Nebraska Trying To Back Out of 2021 Oklahoma Game

[selmaborntidefan]

Now that a lot of the dust has settled, I'd submit to the committee that Nebraska to the Big Ten was the worst move of the last expansion/realignment wave. When the pros and cons are tabulated, I only see one pro for Nebraska: tradition. A glorious past. The cons are numerous. Zero recruiting territories added to the conference footprint. No large population centers for TV markets. No prospects of returning to former glory in order to balance the divisions.

At least with Rutgers you get New York (supposedly). With Maryland, you get DC and recruiting territories.

With Texas A&M you get a huge state, massive recruiting possibilities, and a solid all around program.

With Missouri you get KC and St. Louis and a good academic institution for the nerds to brag about.

With Utah/Colorado, you get Denver and Salt Lake City, and a conference championship game.

Nebraska added nothing but bloat.

Nebraska got $40 million from TV deals alone in the Big 10 in 2019. It was an outstanding financial move for Nebraska.

Respectfully, I think the flaw in your analysis is you're looking at it as a FOOTBALL FAN while they (and the Big 10) were looking at it in terms of ECONOMICS. Arkansas was a MUCH BIGGER DEAL in football when they were winning the SWC (quick - how many times have they won the SEC?). But the moment they joined the SEC, their intake (starting in 1992 and going upward) was immediately nearly $1 million per year more for their school.

I realize Utah and Colorado are bigger states than Nebraska population-wise, but do they "really" add more actual TV viewers? There's so much non-football stuff to do in Colorado, and I suspect there are more BYU fans than Utah fans in the Beehive State.

I'd have to do more looking on the Big Ten side of the ledger, but the Big Ten move for Nebraska FROM A FINANCIAL standpoint was absolutely the right move for NU.

 

[81usaf92]

Nebraska got $40 million from TV deals alone in the Big 10 in 2019. It was an outstanding financial move for Nebraska.

Respectfully, I think the flaw in your analysis is you're looking at it as a FOOTBALL FAN while they (and the Big 10) were looking at it in terms of ECONOMICS. Arkansas was a MUCH BIGGER DEAL in football when they were winning the SWC (quick - how many times have they won the SEC?). But the moment they joined the SEC, their intake (starting in 1992 and going upward) was immediately nearly $1 million per year more for their school.

I realize Utah and Colorado are bigger states than Nebraska population-wise, but do they "really" add more actual TV viewers? There's so much non-football stuff to do in Colorado, and I suspect there are more BYU fans than Utah fans in the Beehive State.

I'd have to do more looking on the Big Ten side of the ledger, but the Big Ten move for Nebraska FROM A FINANCIAL standpoint was absolutely the right move for NU.

Nebraska at the time checked the boxes the Big 10 was wanting.
- big market (Omaha)
- AAU (not anymore)
- short contract remaining

the Big 10 originally was going after Mizzou but the deciding factor was that Mizzou had one more year on contract with the Big XII than Nebraska.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Nebraska got $40 million from TV deals alone in the Big 10 in 2019. It was an outstanding financial move for Nebraska.

Respectfully, I think the flaw in your analysis is you're looking at it as a FOOTBALL FAN while they (and the Big 10) were looking at it in terms of ECONOMICS. Arkansas was a MUCH BIGGER DEAL in football when they were winning the SWC (quick - how many times have they won the SEC?). But the moment they joined the SEC, their intake (starting in 1992 and going upward) was immediately nearly $1 million per year more for their school.

I realize Utah and Colorado are bigger states than Nebraska population-wise, but do they "really" add more actual TV viewers? There's so much non-football stuff to do in Colorado, and I suspect there are more BYU fans than Utah fans in the Beehive State.

I'd have to do more looking on the Big Ten side of the ledger, but the Big Ten move for Nebraska FROM A FINANCIAL standpoint was absolutely the right move for NU.

I should have clarified... from the Conference's viewpoint, not the actual teams.

It was a financial boon for Nebraska to join the Big Ten. However, culturally, it was and is a horrible fit. But then again, the true cultural fit for the Cornhuskers died in 1996 when the Big 8 became the Big 12 and Texas was allowed into the cornfields.

The Big Ten has the most successful conference network, other than the SEC Network. I don't know up to date numbers as far as which one is in the lead right now. While Nebraska didn't hurt that, I'm not sure they needed Nebraska to help it either.

I guess my point is for all the weight Nebraska supposedly carries in the grand scheme of college football (which is the driver in all of this), they are falling woefully short since about 2003 in actually doing anything and I cannot see the pathway for that changing.

