Ten, we are finally giving them credibility. For the last 5 years, only Ohio State has been 1) relevant and 2)consistent.So... as we head into the Big 10 next year there are certain things know from this season..
The good part....
the Blackshirts will still be very good (especially if Dennard & Crick stay)--- L.David, B. Steinkuhler, C. Meredith, A. Cassidy, C. Osborne, PJ Smith, E. Martin... and add Fisher... so long as Dennard and Crick stay, NU will have one of the top 3 defenses in the B12.
The maybe not so good part... Special teams? How will we replace Kunalic and especially Henery? We cannot possibly be as good next year in this realm... but hopefully we'll be ok
The bad part...
poor offensive coaching and game plan. An embarrassing head coach whose demeanor and lack of professionalism has, and will even more so, continue to degrade the Huskers reputation nationally (the reason being the enhanced exposure we will get next year).Undisciplined team in general... penalties, lack of consistent preparation for games, turnovers, poor offensive line fundamentals, well below average WR'ers, seemingly an unknown at QB. Literally an unknown at QB. Martinez is looking less likely to be the man in the future than ever before (that may change, who knows). Cody Green is not a D1 QB. So... the offense... is likely to be a bottom dweller relative to the rest of the B10 (somewhere around what 8,9,10 or so in the conference. We will miss Helu a great deal --- and if TMart is out of the picture (who knows? that is possible... maybe probable) big play potential will be missing.
Overall... things do not look really good or... really bad. I'd guess based on now... and, of course, many things could change before we start next year... but NU looks like a mid-level B10 team (not a top 4 in conference but middle/upper middle of the next 4) going into next year. If things go well, NU could be a fringe top 25 team, perhaps?
In any event, next year our record will not be nearly as good as it is this year. I'd think that eight wins next year would be good.
We, as Husker fans, need to be realistic... the people on this board, generally, project onto our team what they desire and wish for the team to be. We are... this year... right now ranked at #16... and I think that there are more than 16 teams that are better than us. Does anybody really see NU as a BCS-caliber team? Come now... really?!
Lets just root for these guys and hope for the best. The state of NU football is that we are a fringe top 25 program... no more.. no less. The people on this board are manic --- one week NU is invincible the next week NU is horrible. No need to ride the roller-coaster if you see NU for what it is and adjust expectations accordingly. We have a solid program --- not a national contender.. but a solid program. Don't expect more than 8 wins next year... or expect that we win out this year.
Yes, it will be difficult to move to a new and navigate the very difficult schedule that we have next year, but 8 wins just seems too low with the returners we have coming back.
However, what makes me give them the credit I do is that while the top has not been awesome in the B10 --- the top-to-bottom overall across-the board competitiveness of most all the teams is very soild. There are 8 B10 teams that range from quite good down to merely good --- essentially no gimmes in that conference. Any week, nearly any B10 team can be a real challenge...
Now... we have fed on ISU, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri (historically, though they are good now), Baylor (they too are OK now)... many teams that are --- at times somewhat competitive --- but generally not. NU, in the B12, can take a week or two (or three) off each season and still win. Can't do that in the B10.
My concern is how often the Pelini crew comes out flat and unmotivated, w/o fire and unfocused. Yes, at other times they come out on fire. You can never tell which team shows up (though the defense is generally, far more consistently focused than is the offense). Come out flat against Kansas, SDSU, ISU and you still win. Do that even against Illinois, Penn State, Purdue, MSU, Iowa --- the middle of the B10 pack --- even Northwestern ... and we don't win all those.
Yes, Indiana and Minnasota are gimmes.. but the rest you can not go to sleep on. and NU goes to sleep way too often to expect not to get thumped by someone they should not lose to.
There is, however, a potential good point with this. Since NU tends to play down to their competition... their knowing that anyone in the B10 (generally) is a potential pitfall --- may make NU more ficused and playing better.