Nebraska Football

[Cosmos]

At the beginning of the season the BTN posed the question: which program reemerges sooner, Nebraska or PSU. The vote was unanimous: Nebraska! Gary Denardo lead the charge. He gave such nonsense as recruits now having a stipend for family travel to games played out in the middle of nowhere (Lincoln). As you know I've been one of Franklin's staunchest critics but at the time (August) I knew it was complete hogwash. Fast forward to today. Nebraska out recruits every team in the BT West and yet doesn't have a banner hanging from the rafters of Lucas Oil Field. It got humiliated by Tennessee. I believe 2017 if not, 2018, represents the death rattle for Nebraska football. If Riley doesn't turn it around soon it might be too big a hole from which to dig out. Especially given the emergence of Minnesota.The clock is ticking.

 

[Carl Spackler]

At the beginning of the season the BTN posed the question: which program reemerges sooner, Nebraska or PSU. The vote was unanimous: Nebraska! Gary Denardo lead the charge. He gave such nonsense as recruits now having a stipend for family travel to games played out in the middle of nowhere (Lincoln). As you know I've been one of Franklin's staunchest critics but at the time (August) I knew it was complete hogwash. Fast forward to today. Nebraska out recruits every team in the BT West and yet doesn't have a banner hanging from the rafters of Lucas Oil Field. It got humiliated by Tennessee. I believe 2017 if not, 2018, represents the death rattle for Nebraska football. If Riley doesn't turn it around soon it might be too big a hole from which to dig out. Especially given the emergence of Minnesota.The clock is ticking.

At times it seems the BTN talking heads are given a story line and fill it in to the worst of their abilities. The difference between them and talking heads of news shows, nothing. Reading a script or ad-lib on the spot is no different. I did not see the program you reference but hearing a party line discussion is not surprising. As of Sept. 24th last fall we were pronounced dead by the BTN talking heads. Surprisingly the players thought otherwise and we demonstrated the most amazing turnaround in college sports for many a year. THEN the BTN jumped on the bandwagon and the favor toward Nebraska diminished. Front runners, market share and a desire to be right won over the BTN t.heads.

 

[JBDLion]

I have a hard time seeing any team in the B1G West being the death of Nebraska. They might not always be the best team, but they should consistently continue to outrecruit most if not all of that division. Now...is that good enough to be national title contenders? Probably not.

 

[BUFFALO LION]

At the beginning of the season the BTN posed the question: which program reemerges sooner, Nebraska or PSU. The vote was unanimous: Nebraska! Gary Denardo lead the charge. He gave such nonsense as recruits now having a stipend for family travel to games played out in the middle of nowhere (Lincoln). As you know I've been one of Franklin's staunchest critics but at the time (August) I knew it was complete hogwash. Fast forward to today. Nebraska out recruits every team in the BT West and yet doesn't have a banner hanging from the rafters of Lucas Oil Field. It got humiliated by Tennessee. I believe 2017 if not, 2018, represents the death rattle for Nebraska football. If Riley doesn't turn it around soon it might be too big a hole from which to dig out. Especially given the emergence of Minnesota.The clock is ticking.

Nebraska has some outstanding assets and facilities. As they have said on BTN, half the battle is getting recruits to see the place because it's not in a strong recruiting area of the Country. Their Stadium and fan base is outstanding, and many of their athletic Programs are top shelf. They are a big asset to the Conference.

All that being said, they are at a natural disadvantage to the schools out East. Even though they had the Number One recruiting Class in the West this year, they would have only ranked Number Five in the East. On top of that, right off the top of my head, I can think of at least seven no-brainer B1G head coaches I would take over Riley. I can think of a couple of others that give you exponentially more for your money than Riley does, and are also better coaches even up.

In short, even though Nebraska will continue to be competitive in the West, and an asset to the Conference, they are certainly not a team I am losing any sleep over in football. Wisconsin, Iowa, and Northwestern, with their current coaching staffs, I think are all in better shape right now, everything being equal, than Nebraska. Getting rid of Bo ranked right up there as being about as stupid as getting rid of Kevin Wilson. Riley has turned them into a soft football team.

 

[baircub1!]

At the beginning of the season the BTN posed the question: which program reemerges sooner, Nebraska or PSU. The vote was unanimous: Nebraska! Gary Denardo lead the charge. He gave such nonsense as recruits now having a stipend for family travel to games played out in the middle of nowhere (Lincoln). As you know I've been one of Franklin's staunchest critics but at the time (August) I knew it was complete hogwash. Fast forward to today. Nebraska out recruits every team in the BT West and yet doesn't have a banner hanging from the rafters of Lucas Oil Field. It got humiliated by Tennessee. I believe 2017 if not, 2018, represents the death rattle for Nebraska football. If Riley doesn't turn it around soon it might be too big a hole from which to dig out. Especially given the emergence of Minnesota.The clock is ticking.