 

[BadgerTidefan]

Reading this I reminded me of this very good post from 2018 about Nebraska thats relevant to their current situation.

Since this is a subject that comes up a lot, and I lived in Nebraska recently I thought I would give my insight on it.

I know a lot here think Nebraska will rise again, and the missing ingredient was to hire the right coach. I can agree partially on that assessment, but not fully. I believe it would take a coach with staying power from day 1 at the caliber of Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Bob Stoops who would earn patience the moment they sign on the dotted line, but it would still be a long, long, long process. I just don't believe Scott Frost is 1. Here are some things that I think will prevent Scott Frost from winning at Nebraska. I tend to like this excerpt:

1) Recruiting: This is harped on a lot and it has been proven true all too often.

a- The State of Nebraska- This isn't new but I don't think many realize how bad it is. 85% of the state lives in a 45 minute radius of each other. Lets look at the past state champs from 2010-17 Ill mark all non in the 45 minutes participants in bold:



That's 32 games. 59% are East teams matched up together within a 45 minute radius. Only 1/3 of the games have a west representative. Most west and center Nebraska highschools participate in 8 and 6 men football leagues. This shows where the population is, and why the 93 county free athletic scholarship policy that Tom Osbourne enjoyed was a huge advantage that let him win in the 80's and 90's, but he wouldn't win today.

Here is a recruiting excerpt describing the top 5 recruits in Nebraska that still holds true today:



Any coach could recruit the 25 from Mobile, Birmingham, Auburn (High schools), or Huntsville and pound the top 25 Nebraska recruits statewide without breaking so much as a sweat. Yes You Need Nebraska players to win at Nebraska to build established depth, but you cant win with Nebraska recruits.

B- Going to the BIG 10 was the worst thing for recruiting- I was in contact with many in the know, boosters, and folks inside the program through dates, friends, and other things. One thing they all told be is when it was becoming a reality that Nebraska was heading to the BIG 10 was Pelini was flipping out. They said Pelini was making calls to Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, and aTm in an attempt to try to go to the SEC or Pac 10 as a joint deal. He feared what eventually came to fruition in that Nebraska was going to lose their label of being an alternate destination for recruits from Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas, and that the Huskers faithful would be expected them to roll the BIG West and be in direct competition with tOSU and Michigan every year. The problem is that recruits in Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri that don't go to their state universities, and don't want to play for their direct rivals want to play close to and have games in their home states. Missouri to the SEC and Colorado to the PAC 12 sealed Nebraska's fate because it severed 4 pipeline states and forced Nebraska to be in direct competition with Iowa. It also made both of those schools better destinations for mid tier recruits because playing USC, UCLA, UGA, and UF every year has more exposure than playing Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin every year. basically you are selling an one horse town with a college in it with a 45 minute trip Omaha to national recuits.

2) Infrastructure- This has three parts

A) the fan part- The amount of access the average fan in Omaha and Lincoln have to the program is ridiculous. I have heard and seen times of folks going into facilities and coach's offices just because their cousin knows a guy. Here at Alabama everything is lock and key, we only see things Nick Saban wants or allows us to see. Frost is going to have to change the culture of Nebraska to have a chance at Nebraska. They also believe they are still capable of being the team they were in the 90's in the BIG 10 W. If Rielly and Pelini couldn't do it then I fear Frost wont do much better

B) the cultural part: Pelini, from what Ive been told, said that he believed that he could run wild in the BIG 10 side that he was on for two or three years with his MO and TX recruits, but once they dry up then he would have a tough time adjusting Nebraska to the style of football that Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa has been playing for years. He believed while he would've taken his lumps in the SEC and PAC 10, he believed that fans would temper their expectations, and allow time to adjust with some of the same and some new valuable recruiting pipelines. Even if he didn't say it, it makes perfect sense given that we are talking about 2010-2014 at the height of SEC dominance.



C) geographic infrastructure- While many are quick to say Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa are recruit poor and not elite programs, they are far better than Nebraska and have better numbers to pull from within state to produce depth.

Top 5 municipalities in those states




Point is these schools have a lot of instate recruits to pull from compared to Nebraska. Also consider you have to sell Lincoln to recruits which is basically a small town with a college over Madison ( The party capital in USA), Milwaukee (and Chicago for that matter), Green Bay, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Iowa City, and D- Buek.


3) Conclusion

I think Frost is fighting a crazy uphill battle in a very delusional environment. Unless he just totally knocks it out of the park in national recruiting then I think he is DOA. This year I project 3-9 (assuming he beats troy) at best 5-7 (beating Troy, Minnie, and Colorado). Looking 4 years in advance I honestly don't see a winning season because he is drawing 2 of Michigan, MSU, PSU, and tOSU the next 4 years added with Oklahoma in 2021 and 22.

