NU will announce Tim Miles as NU's new coach!

Tim Miles will be named Nebraska's new head basketball coach on Saturday!!

The full contract, according to ESPN, would be an estimated $8.7 million over
six years.

Miles, 45, replaces former head coach Doc Sadler, who was fired after
six seasons in Lincoln earlier this month. Miles had just received a three-year
contract extension in May to stay at CSU, which would have increased his salary
to $750,000 annually through 2016.

Tim Miles is 45 years old and took Colorado State to the NCAA tournament this year. Tim Miles is from Doland, South Dakota.

Before taking over at CSU, Miles coached at North Dakota State (2001-07),
Southwest Minnesota State (1997-2001) and Mayville State (1995-97). His career
record as a head coach is 285-227, and he was 71-88 in five seasons at Colorado
State.

One factor that obviously made Miles attractive is that he built his team around Nebraska players this year. Four of his players wer Jesse Carr of Ainsworth, Wes Eikmeier of Fremont, and Dwight Smith and Greg Smith of Ralston.

He also had a couple of regional players such as Colton Iverson of Yankton and Dorian Green of Lawrence, Kansas.

Eikmeier (15.5 points per game), Green (13.1 ppg) and Greg Smith (9.4 ppg)
were Colorado State's top three leading scorers this past season.

Miles' Colorado St. roster this year consisted of four players from Colorado and Nebraska and one each from Arizona, Minnesota, Kansas, South Dakota and Florida.

He definitely likes Midwest kids. Will there be enough local kids to take Nebraska to the next level. One plus for Nebraska is that he obviously knows a lot about our State. The Nebraska high school coaches seem to like him.

His assistant coaches are Niko Medved, who also serves a key role in recruiting, Craig Smith, who was named NAIA Coach of the Year in 2007, and Ron Coleman, who was a star basketball player for Lamar and played some NBA ball and served as CSU's recruiting coordinator this past year. Coleman has experience in the AAU ranks also. It is unknown how many of these coaches will come with him to Nebraska but they all look like great assets to the new coach.

Colorado State's top recruit coming in this fall is Jermaine Morgan, who was recruited by Coleman due to his ties to Chicago. He is a 6'7" power forward.

It will be interesting to see what Nebraska ends up with this fall. Don't expect too much from Miles and the Huskers the first year.

Florida and Kansas, who were both in Omaha last weekend look like they BOTH will make it to the Elite Eight. Pretty cool.

Sutton interviews with Nebraska

Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton has interviewed for the Nebraska vacancy for basketball. Scott Sutton is 250-181 in 13 years at Oral Roberts. Scott Sutton is the son of Eddie Sutton who coached at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma St.

Eddie said" He brings a lot to the table. He's a good speaker, a good recruiter, and he always runs a clean program. He's everything a university would look for in a coach. And he has a desire to get to that next level."

Other coaches connected to the Nebraska job are Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Rob Jeter and Colorado St.'s Tim Miles.

Alex Gordon is hitting .378 this spring.

Last weekend, at the NCAA tournament in Omaha, I really enjoyed watching and being a part of the NCAA tournament. The Florida-Virginia game never turned out to be a good game. Florida looked real good and Virginia was very cold. Florida won easily.

The upcoming game of Missouri-Norfolk St. That looked to be a pretty boring game and more on that later.

The evening games started with Purdue and St. Mary's. St. Mary's had beaten Gonzaga in the conference standings and conference tournament this year. Purdue had finished in the mid-pack of the Big 10. But the Big 10 has shown they are really good in this tournament. The Big 10 is tough. St. Mary's had a chance to win the game but traveled late in the game and Purdue got the win by three points.

Now back to the Norfolk St/Missouri game. Missouri was a #2 seat and Norfolk State was a #15 seat. The game started close and was close the whole game. I am not sure anybody got ahead more than four points the whole game. Missouri had a lot of trouble containing Kevin Durant or I mean Kyle O 'Quinn. O'Quinn looked ready for the NBA.

When the game started there were about 80 Norfolk St fans and about 3500 Missouri fans. The rest of the 16,000 were just watching. Then the Norfolk St pep band started to heat up, the cheerleaders put on a show I can't even explain, and the rest of the 16,000 became instant Norfolk St. Spartan fans. Spartan, their mascot, was one of the funniest and best mascots I have ever seen in college sports. The crowd was shouting NSU, NSU!!!! The fans for Norfolk St now counted to around 12,500 fans. Even Missouri fans gave the NSU pep band and cheerleaders standing ovations. What a game. Norfolk St. wins 86-84. For a while it seemed neither team could miss. Missouri didn't play bad but my did Norfolk St play well. A memory I will never forget.

On Sunday the anticipated game between Florida and Norfolk St never materialized. At one point the Florida gators outscored the Spartans 25-0. Florida went on to win by about 35 points but I still enjoyed the NSU pep band and cheerleaders.

The second best game of the tournament was Purdue and Kansas with Kansas winning at the end in a hard fought battle.

Omaha put on a good show. I would love to go again. It was fun and relaxing.

nsu cheerleaders 2011

norfolk state university a-squad cheerleaders 2010-2011

Norfolk State Cheerleaders 11/30/11

Norfolk St. Pep Band at NCAA Tourney

Scott Spinelli should be our pick!

Scott Spinelli was an assistant under Barry Collier. He was a great recruiter and showed lots of promise. Nebraska seemed to be getting better and then he left for Wichita State. He had been an assistant at Nebraska for three years. It was a sad day when he left.

Spinelli is very personable and a very kind person. He believes in realationships. He is familiar with Nebraska. He knows how tough it will be to build a program. He is a great recruiter.

He is never been a head coach but he has to be ready. He may have been ready ten years ago.

Spinelli has followed former KU star, now Maryland coach since he left Nebraska. He spent time as an assistant at Wichita State, Texas A & M, and now Maryland.

Spinelli is the only potential coach that I have read so far that has interest that I feel can do the job at Nebraska. Nebraska basketball will be tough to change but Spinelli can do it.

Let's hope he has interest and that we take a serious look at him.

We will miss Doc!

Doc Sadler was an emotional guy. The first time I heard him speak, he told the crowd that one of his father's last wishes was to see a Nebraska football game. His dad lived in Arkansas but he always loved Nebraska football. So Doc and his dad went to Lincoln to watch Nebraska football. When Doc told the story he broke down. He loved him reight away.

Yesterday Doc Sadler was let go by Nebraska. Again you had to love Doc Sadler and feel for him when he spoke at the press conference. He is a genuine person with lots of integrity. He cared about academics. He just didn't win enough.

Doc Sadler, after five seasons, was the winniest coach in Nebraska basketball history for their first five years. Then year six hit and the Huskers went 12-16. Injuries to Brian Diaz and Eric Almeida was costly to Nebraska as they had no answer to the big men in the Big 10. Who knows how good they would have been if only they would have been playing. Instead Doc had to give walkons a lot of minutes.

Doc ended up 101-89 compared to Danny Nee's 105-81 after his first six seasons.

Ray Gallegos took a redshirt and had improved enough that he may have taken over as point guard next year. It was still unknown as the availability of Diaz and Almeida for the 2012-13 season. Doc had five recruits coming in next year. He had a point guard, two shooting guards, and two power forwards coming to Nebraska. Also he had a really good point guard signed for 2013 by the name of Imara Ready.

Doc was never ever able to recruit the big star or two to take Nebraska to a new level. Roburt Sallie was good but never was allowed to play because of a mess-up in the paper work. Injuries were always a problem.

Doc was always funny. At one of the early compliance meetings with the athletic departments Doc wore a Hawaiian shirt. Steve Pedersen told him to at least dress business casual and come looking more professional. The next meeting Doc came in his best suit. He winked at one of the other staff and said "Do you think he will think this is professional enough?" Funny guy. Always joking.

We'll miss him.

The next coach will need to work on Akoy Agau of Omaha Central. He may be Nebraska high school's best big man in quite a few years. He had a triple double in the championship game against Omaha South Saturday.