I think they have to pump up Teams in the West Division...

The unbalance between conferences is beyond stunning... What the hell was Delaney thinking by putting OSU , Michigan , MSU and PSU all in one group...

And Rutgers and Maryland... Will be bottom dwellers for a LONG time...

 

[NewEra 2014]

No offense to Nebraska or any of its players, fans, coaches, etc. But Nebraska football is just not on the national radar at all, is it? When I think of the BIG, Nebraska does not even come to mind. When I think of the BIG West, I think of Wisky and Iowa being salty teams. But I just have no impression that Nebraska is going to be anything special anytime soon.

Whether that impression is an accurate reflection of reality or not, that is not a place that Nebraska wants to be.

 

[Colorado Man]

I think they have to pump up Teams in the West Division...

The unbalance between conferences is beyond stunning... What the hell was Delaney thinking by putting OSU , Michigan , MSU and PSU all in one group...

And Rutgers and Maryland... Will be bottom dwellers for a LONG time...

UM may not be a bottom dweller much longer. Durkin seems to be a good recruiter. If some of the top recruits they lost had committed, they may have bypassed PSU in the rankings.

 

[Raffycorn]

The fact that Maryland still finished below Penn State in the rankings even though they took 10 more recruits than Penn State did tells me a lot about the overall quality of their class. They were ranked as high as they were because they signed one of the biggest classes in the country. There's certainly some players there (Spence, McFarland, Capehart), but the rest doesn't strike a whole lot of fear into me.

 

[BlueBand]

The unbalance between conferences is beyond stunning... What the hell was Delaney thinking by putting OSU , Michigan , MSU and PSU all in one group...

The conference was thoroughly mad fun of with arbitrarily balanced leaders and legends, so they went geographic.

Besides, it's all part of the master plan for when Texas and Oklahoma join the B1G West and they slide one of the current West patsies to the east.

 

[Nit777]

UM may not be a bottom dweller much longer. Durkin seems to be a good recruiter. If some of the top recruits they lost had committed, they may have bypassed PSU in the rankings.

Just based on how things generally work out, if we fast forwarded to the start of spring practice in 2018, I would bet that PSU still has 20-21 of the 2017 class still on the roster, and I would also bet that Maryland will be down to 20-21 from their 2017 recruiting class at the same time.

How do the two recruiting classes stack up then?

 

[Art]

The fact that Maryland still finished below Penn State in the rankings even though they took 10 more recruits than Penn State did tells me a lot about the overall quality of their class. They were ranked as high as they were because they signed one of the biggest classes in the country. There's certainly some players there (Spence, McFarland, Capehart), but the rest doesn't strike a whole lot of fear into me.

Uh, not quite. Rivals only uses the top 20 ranked prospects in a school's class to determine team rankings. Having a large(r) class helps, but not all that much.

 

[Art]

Just based on how things generally work out, if we fast forwarded to the start of spring practice in 2018, I would bet that PSU still has 20-21 of the 2017 class still on the roster, and I would also bet that Maryland will be down to 20-21 from their 2017 recruiting class at the same time.

How do the two recruiting classes stack up then?

Using that logic, you could "fast forward" to anytime within the next 4-5 seasons to see how teams "stack.up." But why bother, there are better measures. In any case, I don't think that even Rivals maintains that there rankings are anything better than a snapshot in time.

 

[TheGLOV]

The only thing Nebraska has to fear, is Nebraska itself!

 

[ejb25]

Wasn't Nebraska good in the Big 12 because they recruited well in Texas?

 

[BlueBand]

Wasn't Nebraska good in the Big 12 because they recruited well in Texas?

That was part of it. Bringing Texas into the B1G fold would probably help Nebraska.

 

[Cletus11]

Nebraska was without Armstrong (starting QB) and their #1 WR and their all Big Ten safety. So the fact they lost to Tennessee was not surprising as any team without those players is going to most likely lose.

I do agree that Nebraska will be hard fetched to become the power they were back in the 70's-90's. Based on what I think I know, a lot of that success had to do with cheating in the 90's. 90's was all about the PEDs and that has been pretty much agreed upon by all. Before that Nebraska would harvest Texas for some top talent every year and then go after some midwest guys and then take some partial qualifiers. Now Texas is recruited by all and Nebraska is not in that conference anymore. Partial qualfiers are out. So Nebraska has lost two of it's main recruiting grounds.