The championship D-2 game last night will be talked about for a long time. Gilter was behind by four points to Howells with 1.9 seconds left. Gilter guard Dustin Hastings was fouled on a three point attempt. He missed the first free throw and then made the second. Gilter then set up a play where Hastings was to miss the free throw and then Drew Ott was to tip it out to Jake Findley for a three pointer and it worked as designed. It then became a question whether Findley got the shot off before the clock expired. The television replay showed that maybe he didn't but it was close and the officials gave it to him. Overtime.

Gilter ended up winning in two overtimes 52-41 as they outscored Howells 11-0 in the final OT.

In football, secondary coach Terry Joseph will be a plus for the Huskers.

The Husker women find out tomorrow night who they will play in the NCAA tournament. What a year they have had. Well beyond what many expected before the season began.

Even though the Nebraska baseball team lost today, there is enthusiasm from the fans. The Huskers are executing the small ball approach when needed. It seems in the past when we needed to move over a runner into scoring position we had a hard time of getting the bunt down. The pitching is starting to take shape and improving.

Husker women are in the finals of the Big 10!

The Husker women will face Purdue at 3 on Sunday on ESPNU!! They are playing great and it should be a great game tomorrow!! Jordon Hooper had 21 points to lead the Huskers over Ohio State today.

The Husker men lost again today and will play in the Big 10 tournament this week.

The NCAA women's tournament starts this week. Should be a fun time and we hope the Huskers go far. They have the team to do so.

Then there is the men's tournament starting in less than two week. Who's the best? Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Ohio State, Kansas, Missouri, Syracuse, and you can go on and on. Should be a tough bracket to fill out.

But this week is the women's tournament and I am filling out a bracket to have some fun!!

Should be a great race in Phoenix tomorrow. I have been there and there is tons of action!!

Nebraska faces tough Michigan St.

Don't see anything but a 20-30 point loss tonight for the Husker men. Michigan St is the hottest team in the Big 10, hardly ever gets beat at home, and well Nebraska isn't playing well.

Nascar starts tomorrow. Seems like we just finished last season a couple of weeks ago. The Daytona 500 is an exciting race but there always seems to be a big wreck known as the "Big One." Many times a driver, not considered a favorite, ends up on top. Who knows who it will be this year. In 2010 it was Jamie McMurray and last year it was Trevor Bayne. This year I look to go with Paul Menard as the surprise!!

Even though this race is just goofy, the fact is in the last 129 races, 55% of the winners have came from qualifying in the top five.

Terrell Owens takes the field for the first time since 2010 when he makes his debut for the Indoor Football League's Allen Wranglers tonight. The game will be shown on ESPN3 tonight at 7.

Kansas knocked off Missouri this afternoon 87-86 in overtime.

Nebraska adjusts for victory!

Doc Sadler said before the Penn State game that they needed to implement some changes to their offense due to Diaz not playing in the middle. The trouble was they hadn't had much time to work on the changes so they couldn't use them yet. Well this week they had the time and it showed.

Nebraska dominated Illinois and won by 23 points. They shot well. Bo Spencer had his best day as a Husker with 27 points.

There is no doubt in mind mind that if Diaz and Almeida would have been healthy this year that Nebraska would have made it to the NCAA tournament. Without them Nebraska had nobody that could play center.

Nebraska drops to a ranking of 155 in Pomeroy!

I've been following Nebraska men's basketball for 50 years. I am not sure if I have ever felt that Nebraska has no chance to win a game but the feeling is there. Without Jorge Brian Diaz Nebraska is 0-8 and probably won't win another game this year. Two injuries have put Nebraska in a helpless situation. Injuries to Eric Almeida and Diaz, the big boys leaves us with nobody underneath that can score.

Nebraska is now rated 155 and wow just two weeks ago they were working ranks when Diaz showed up and played a few games. He has a painful foot injury and probably won't be back this year or maybe never for Nebraska. Sad case. Nebraska has nobody to take his place.

I wish the Huskers and Doc the best but........

Jeremy Lin has come out of nowhere to be a NBA sensation. He graduated from Harvard. This season Lin was waived by Golden State in December after splitting last season between the Warriors and the NBA Development League. Houston picked him up for a couple of weeks before cutting him and the Knicks decided to give him a look.

Lin scored 38 points Friday night to lead the Knicks over the Lakers. After scoring 28 and 23 points in his first two starts, he outplayed Kobe Bryant in front of a national TV audience. Lin has created a new ambition to watch NBA basketball. I think Lin is the real deal but how did all the other teams not see it before?

Missouri was rated fourth and Baylor rated sixth in the nation. Missouri beat Baylor 72-57 Saturday to go to 23-2. Maybe Missouri's beat team ever.

Michigan St knocked off Ohio State at Columbus 58-48 this weekend. The Buckeye's had not been beat at home in 39 straight games. That's a big victory for the Spartans.

Kasey Kahne has replaced Mark Martin in the No. 5 car for Hendricks. Kahne just had knee surgery but shouldn't miss any time in the car.

Look At Me Now - Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes (Cover by @Karm...

Nebraska Baseball - Welcome Back to the Ballpark

Nebraska men take a hit today!

Nebraska was 0-4 in games without Brian Diaz. Now they are 0-5. Diaz didn't play today because of sore feet and the Huskers lost at home to Minnesota 69-61. Bo Spencer led Nebraska with 18 points. The Huskers shot well in the first half and then really bad in the second half but again gave the opponent too many shots on offensive rebounds. The Huskers only had seven players that scored points.

Iowa has had the most stable coaching staff in college football. Now they have lost both their coordinators plus they lost Rick Kaczenski to Nebraska as defensive line coach.

Well today is the Super Bowl. Always being the contrarian, I'll take the Giants to win 27-21.

Brandon Jacobs is playing for the Giants today in the Super Bowl. He is also talking about going back to boxing when his football career is over. Jacobs went 35-2 as an amateur heavyweight, twice winning the Louisiana state AAU championship.

The Nebraska men should win today!

Nebraska is home today and in a must win game with Minnesota. Minnesota is 16-7 and 4-6 in conference play. Nebraska is 11-10 overall and 3-7 in the league. Of course Minnesota is still thinking the NCAA tournament so they aren't going to lay down for us.

Minnesota's Tubby Smith is one of the best coaches in the nation. They need a facilities upgrade in Minnesota so you can bet they will be touring the great facilities that Nebraska now has.

Ralph Sampson III plays for Minnesota. remember Ralph Sampson? He is 6'11". Also playing for Minnesota is Elliott Eliason from Chadron. He is averaging two points per game and four rebounds. He is a pretty good spot player.

Minnesota has five of their last seven games at home and have a good chance of making the NCAA tournament. This is a must game for them as previously mentioned.

This will be close to the end.

Nebraska 66 Minnesota 62

Some more about recruiting for the football program.

Paul Thurston is an offensive lineman from Colorado. One of his assistant coaches at Arcade West High School was former NU center Matt Baldwin. 247Sports ranked Thurston as the 92nd ranked offensive lineman in the country. He was rated as the 26th best tackle in the nation and the No. 2 overall player out of Colorado.

Thurston played tackle in high school. He is known for his mean streak. He is a son of a minister and was home schooled. Oregon and Michigan were after him also. He had other offers including Notre Dame.

Thurston could be a redshirt this fall but in years to come he looks like a good one.

Two new links!

I've added Nutritioulocious and Letters of Note to my Link list. Check them out and let me know what you think. Thanks.

Nebraska women are ahead by four in third OT

The Nebraska women are ahead of #15 Purdue at West Lafayette in the third OT 88-84 right now. How exciting!!

The Nebraska men lost by 10 to Northwestern tonight by 10 points. Nebraska could have used the victory but had too many turnovers and allowed too many offensive rebounds to win. Nebraska shot well but Northwestern got the win.

The Nebraska women beat Purdue in three overtimes 93-89. Great job!

Nebraska lost Alfonso Dennard this year at cornerback. A year from now they lose Antonio Bell. Nebraska was at best inconsistent at this position last year. One player would start one game and then not play in the next.

Mohammed Seisay is a JUCO player from Eastern Arizona College. He was a Conference USA all-freshman team at Memphis his first year of college. Seisay is enrolled at NU and could have immediate impact with our secondary. Nebraska beat out Arkansas for Seisay. Florida St. and Mississippi also made offers to Seisay. Nebraska needs a lockdown corner to solidify their defense next fall.

Changes with Nebraska football team!

A few changes were announced by Bo Pelini today.

Defensive end Josh Williams is no longer with the team because of violated team rules.

He also confirmed that running back Collins Okafor and fullback Lester Ward are no longer with the team.

He also said that Braylon Heard might move from running back to cornerback this fall. Heard has requested the possible move.

Ross Els will be the new recruiting coordinator taking over for coach John Papuchis who is the new defensive coordinator.

Things are always changing.

Looks like a good recruiting class!

Nebraska has 17 new commits and 18 walk-ons coming in next fall. Looks like some great talent. Only time will tell how good this class is. I am excited to have another Tommy at quarterback although this Tommy is spelled differently.

Tommy Armstrong played in the biggest class in Texas and was in the finals in the playoffs. He has very few turnovers, is quick and fast, and looks like he has good passing form. He doesn't throw real hard but does have good touch on the ball.

Michael Rose is the MVP of the class. He signed early and stayed with the Huskers all the way. He is a linebacker who looks really good on film. He has been a great recruiter for the Huskers ever since he signed. I like his attitude a lot.

Jordon Westerkamp is going to be a star. I think he has a great chance to play this fall as a receiver. His stats are unbelievable. I really think he will be a great one.

Zaire Anderson is a Juco player out of California and is rated a four star. He may play some by mid-season if not before.

Nebraska has 11 defensive players and six offensive players that are coming on scholarships. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two other players join this class.

There are many more great players in this class. We'll say a little about each of them as we go.

The walk-ons are really good. I think this Andy Janovich (Gretna) will be a star before he graduates. I hear great things about him. I talk more about the walk-ons also but this group will have some starters playing in two to four years. You can bank on it.

Now we'll head to NU men's basketball. Northwestern is a bubble team for the NCAA tournament. It is at Northwestern. They will be fired up. Their Pomeroy rank is 74 compared to Nebraska rated 120. Nebraska is playing the best ball of the season except for Ohio St. They have had a week since the last game. This game will be very close. Probably a two or three point game.

Prediction Nebraska 67 Northwestern 66

Nebraska women roll over Illinois by 20!

The Nebraska women are second in the Big 10 now and improved their record to 17-3. Nebraska was led by Lindsey Moore with 20 points and Emily Cady with 17.

Madonna will do halftime show at Super Bowl!

Remember 2004 when we had the slip at halftime with Janet Jackson? Since then we have had the old school come in and perform like Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones. Even the Black Eyed Peas didn't work out too well. But I think Madonna will be the best in a while.

Victoria Azarenka won the Austalian Open in tennis and is the new number one player. Remember that name.

I wish I would have known Victor Cruz should be drafted. Never heard of him really until this year. Cruz is a second year player from UMASS. The Giants have some great receivers in Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, and Victor Cruz. They will make Eli Manning look good.

Miami is still the best in the NBA. Oklahoma City and Chicago have the best records presently but look to Miami at the end.

Towson is no longer riding a 41 game losing streak with a win over UNC Wilmington on Saturday.

Iowa St. knocked off Kansas on Saturday. WOW!

The Minnesota Golden Golphers were down three with four seconds to go and beat Illinois in overtime. They have won four of their last five games and play in Lincoln next Sunday.

This is a big week for the future of Nebraska football. Whether Andrus Peat signs with Nebraska or goes with Stanford or USC or possibly Florida St is huge. This kid is good and he has a great chance to start for the Huskers next year. He is that good.

Nebraska goes to Northwestern this Thursday toplay. Northwestern is a NCAA bubble team right now so this game will be huge for both teams. This is a big determining week for the Huskers.

Big 10 is very strong in 2012!

The Pomeroy Ratings show Ohio St. as Number 1. Wisconsin is rated 3rd, Michigan St. is 4th, and Indiana 11th. The Big 10 is the top conference is the nation right now.

In comparison the always strong Big 12 has Kansas at Number 2, Michigan 8th, and Baylor 9th.

Nebraska is 122nd, by the way, but has improved from the 140's earlier. The only team in the Big 10 rated lower is Penn St. at 133. Iowa is at 110 but Nebraska beat them on their home court in their last game.

Probably the most exciting recruit is Dorial Green-Beckham from Springfield, Missouri. He is a five start wide receiver who has stayed tight lipped as to where he is going. He has a list of five schools. They are Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Arkansas. That's quite a list.

Former Rutgers coach Greg Schlano is the new Tampa Bay Bucs coach. Will he be another college coach who fails in the Pros. Those like Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Bobby Petrino and others didn't make it. Schlano's motto is TBA-Trust, Belief, and Accountability.

Former Texas A & M coach Mike Sherman is the new offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins.

Jim Harbaugh is Sporting News Coach of the Year in the NFL. Well deserved.

Some Big 10 players struggled somewhat at the Senior Bowl during practice. Russell Wilson had a touchdown pass today but he measured only 5'11" and this could hurt his NFL chances. Mike Brewster, the center from Ohio State, struggled in practice most of the time. Nebraska's Alfonso Dennard also struggled and now with a hip flexor injury, he will have to do well in the combine.

Roy Oswalt is probably headed to the St. Louis Cardinals. Should make them stronger. The loss of Pujois will be hard to overcome however.

Huskers beat Iowa

The Nebraska men won a big game in Iowa City tonight versus the Hawkeye 79-73. Big win!! Brandon Richardson was back to his form a couple of years ago scoring 25 points.

Sport shorts

Nebraska plays Iowa at Iowa tomorrow night. Should be a very close game. Nebraska is projected to have a 13-16 record right now. They have to win more than that and be above .500 to play so that makes the game tomorrow that more important. Iowa will be favored in this game by two or three points.

Nebraska will need to beat Iowa both times they play them this year and also knock Minnesota or a couple of others to get to the NIT.

Ohio State is ahead of Penn State right now 65-44. Ohio State is the best team in the nation.

Word is that Alfonso Dennard got beat in practice at the Senior Bowl practice. Hopefully he can improve play is the practice and game will play big in where he gets drafted.

My interest in the NBA is been determined by the Nebraska players in the league. Right now it is hard to get excited. Hopefully we will have somebody soon playing again in the NBA. It may be a few years away.

The recruit that excites me is Jordan Westerkamp, a receiver out of Illinois. I really think this kid has a chance to start where Brandon Kinnie left off last year. The trouble is where do you put Jamal Turner.

I really hope Andrus Peat will commit to Nebraska. I can see him starting at left tackle next year. With true sophomore Tyler Moore at right tackle we would have two young great players in the lineup.

Urban Meyer will make Ohio State a power. They can't go to a bowl next year but they will be pretty good. Michigan is on the rise also with Brady Hoke as their coach. Look to the Michigan-Ohio State game being a huge game for national prominence in the years to come.

Will Missouri be able to recruit their Texas players in the future with them now in the SEC. It will be tougher for sure. Nebraska has found that out somewhat.

Back to NU men's basketball....Brandon Richardson is 3rd in the Big 10 in steals. Nebraska is #95 and Iowa #107 in the RPI rating. In the last five years Nebraska has 99 win and Iowa 77.

Look to Nebraska to win 59-58 at Iowa tomorrow.

Danica Patrick will skip the Indy 500 to race in Nascar's Coca-Cola 600.

Holdrege and Minden girls have quite a game!

See what Huskerland Prep has to say. CLICK HERE.

Nebraska faces best team in the nation today!

Ohio State is the best team in the nation with the best player in the nation, Jared Sullinger. Sullinger is Charles Barkley size and ever bit as good. He's only a sophomore. He's be an All-Star in the NBA. They also have DeShaun Thomas and William Buford. They will probably find themselves in the NBA also. Needless to say Nebraska has their hands full in Lincoln tonight.