I think Nebraska will continue on for the future being a fringe Top 25 team with the occasional 'big year' where they approach the TOp 10. But I don't ever see them being a real power again consistently.

 

[PennStateNate]

I be shocked if Nebraska is in the Big Ten in 2020..

 

[BBrown]

At the beginning of the season the BTN posed the question: which program reemerges sooner, Nebraska or PSU. The vote was unanimous: Nebraska! Gary Denardo lead the charge. He gave such nonsense as recruits now having a stipend for family travel to games played out in the middle of nowhere (Lincoln). As you know I've been one of Franklin's staunchest critics but at the time (August) I knew it was complete hogwash. Fast forward to today. Nebraska out recruits every team in the BT West and yet doesn't have a banner hanging from the rafters of Lucas Oil Field. It got humiliated by Tennessee. I believe 2017 if not, 2018, represents the death rattle for Nebraska football. If Riley doesn't turn it around soon it might be too big a hole from which to dig out. Especially given the emergence of Minnesota.The clock is ticking.

I'm going to wait and see what Fleck does before I anoint he or Minny as "emerging". I think he has the chance but then I thought the same thing about Hazel (sp?) at Purdue. I'm going to take a wait and see approach.

 

[BBrown]

I be shocked if Nebraska is in the Big Ten in 2020..

Interesting. Why do you think that?
I mean money is a might big motivator and cures a lot of ills and the B1G's coffers are loaded and about to become more so.

 

[84Lion]

I be shocked if Nebraska is in the Big Ten in 2020..

So where does Nebraska go? BIg 12? They've been there and done that. Pac 12? I read an article today where Pac 12 school admins were grumbling about how little revenue they're getting from the Pac 12 network...doesn't sound like a step up to me, and the travel would be far worse than what Nebraska has now. SEC? Maybe...although geographically it makes little sense, and the money isn't better, to my knowledge, and the SEC doesn't carry much academic prestige. Independent? Can't see that working for Nebraska although I guess they could schedule with Notre Dame and BYU on a regular basis.

There was some scuttlebutt about Nebraska trying to forge a TV network of their own (like Longhorn network) but I'm fairly certain that was in fact mere scuttlebutt. Longhorn network isn't what Texas or ESPN thought it'd be, and ESPN is in damage control mode these days.

Nebraska has a good home in the B1G. They'd be foolish to leave.

 

[Bob_Anderson]

I be shocked if Nebraska is in the Big Ten in 2020..

prepare to be shocked. Nebraska is going nowhere.

 

[artsandletters]

Wasn't Nebraska good in the Big 12 because they recruited well in Texas?

Texas? I'd still like to know how they managed to get Mike Rozier and Irving Fryar out of Camden and Burlington Counties , NJ, right across from Philly. Especially since Fryar went to the same high school as Franco.

 

[First Last]

I be shocked if Nebraska is in the Big Ten in 2020..

Where do think they want to go? Seem like a great B1G fit with quality athletics and academics.

 

[PSU20]

Texas? I'd still like to know how they managed to get Mike Rozier and Irving Fryar out of Camden and Burlington Counties , NJ, right across from Philly. Especially since Fryar went to the same high school as Franco.

Nebraska also recruited the heck out of CA back in the Osborne days. I forget the exact number the announcers mentioned during one of their bowl games but it was something in the 20's or 30's of CA players on their roster.

 

[dwiz]

Big Ten West is open every year. Favorable schedule coupled with an ok team equals west champions. Freaking Iowa did it, I mean, c'mon!

 

[bjf1991]

I be shocked if Nebraska is in the Big Ten in 2020..

Where would they go?

 

[BUFFALO LION]

I be shocked if Nebraska is in the Big Ten in 2020..

"I'd be shocked" if PennStateNate had a brain.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

At the beginning of the season the BTN posed the question: which program reemerges sooner, Nebraska or PSU. The vote was unanimous: Nebraska! Gary Denardo lead the charge. He gave such nonsense as recruits now having a stipend for family travel to games played out in the middle of nowhere (Lincoln). As you know I've been one of Franklin's staunchest critics but at the time (August) I knew it was complete hogwash. Fast forward to today. Nebraska out recruits every team in the BT West and yet doesn't have a banner hanging from the rafters of Lucas Oil Field. It got humiliated by Tennessee. I believe 2017 if not, 2018, represents the death rattle for Nebraska football. If Riley doesn't turn it around soon it might be too big a hole from which to dig out. Especially given the emergence of Minnesota.The clock is ticking.

The only thing that favors NEB is being in the west. Draw a 500 mile circle around each campus and then look at how many D1 recruits their are.