But the Huskers are playing greta ball right now. I am not sure how they won the other night versus Indiana but it was a huge rush at the game when the buzzer went off and Nebraska was leading 70-69. The Huskers played very well in the crutch. Dylan Talley, a junior, played a key role in the win as well as Brian Diaz who made two free throws in the final seconds.

As we saw last Wednesday, anything can happen. Nebraska is good enough to win if they play a perfect game.

However I see the game Ohio State 67 Nebraska 53.

Nebraska plays Indiana in men's basketball!

Indiana has been one of the elite programs in college basketball for many years. They are like Nebraska in football. They have won National Championships, five in all. They have won 20 Big 10 championships!

Their coach is Tom Crean. Crean is in his fourth year as head coach and was at Marquette prior to that. Crean is married to Joani Harbaugh and her brothers are John and Jim Harbaugh. Both the brothers are still in the NFL playoffs!

Nebraska is much improved and will give Indiana a ride for a while.

Indiana 58 Nebraska 50

Magic With Pigeons

Husker men's basketball comes close.

Nebraska was in it until the end with great defense but lost by five points to Wisconsin on Sunday. It appears that the NU team is going to be competitive from here on out. The Husker women look lost for the first time in the Big 10 to Penn State.

The 2012 tight ends for the Huskers look good. Kyle Reed, Ben Cotton and Jake Long are all back. Hopefully Reed can become a pass catching threat in 2012 again.

Nebraska has offered junior quarterback J. T. Barrett a scholarship for the 2013 recruiting class. He is from Wichita Falls, Texas. As a junior, Barrett rushed for 1,515 yards and seven TD's while throwing for 1,600 yards and 14 more scores. He had seven inerceptions but completed 70% of his passes.

Nebraska is looking for a time to honor Frank Solich. That would be great!

Kiss the bottle with Danile Radcliff on SNL January 2012

Kristen Wiig does Funny Target Lady on SNL with Danile Radcliffe

Nebraska men's basketball closer this time!

Nebraska was beaten 64-40 the last time it played Wisconsin. The game was in Lincoln. This time it is in Wisconsin. I attended the last game and it wasn't much fun.

Nebraska has some new life. Brian Diaz and Dylen Talley are back playing. This has made a big difference. They have to stay healthy for Nebraska to have a respectable season.

Wisconsin is a very disciplined team and is well coached. They like to slow down the pace and play an efficient offensive game along with great defense. They are very good at it.

Nebraska will have to speed up the game this time and force the pace to have a chance.

They should stay in the game for a while. They will have shoot very well and this time Wisconsin will have to shoot poorly. The last game was the other way around. It is likely that Wisconsin will shoot ok so it is unlikely Nebraska can win this game. Very unlikely. But this game should reflect the improved Nebraska team and it should be much closer.

Prediction: Wisconsin 63 Nebraska 50.

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

Now that's what we are talking about!

Kudos to the NU men's basketball team for their first win in the Big 10. They did it in fine fashion breaking out early with the lead and never giving it up. The Huskers won 70-58. The return of Diaz and Talley make the Huskers a whole different team. Bo Spencer led the Huskers with 19 followed by Toney McCray with 13 but it was Diaz's play underneath that made the difference. Diaz scored four points and had five rebounds. The Husker's record goes to 9-7.

Bill Callahan is now the offensive line coach with the Dallas Cowboys.

The Nebraska women play at Wisconsin tonight. They are having a pretty darn good season with a 14-1 record. They ar 3-0 in the Big 10. Jordon Hooper leads in scoring with a 20.0 average. Wisconsin is 5-11 and 1-3 in the Big 10.

Holdrege High's Taylor Jurgens tied the school record with 10 steals against Broken Bow and then hitthe game clinching free throws against Southern Valley last weekend.

Sh*t Nobody Says

Average Nebraska football team ends season!

Expectations were high this year but when it was all said and done Nebraska had an average team this year, at least from our standards. Yes, we ended up ranked at 23rd or so but the ratings also included an averge Penn State.

What happened?

Well, first of all we could have used a healthy Jared Crick all year. His loss was bigger than a pesona realizes. He really never was healthy all year, it appeared. His past play in a game like Northwestern may have made the difference in the game. A strong pass rush was hardly ever there. Any quarterback can find receivers if he has seven to ten seconds to find an open receiver.

We no doubt have some very skilled players, just not enough of them. When you watch an Oregon or West Virginia or an Alabama or the #1 LSU team, you realize we are just average right now.

Part of the problem is adapting to the new Big 10 and adapting to stronger linebacker play. Lavonte David was awesome and Will Compton played well most of the year but we didn't have overall strong defensive play. Our defensive backs were probably better at the end of the season than we gave them credit for. They can't stay on a guy forever when there is no pass rush.

Offensively we just can't keep the tempo going for four quarters. We show we can get the job done but then we fold. The offensive line played well at times but not to the level we need to be a Top 10 team.

Fortunately we have a bulk of the key players on offensive coming back next year. Will we get an identity on offense. Will we decide what kind of offense we want to be and get really good at it. Tim Beck called at great first half in the bowl game. We kept them from getting us in a 3rd and ten situation in the first half. WE mixed things up real well. Then after a couple of bad breaks and we got down the South Carolina defense had us where they wanted us and it all fell apart. Their defensive line is too good and when they know we have to pass, watch out.

WE were an average team this year and that is all there is to it. We were the type of team that could beat anybody when we were rolling such as Michigan St. When things didn't go well we could lose to anybody like Northwestern.

Nebraska football may become like being married. Lower your expectations and everything will go better. But as a Nebraska fan, we just can't do that!!

Recruiting is going slow if you look at numbers but it appears we have some strong defensive players coming in. Hopefully we can add another seven top quality players in the final days of recruiting. That's where it all starts. Recruit and develop players.

I am one that likes the coaching changes and I look forward to the new season. But before I get thinking we are a Top 10 team next year, they have to prove it to me.

As a season men's basketball ticket holder I was pretty excited about seeing the new teams in the Big 10 play this year. I thought Nebraska would be competitive. I was wrong. Injuries have hurt and our talent level of who we are playing right now, as a whole, is way below teams in the Big 10. Something has to change. Go out and see the basketball teams, men or women. Support them and let's see how the season ends up.

The women's team is pretty fun to follow. They have a young team and they are playing well. Lindsay Moore and Jordan Hooper are really scorers!!

Le Deuxieme Souffle 1966

Keys to a Nebraska victory!

Nebraska has a key game tomorrow. With a lot of recruits deciding this week where they may go a good showing on both sides of the ball are imperative. Nebraska goes against the #2 passing defense in the national so a lot of passing yards will be hard to come by. With Jordon Westerkamp, maybe our top recruit this year who is trending toward Notre Dame, is it important our passing game is at its best. He is a receiver and he wants to go where the action is.

I will have to admit that I really want us to win tomorrow because of recruiting and the psychic of the team going into 2012. If Nebraska is going to keep on improving on the national stage we have to beat this SEC team.

Keys for the game:

Nebraska has to be in a position of third and less than four yards:
With the solid passing defense that South Carolina has, we have to keep them on their toes. If we are put in third and ten situations, we are in trouble. Rex Burkhead and Taylor Martinez have to have some good positive runs on first and second downs. IF we don't have production on the early downs standout pass-rushers Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney can pin their ears back and go for Martinez. The offensive line have to put together their best game of the year and our play calling will to have plays that keep South Carolina on their toes. This is the key to the game

Nebraska has to get to Connor Shaw:
The defensive line and the linebackers have to get to the quarterback. We have to rush his throws and yet contain him from running all over the field. Expecting the defensive backs to stay on the receivers for six, seven seconds won't work. We play too much man to man to make that work. We might see more blitzing as the game goes. Press the quarterback. Keep him moving but not up the field. Dennard will have his successes but so will but so will Alshon Jeffery. We must keep him to an average game. He is an All-American.

So we must win the war in the trenches on both sides of the ball!!

Win the turnover war:

Nebraska hasn't done well in turnovers in the games we lost. It is important that we have one or less turnovers and we make them have three or four. If this happens, we can win this thing. Press Rush Shaw and make him try plays that won't have a large amount of success. Interceptions and fumbles have been common in bowl games for South Carolina. Let's hope the trend continues.

Nebraska 24 South Carolina 23.
Should be a very close game so a play or two can make the difference but we have to be successful in three keys of the game to have a chance.

I really like Doc Sadler and most importantly Nebraska basketball. I think it started in college at UNL and the football games seemed to always be blowouts in the seventies so I went to a lot of basketball games because you never knew if we were going to win or not. I feel bad for Doc Sadler. I think he has great ethics and is a very likable coach. With injuries to three of our top six players this year, it doesn't look like we will get a fair look as to how good this team will be. At times we will be competitive and we will win a few games but will it be enough. We have a really really tough schedule coming up. Let's wish them the best and support them.

On January 1, 1971, my dad and I attended the Nebraska-LSU game in Miami Florida at the Orange Bowl. We won the game and our first national championship. Great memories!!

Lance Jeter is doing well in Holland!

Two former Cornhuskers are playing basketball in Holland and they are playing very well.

Lance Jeter is the leading scorer for the 7-6 Leeuwarden team with a 18.1 average.

Jason Dourisseau is playing with the team with the best record, the 9-3 Groningen team in Holland.

Jerome Simpson (Bengals) Touchdown Endzone Flip

Something my dog does when wearing pants.

Merry Christmas!

Like a BUS!

Jimmy Fallon***Tracy Morgan*** "SNL" Seasons Greetings (2011) I Wish ...

Nebraska may have a new defensive line coach.

Iowa coach resigns and is headed to Lincoln?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Click here.

Who is it?
Click here.

Lance Thorell wins the Bobby Reynolds award!

Congratulations to Lance Thorell for winning the Bobby Reynolds award!! Past recent winners include Joe Ganz and Matt O'Hanlon.

Who was Bobby Reynolds? Bobby Reynolds was known as "Mr. Touchdown". Reynolds grew up in Grand Island. His grandfather's construction company built the university's student union, library, and engineering hall.

Reynolds was 5'11" and 175 lbs and had a remarkable year in 1950. He rushed for a school record 1.342 yards, averaging 7 yards a carry. He scored 22 touchdowns and kicked 25 extra points, leading the nation in scoring with 157 points. He earned All-American honors.

In 1950, Nebraska had their first winning season in 10 years at 6-2-1.

In his junior year, Reynolds suffered a separated shoulder. He later got lime in his eye which damaged his cornea. As a junior, Reynolds only hit the end zone twice. His senior season he had more injuries when he separated his other shoulder.

Reynolds finished his final two years playing in only 13 games, rushing for 854 yards, scoring six touchdowns and 54 points.

Even with the injuries, Reynolds held rushing and scoring records for a few years.

Way to go Lance. Great work!

Adele - Rolling In The Deep

YouTube Challenge - I Gave My Kids a Terrible Present

Baylor Heisman Reaction

Marvin Sanders is joining Carl Pelini

Unless something comes up soon, Marvin Sanders will be back in coaching as defensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic.

The Nebraska men's basketball team had a huge win at TCU Saturday night. Bo Spencer hit a 60 footer before half to get Nebraska to within seven points. Nebraska was behind by ten points at one point but came back behind Spencer to take the win. Two true freshmen contributed in the game, David Rivers and Joniah Moore. Final Nebraska 69 TCU 57.

The Nebraska women had two that scored over 30 points in a game Saturday night. First time ever this has happened. Lindsay Moore had 31 and Jordan Hooper had 32 points. Nebraska beat Northern Arizona in 2OTs 97-88.

Chris Farley impersonating Newt Gingrich

Winter Song - Sara Bareilles/Ingrid Michaelson- Music Video

Nebraska will play South Carolina in the Capital One Bowl!

Nebraska will make its 48th all-time bowl appearance and its second appearance in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 2 when Nebraska takes on South Carolina at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

Kickoff for the 2012 Capital One Bowl is set for 1 p.m. EST (Noon CST) on Jan. 2. ESPN will provide the telecast to a national audience.

The 9-3 Huskers are making their fourth straight bowl trip under Head Coach Bo Pelini and Nebraska’s 48 bowl appearances rank in a tie for the fourth-most of any school in the country. The Huskers have won 10 of their last 15 bowl games.

Steve Spurrier is the coach for South Carolina. I am sure he will be anxious to play this game. Connor Shaw is the QB for South Carolina. He is a mobile quarterback much like Russell Wilson, Braxton Miller, and Dennard Robinson. He is their second leading rusher.

It will be a tough game and Nebraska is fortunate to have some time to heal.

Bud Dwight Holiday Hero

Carl Pelini expected to take Florida Atlantic job

Click here

Also Coach Sherman is out at Texas A & M!

Nebraska men's BB and football teams play well!

Nebraska beat Iowa 20-7 on Friday to complete a 9-3 season. A pretty good year but not a great one. This was our first year in the Big 10. Defensively we continue to make adjustments. Its a different league and the game is played a little differently.

In the Big 10, the base defense was needed a lot of the time. Except for Lavonte David our linebackers took a while to adjust. Will Compton improved each game and ended the year playing well.

With the loss of Lavonte David next year, recruiting excellent linebackers are a key.Hopefully we have some good ones coming up to help out Compton, Alonzo Whaley, and Sean Fisher.

The other change is that our nickel and dime backs are covering receivers with 4.4 speed. Against two or three teams in the Big 10, including Northwestern, we will need fast hard nosed players in these positions.

The landscape changed and the Huskers did well to adjust in their first year.

This season reminded me a lot of the 2003 season which was Frank Solich's last. We were 9-3 that season also. We got beat pretty bad by Missouri and K-State and lost a game to Penn State 18-10. These coaches should keep their jobs. The offense continues to improve and the defense continues to adjust.

The NU basketball team gets a win on Saturday vs. South Dakota State, a team that is really pretty good. They led Minnesota and Georgia in the second half but did get beat in those games.

Caleb Walker was sick on Saturday so Toney McCray and freshman David Rivers stepped up. They combined for 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Nebraska is scoring more points this year. They are shooting the ball well. However their defense is giving up more points also. They are presently 4-1 and they play Wake Forest in Lincoln Wednesday night.

At Saturdays football game in Lincoln Jeannine Edwards was the sideline reporter. She is the reporter that Ron Franklin called "sweetcakes" earlier this year and he was pulled from the Fiesta Bowl play-by-play duties.

Dennis Erickson is out as head football coach for Arizona State.

Just In: Turner Gill has been fired at Kansas. (I hate that).

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am very thankful for my family, health, and friends. I am thankful that we have jobs and today I want to spend some time praying for those that are not as fortunate. We will eat big today but many in the world are starving.

God Bless You All!

John

Nebraska wins in a close one!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL


The rivalry begins this week. Iowa will become our new Colorado. Their our neighboring state. Omaha is only a river away. Many Iowans work in Nebraska and many Nebraskans work in Iowa. Arguments have been going on ever since it was announced that Nebraska was entering the Big 10. Let the fun begin.

Nebraska is favored by 9.5 points but this one will be closer. It will a barn burner. Nebraska is really beat up in the interior lines. There will be many Iowans in the stands and Iowa has a bunch of players with Nebraska roots. The game is in Lincoln. This will be a wild game with the team with the least turnovers and mistakes being the eventual winner.

Nebraska 33 Iowa 30

What's your guess for the score this week? Make a comment.

The Nebraska men's basketball team plays Oregon in Lincoln tomorrow night. Oregon has only lost to Vanderbilt at Nashville. Vanderbilt is the No. 7 team in the nation and the game was pretty close. Dana Altman, the former coach of Creighton, returns to Nebraska. Should be a great game.

Speaking of Creighton they look like at Top 20 team. They will be a national force this season.

Remembering John F Kennedy

As our 4th grade boys left the bathroom we were met by our teacher Mrs. Jenkinson who told us that the President had been shot. I am still so keen to my surroundings that day of the Orleans Public Grade School. Everything I was around when she told us the tragic news is what I remember most about my Orleans School days. November 22, 1963 is the most memorable day in history I have ever experienced. WE were so scared. We didn't know if Russia was going to take over our country and now this.

We headed to the Senior Class Play in the High School and then during one of the breaks between acts Mr Gray informed us the President was dead.

I was watching TV when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby.

Some will have 9/11/01 as their most memorable moment. Of course when your kids are born those moments are huge but other than family moments November 22, 1963 was a day I most remember vividly.

Steamrolling!

Everyday I start my day thinking something great is going to happen today. I'm going to get a new account, establish a new relationship, spend time with my family, or shoot a huge buck. But sometimes things don't go the way I dreamed. Some days you lose an account, you upset a good account, you didn't find or take the time to visit family, and you screw up and miss the big buck.

Then what happens is you start to think about it and then more and more bad things kick in. Murphy's Law takes over and by the end of the day you wonder what the heck happened. You lose your concentration,your focus on what's important, the fundamentals of what necessary to succeed, you get down and out and everything implodes.

I guess I understand when Nebraska has a game like they had against Michigan or Wisconsin. Everything goes wrong; everything snowballs, everything steamrolls, and bang you get a whipping you never dreamed off. When this happens you lose focus and you don't execute the fundamentals to be successful.

Wisconsin and Michigan aren't that much better than Nebraska. Maybe they aren't better than us at all. The whole Big 10 is very close and a couple of mistakes will cost you the game. Saturday, we made more than a couple of mistakes.

Nebraska looks tired. Robinson and Russell wore our defense down even more. When you are tired bad things happen. When you are hurting, you don't perform at your best. You have no patience with employees or your spouse. You don't perform at your best. You lose focus. You lose football games.

As we sit on our couch and watch Nebraska play, we're snacking, drinking our diet coke, and we have no idea of the emotions our kids who represent Nebraska have. They are at a level we don't understand when we sit in comfort. Good things happen most of the time but some days, like at our work, mistakes get made. Stupid mistakes. It just happens in life.

Don't get me wrong, we have to have a vision to be No. 1 whether it be Nebraska football or at our own home or work. We have to work to be the best we can be and we must never want to be any less than that. But we must also understand that not every day is going to be great. The kids that play for Nebraska can have those days too. They aren't a bunch of losers. They work hours everyday to represent Nebraska the best they can.

Iowa will be very tough this week. We will not be able to make mistakes like last week and win. We will need to be at our best.

Support the team, cut out the negativism, and remember we are all human. We all like a pat on the back and an uplift. This will be a close game and we should have a win this week.

Michigan may be too much for us this week!

This is a huge game for Nebraska. A win gets us closer to a Top 10 position and even a BCS bowl. A loss keeps us barely in the Top 20.

Watch out for Fitzgerald Toussaint. He and Denard Robinson will be quite hard to stop. Nebraska's defensive line is hurt. With Jared Crick out for the year, it will be hard for the defense to get the job done in Michigan. The offensive line is hurt also and this will put Nebraska's offense at a disadvantage.

This could be a long day for NU. Hope I am wrong but I see this week:Michigan 35 Nebraska 24.

Nebraska men's basketball team wins away!

The Nebraska Men's BB team beat USC tonight in overtime 64-61. This is a big win for the Cornhuskers. Bo Spencer had 20 points followed by Brandon Richardson with 12. USC missed a three at the end of regulation. Brian Diaz had 10 points.

The Huskers shot .500 with three point shots and shot 75% from the three point line.

Letters from Penn State

My daughter Jessica sent this to me today. I would like to share, click here.

Pelini: PSU Game 'Should've Never Been Played'

Raw Video: Penn State, Nebraska Pray Before Game

Crazy times at Penn State!

With all the crazy things happening in Happy Valley, this game is hard to predict. Before all the charges were brought forth, I thought it would be Penn State 24 Nebraska 21.

Now with the landscape at Penn State changing hourly, I give the edge to Nebraska. Nebraska will be ready to play this week. Ten fights broke out at the Nebraska practice on Monday. The intensity was very high. On the other hand, the players at Penn State are seeing coaches changes daily. They have to be distracted. It would be natural for them to become concerned about more than the game.

I look at Nebraska to win. Nebraska 28 Penn State 21.

Latest on Patrick Witt

Patrick Witt was the leading candidate for the quarterback job back in the 2009 season. Not getting a guarantee to start, he transferred http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifto Yale University where he has passed for over 4000 yards. He has some Yale passing records and now he has the hardest decision of his life. Watch this video from Nightly News.

Helu, Nebraska, and other things

THIS SAD NEBRASKA FAN JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO OR WHERE TO GO TODAY!! HOPEFULLY TOMORROW HE WILL FEEL BETTER!!

Nebraska's Roy Helu Jr. broke the Washington Redskins' all-time reception record for one game today with 14. He broke Art Monk's long standing record. For more click here.

Joe Frazier is in hospice with liver cancer. What a lot of memories of the Joe Frazier-Muhammed Ali fights!! We wish him well.

Not much to say about Nebraska. Any team in the Big 10 can win on any Saturday and if the other team isn't ready to play or have a couple of key turnovers go against them, they will get beat. Northwestern stayed around long enough to think we can win this and they did.

Surprises. I thought the Nebraska offensive line would control the defensive line of Northwestern. Northwestern had given up a trillion yards a game but they didn't Saturday. Yes they had nine guys up at the line to stop us but our passing game didn't have a lot of open receivers as a whole. Our line just couldn't do much.

Our defensive line is really depleted. Injuries to Crick, Randle, and Rome have hurt us more than most people realize. Besides Baker Steinkuhler, who had a great game Saturday, we are playing second and third teamers. We aren't putting pressure on the quarterback and yes slants over the middle will be open if the quarterback can sit back and throw at will. Hopefully we will get a couple of the defensive linemen back soon. In this game we missed Crick more than ever.

Looks like Carl Edwards or Tony Stewart will win the CUP. Stewart keeps winning but can't get in the lead. Should be an interesting finish with only two weeks left. Edwards leads Stewart by three points.

The SEC announced Missouri as their 14th team. Just don't know why they saw that as a fit although they have been good in football and men's basketball. I still don't understand the PAC 10 picking Colorado either but maybe I will over time.

LSU is number one in college football but kudos to Oklahoma St who is now number two.

The Green Bay Packers remain undefeated by beating the Chargers 45-38.

Here' my Top 8 teams for College Football right now.

1. LSU

2. Alabama:

3. Oregon

4. Oklahoma State

5. Stanford

6. Boise State

7. Oklahoma

8. Arkansas

The Nebraska women beat UNK this afternoon 85-55. Holdrege's Tessa Kreutzer had six points for the Kearney women.

Nebraska plays Penn State this week. They may be distracted this week. One local writer says that Paterno must go due to the mess. Pretty serious. Read here.

High winds will help Nebraska!

Originally I thought this game would be high scoring for both teams. The weather will help Nebraska and hurt Northwestern. Its supposed to be windy tomorrow. We may see more of freshman Kain Colter than Dan Persa tomorrow. Colter is more versatile and is the type of quarterback that can hurt Nebraska. Our secondary and linebackers will again be tested.

Nebraska will run the ball often and will mix in shorter passes.

This week Nebraska 41 Northwestern 20.

Defense led by Thorell spurs win over Michigan St.

If you would like to buy the above photo, go to the Lincoln Journal by clicking here.

The Nebraska defense stopped a very good Michigan St. team cold on Saturday. Seven plays into the game Loomis native Lance Thorell intercepted a Kurt Cousins' pass and ran it back 26 yards to the Michigan St. 25 yard line. The crowd went nuts and the team rallied around the excitement like a bunch of trick or treaters finding a five gallon bucket of candy.

B.J. Cunningham, the leading receiver for Michigan State, had gone 43 games in a row with a reception. He had averaged seven catches and 107 yards in Big 10 play. Today he had 0 catches. The pass picked off by Thorell was intended for Cunningham. That is about as close as he got to a catch all day.

The whole defense played well. Will Compton was a man possessed and has never played a better game. David led in tackles as always. The front four were really good and had four sacks. The whole defensive secondary didn't give Cousins anything to throw to.

Thorell, who is as nice of kid as you will ever meet, showed that walk-ons have a place at Nebraska. He took on blockers that were 60 pounds heavier than himself and stood them up. Lance did get a well deserved scholarship this fall. He played the field well and was kind of sneaky in making plays. His speed and quickness well overcame the weight disadvantage in the box.

Kudos to Andrew Green, who subbed for the injured Stanley Jean-Baptiste. Green made some great tackles and covered very well. This game should boost his confidence and he may be hard to replace once Baptiste gets healthy. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by his great play.

Rex Burkhead is like a bull on the field. What a tough kid. They call him Superman but I am not sure Superman could keep up with him. Late in the game they had to carry him off the field. A few plays later he scores on a pass play. The play was a new one out of the playbook and it was called at the right time. After the touchdown Burkhead limped back to the players on the sideline.

The coaches get an A+ for the game they called. Both offense and defense was prepared and the game plan was excellent.

GREAT JOB HUSKERS!
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Some real surprises in college football on Saturday. Minnesota knocks off Iowa. I had to see it on three segments of ESPN before I finally believed it.

This puts Nebraska, Michigan, and Michigan State all tied for first in the Legends division. Before Saturday you could see a Wisconsin and Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship game. Now, who knows? Nebraska and Penn State? With the parity in the Big 10 the picture will change weekly. Nebraska is in control of their division. They have some very tough games coming up with Northwestern this next weekend.

The Nebraska men's basketball team is picked 11 out of 12. Let's hope we move up from that. It will be interesting. It will be also odd to see a whole different set of teams coming to Devaney.

The Nebraska women started their season tonight. For more info, click here.

2011 Michigan State-Nebraska Post-Game Press Conference (Lance Thorell)

It's going to be a close one!

I get a different prediction when I think with my head and then with my heart. We'll go with the final prediction being from the heart.

HEAD

I look at these two teams being pretty even on a neutral field without taking into consideration the special team play. Michigan St is probably a two point favorite on a neutral field. Kirk Cousins is a very good quarterback but so is Taylor Martinez. The teams are very evenly matched. The two points comes from the Michigan State's defensive line and their linebackers. A very talented group. Give Nebraska five points for the home field advantage. This makes Nebraska a three point favorite. But when you figure special teams I have to add back six points to Michigan St. Prediction Michigan St. 31 Nebraska 28.

HEART
OK, with this approach I try to think of all the positive intangibles that go with this game plus Stanley Jean-Baptiste play at cornerback. We will see in this game how good Baptiste is. He may of made a one to two touchdown difference in three of the games if he is as good as I think he is. Against Wisconsin he may of made a bigger difference.

Wisconsin has played a couple of tough games the past three weeks. Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin have all been their victims. Pretty tough to be up another week. In the mean time Nebraska has had a bye week and then Minnesota. We should be pretty healthy except for Crick and Randle. The previous games for Michigan State has had to take a lot out of them both mentally and physically.

The fact that we will the peso more than the base defense with three linebackers will also be a plus. Thorell and again, Baptiste, have improved our defense to another level. This is huge. Also we may see Lavonte David line up like Demorrio Williams used to and put some huge pressure on their Jake Locker type quarterback, Demorrio WIlliams. This will play big.

Michigan St. isn't that impressive playing away. Notre Dame beat them bad. Ohio State held them to 10 points.

Watch for the diamond offense to be used a lot during this game. This features our running attack mostly and with that we can put a lot of speed in the backfield. Burkhead, Martinez, Green, Legate,and possibly even Jamal Turner may line up in the backfield giving us a lot of options. Watch for Kenny Bell to run the ball also. Kyler Reed will make a nice outlet if he is healthy.

So at the end of regulation the game will be tied 31-31. After the first overtime, the score will be tied 38-38. But then the defense holds and Nebraska kicks a field goal. The heart always wins out so my final prediction this week will be. Final Score Nebraska 41 Michigan State 38.

DON'T MISS THIS ONE BECAUSE IT WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST GAMES OF THE YEAR!!!!!

Bill Snyder best coach ever?

Bill Snyder is 73 years old. Hew was rehired as the coach for Kansas State on November 24, 2008. Snyder was hired by Kansas State the first time following the 1988 season.

Snyder started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for USC in 1966. He coached several years in the high school ranks in California. From 1976 to 1978, Snyder was an assistant coach at North Texas State under Hayden Fry. Snyder and Fry moved together to the University of Iowa in 1979, with Snyder serving as Fry's offensive coordinator for the next ten years. Then he went to Kansas State.

His amazing accomplishments at K-State qualify him as one of the best coaches of this century.

When Snyder took over the team, K-State was considered the worst team in college football. When he took over K-State, they had lost 510 games in its history and had the most losses of any team in Division I-A at the time. It was so bad they hadn't won in three years. Twenty seven games without a win. Snyder only won one game that first year but it was a major step forward.

In the second season, which was 1990, the Wildcats went 5-6. The win season had only been matched once in seventeen years. In 1991, the Wildcats had a 7-4 season and only the second winning season since 1970.

The 1993 bowl game was the first of 11 consecutive bowl games.

During the 1998 season, K-State posted an undefeated 11-0 regular season and earned its first ever number one ranking in the national polls. This coming just ten years after Kansas State being named by SPORTS ILLUSTRATED as the worst team in the country.

Snyder retired on November 15, 2005, with an overall record of 136-68-1. Ron Prince, formerly an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Virginia, was named Bill Snyder's replacement on December 5, 2005.

Snyder's first tenure is regarded as one of the most successful rebuilding projects of in college football history. Barry Switzer said at that time that, "He's not the coach of the year,he's not the coach of the decade, he's the coach of the century."

After Ron Prince's firing and unsuccessful coaching tenure at Kansas State, Bill Snyder was rehired on November 24, 2008, as previously stated.

Many said Snyder was foolish. He was too old. He would ruin his legacy.

Well again he proved them wrong with brilliant coaching and unreal success.

In his first season back, the team posted a 6-6 season. I can remember that year and wondered, "How did he do that." Each season he has improved the team's record and their overall performance.

In 2011, Kansas State is 7-0 and is first in the Big 12. Amazing. They are ranked as high as 7th in the national polls. He has turned them around again. His overall record is now 156-80.

What makes Bill Snyder such a good coach. Their recruiting is never high with the raters. He never gets a bunch of five star players but seems to do it with two, threes, and once in a while a four. Bill Snyder obviously knows where to put his players and he knows the game of football as well as any coach in the nation.

His assistant coaches that have learned under him are a tribute to the man. They include Phil Bennett (SMU), Bret Bielema (Wisconsin), Jim Leavitt (South Florida),Mark Mangino (formerly Kansas), Dana Dimel (Wyoming), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), and Mike Stoops (formerly Arizona).

Husker fans would be pleased to know that Bill Snyder was only 5-14 versus the Cornhuskers. He has his most losses to any team with Nebraska.

Bill Snyder has a record that is hard to argue with that he is one if not the best coach in this century. Tom Osborne's record is amazing but Bill Snyder has twice brought back a program that was near bottom.

College Football: Michigan State Spartans at Nebraska Cornhuskers

Game Plan Breakdown

Coaches Corner: MSU - Nebraska

Different defensive personnel give Nebraska hope!

Nebraska has made a couple of changes the past couple of weeks on defense that have will allow them to win the rest of the games. Now I am not saying they will but they now have a chance.

First of all the changeover of Stanley Jean Baptiste is huge. He is already as good as cornerback as Nebraska has had in years including Prince. Minnesota threw the other way most of the day. Yes, they were throwing at Dennard. They are staying away from Baptiste. Earlier in the year teams were getting mulitple yards on multiple play against our cornerback on that side. Now no yards there and they have to pass against Dennard, who isn't too bad himself. We will see more on this against Michigan St. If Baptiste is solid there, he is for REAL. Who knows what we could have done against Wisconsin if he would have been in the lineup. I guarantee you that it would have been a very close game.

I am pretty sure that Austin Cassidy played his best game because Baptiste is in the game. He can get back to playing the game the way it is to be played. This will make us better also.

I have long advocated that Lance Thorell needs to be in the game. He is smart and he is where he needs to be. The Loomis, Nebraska graduate added speed to our defense. Whether he was playing Buck linebacker at times or the nickel back, we are a better defensive team when he is on the field.

Kenny Bell had the longest run yesterday since Cory Ross went 86 yards against Missouri in 2004. He also had the longest run by a freshmen ever.

Where was Kyler Reed Saturday??

Did you here about the elevator full of Huskers that got stuck on Friday night for 45 minutes. There were six linemen and thirteen total players on the elevator. We should have been flagged for too many players in the elevator. I bet that smelled before it was over.

Who would have thought that Wisconsin and Oklahoma would get beat this week? Michigan State had a good chance but Texas Tech over Oklahoma? WOW! In the rankings who would have thought that Oklahoma St. would be #3 and K-State ranked 8th.

The winner of the Bama/LSU game will probably be in the National Championship. Who might they play? Stanford?

Kudos to the Nebraska women volleyball's team for beating another number one. This weekend it was Illinois and they dominated. Keep it going. The bandwagon is here and strong.

This week's game against Michigan St. is huge. Should be quite a week and it will give us plenty to talk about. The results will be in on Saturday about three as the game starts at 11:30 am.

Nebraska should pound out a win!

Nebraska will run, run, run, and then throw a few passes to mix it up Saturday. Look to Nebraska to have over 375 yards rushing. Nebraska 41 Minnesota 10.

Diamond Offense, James Dobson and Albert Einstein!

The diamond offense is a good fit for Nebraska. Anytime you can get Jamal Turner, Rex Burkhead, Ameer Abdullah, and Taylor Martinez in the same backfield, we can create chaos for the opposing defenses.

Oklahoma, TCU, and Oklahoma St. has all run the diamond formation in the past. Here is an illustration as to how Oklahoma has run the formation.


As the season goes, we will see more of this formation. I believe. It is a great fit.

Kudos to James Dobson, the NU football strength and conditioning coach. He is a huge plus to our football team. His great coaching is one of the reasons we are dominating the 4th quarters in most of our games. He doesn't get enough credit from the average fan.

Next week is Minnesota. I am ready for another game. I am anxious to see Stanley Jean-Baptiste dominate his receiver coverage and take us up a couple of notches in defense.

And now this. Albert was talking about Bo Pelini. Sometime coaches just want to coach and they aren't great speaking to the media. Sometimes its just better they don't, so let him coach.

Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.
- Albert Einstein

Huskers continue to improve!

What a game!!

In the games I have personally attended, I would have to put this game in the Top 3 of all time.


Number One is the Nebraska/LSU game. This game was on January 1, 1971. We won the National Championship that day. Trailing 12-10 as the fourth quarter opened—after leading early, 10-0— Coach Bob Devaney's Huskers passed and ran over and through the defensive titans of the nation for the winning touchdown.
It came with 6:10 gone in the final quarter when Jerry Tagge, the engineering genius of the night, clinched the Most Valuable Back Trophy by plunging over from the one and then extended his arms high over the pile — just to make sure.


At Number Two, the Colorado game in 2008. Nebraska was all but beat before the heroics of Alex Henery that day. Alex Henery made the kick with room to spare with 1:43 left, and defensive end Ndamukong Suh ran back an interception 30 yards for a touchdown seconds later to punctuate the Cornhuskers' 40-31 victory.

Saturday night was Number Three. What an exciting second half!!!! Nebraska would come back from its biggest deficit ever of 21 points to win. Nebraska scored 28 points in the last quarter and a half for the comeback. Final Nebraska 34 Ohio State 27. A real feel good victory.

In all honesty, I thought Nebraska played pretty well offensively. They played smart ball. Burkhead had ten yards in ten carries but I think the continued playing calling with Burkhead running into the middle of the line set everything up for the second half. It set up Taylor Martinez to keep the ball or pass down the field.

Martinez, I thought, played pretty well in the first half and outstanding in the second half. Play calling was a fit for him on Saturday night. He stayed in the pocket, made very good throws, ran like no other quarterback in college football, and looked to his second and third receivers as options. He's growing as a football player.

Rex Burkhead was his usual "Superman". He is our offensive MVP.

On defense we struggled the first two and a half quarters. Ohio State had a lot of big plays. But then three things happened. Lavonte David, who may have played his best game ever, takes the ball away for a turnover. A few plays later it was Ohio State 27 Nebraska 13.

Stanley Jean-Baptiste starts to play cornerback and wow did he play. He made some great tackles, stayed with his receivers like a glove, and then made a really good interception. We have needed turnovers and he executed one. Baptiste is the real deal and if this is possible I think his addition will improve our defense to last year's level. If Baptiste is as good as I think he is and he keeps his head on, Nebraska will compete for the Big 10 Championship. The defense is just that much better.

Now the fact that Braxton Miller went down definitely helped the Huskers. Braxton Miller hurt us time and again with his running and passing. His injury was huge for the Huskers. Nebraska ends up winning 34-27.

Now on to Dirk Chetelain, Bo Pelini, and the Nebraska fans!

There are 15-20% of the fans that are either stupid or just plain dumb. They are really not fans at all. Behind me Saturday night, there were a couple of idiots that complained about everything Martinez did and criticized Bo Pelini constantly. PLEASE DON"T DO THAT OR STAY HOME. You show your ignorance for the game. Come to support your team and if you can't then go to the bar and bore those people. What good does it do? Does it impress our recruits or make the players want to play harder. Absolutely not. There is nothing positive that can come out of it. Some Nebraska fans are worse than fans of all the other teams. If their actions cause others to act like that, then we got a major problem.

Dirk Chatelain's column reminded me of work. An employee complains constantly but has no solutions. Dirk Chatelain's column was full of negatives but had no positive solution or no solution at all. If you want to make a point and drill down on our quarterback, then make a point to give a side that we could have improvement in the program. I saw none of that.

I can relate to Bo Pelini's anger against the media and the fans. I almost reverted to a tyrade on Saturday night with the fans beside me. It is hard to hold back when fans are so ignorant. Pelini is defending his players and his team in part. However, he would serve himself much better to answer questions in a more dignified way. But to be honest, I am not going to think of him much different no matter how he reacts to the press as long as he keeps winning. In the end, Chatelain can write what he wants and Pelini can get as upset as he wants but they would both be better served to get along. That may be too late!

DIRK CHATELAIN

We'll have to stand behind our team to win tomorrow!

Ok we all get a little too critical about our team sometime, me included. It's really not the right thing to do. First of all when the kids that play for Nebraska football give their all, we should be somewhat forgiving when mistakes are made. I thought the article that was written by Dirk Chatelain of the Omaha World Herald went too far today. the headlines were all about making a change with our quarterback. Taylor Martinez's picture was blasted on the front of the sports today. Then he went on to give a lot of reasons why it would be nice to make a change, he is still probably our best quarterback. No, we don't have a John Elway at quarterback. He can run but he, at this time, doesn't look off his number one receiver at times when they are covered. But he also plays very well at times. He is our best option and so lets support him instead of chasing him away from our program.

Tomorrow's weather will be a factor in the game. Hopefully it will benefit Nebraska. The winning team will need to pound the ball and we seem to be improving every game in this department. I look to Nebraska to win by three points. If the defense can score a touchdown, we could extend it to 10 points. Don't forget that last week for the first quarter and a good part of the second quarter we played out best football.

On paper our recruits for next year's NU basketball's team don't look like a group that will take us to a new level. I hope i am wrong as I enjoy watching our team and its a lot more fun when we are competitive.