Here are some good articles. Sorry for the Selma length of post.

https://www.outkickthecoverage.com/nebraska-is-no-longer-an-elite-job-120114/
https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...st-its-sense-entitlement-and-thats-good-thing

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Reading this I reminded me of this very good post from 2018 about Nebraska thats relevant to their current situation.

"Selma length" is something the ladies cheer.....

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Here's some delusional nonsense from a Corn Field County Operator:

Colorado Suffers from Mediocre-Program Syndrome

That’s the source of the hate right?

www.cornnation.com

I was absolutely howling at this one:

JoJo Domman
“I got a little backlash coming to Nebraska, coming to Lincoln from Colorado. But that stuff doesn’t really get to me. I came here to play football and play big-time football and win championships, and that’s why I came here,” Domann said Tuesday. “Coach Mac sold everything he possibly could to me, which, any coach is going to do to get a recruit to his school. But like I said, I wanted to play big-time football at a big-time university and see if I could prove myself on the big stage, so that’s why I’m here in Lincoln.”


(Domman record at school: 12-20)

Colorado record at same time: 14-16.....with a 2-0 record against Nebraska........

 

[TideEngineer08]

Colorado will win the Pac 12 before Nebraska wins the Big Ten.***



***neither will ever win either conference

 

[selmaborntidefan]

“I’d rather be dead than red.” That was said this past week by Bill McCartney who is a former football coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. He is mostly known for the “30 for 30” on ESPN titled “The Gospel According to Mac.”

No, he's actually better known as the Buffs coach, the head of Promise Keepers, and the guy who won a game on a Fifth Down.

His tenure at Colorado was the most successful in school history as it went 95-55-5 over his 13 seasons in Boulder.

This is technically true since he coached over 150 games, although an argument can be made for Fred Folsom. You've probably never heard of him - I mean, they only named the STADIUM after him but whatever.

It is somewhat interesting that he had fives ties in his tenure while Tom Osborne had one.
That one tie actually came in a game between Colorado and Nebraska.

Yeah, but you left out the part about where Nebraska wound up in a tie because McCartney literally froze your kicker to death by calling ALL THREE TIMEOUTS each time they lined up for the final kick, which....oh yeah, Colorado BLOCKED to salvage the tie.

But I'm not sure what your point is, either. I mean, it's not like ties were necessarily the fault of one particular coach. His tie against Tennessee in 1990 came despite his team not having their best player in the game.

There was a six season stretch in which Colorado was rather dominant across the landscape of college football.
Colorado was only really "dominant" in 1989-1990 and in 1994. The other three seasons, they were good but not great.

So why the hate from Colorado? Is it because Bill McCartney, the best coach in program history, went 3-9-1 against Nebraska in his career?

Well, yeah, Osborne beat him like a drum but then again compare where Colorado was when McCartney started and where Nebraska was when Osborne started. In the previous three seasons under Chuck Fairbanks, Colorado was 7-26. In the previous three seasons before Osborne took over from Bob "If I Build It, Osborne Will Win" Devaney, Nebraska won 2 national championships and finished #4 in the AP poll the other time.

Probably because no matter what Colorado does they will be always be a mediocre program. You cannot go to Colorado and play big time college football.

That's true, but you can't do that at Nebraska anymore, either.

So what do fans of mediocre programs do when other fans come into their “house?”

Well, if you're Nebraska, you probably lose the game and talk about how good you used to be.

If Colorado is any indication they must turn from likely decent human beings into hate filled fans who will do anything from throwing drinks at you to slashing your car tires.
They obviously lack confidence. You know who else lacks confidence?

Whoever has to hire the Nebraska football coach????

Bullies. And ever since Bill McCartney was hired (and maybe before then), Colorado and their numerous fans decided they wanted to be bullies to one of the biggest programs in the conference.

What's funny is that McCartney ASKED the student body and alumni of CU WHICH school they'd like to choose for a rival, a team to aim to beat. They chose Nebraska. Ironically, they chose Nebraska because a lot of the CU fans complained that since - back when the Hucksters were GOOD - their fans who couldn't get tickets to a home game would drive 600 miles to Boulder and buy CU tickets and basically turn Folsom Field into another NU home game. I'm not gonna begrudge Nebraska for that success, but he actually did it both for that reason AND because McCartney thought "Nebraska is everything a big name program should be."

They even won a couple times including 2001 which we all know about.
That wasn't a win, that was criminal behavior that calls for the death penalty in some cultures. (62-36 for anyone reading this who doesn't know what I mean).

But they still act like a combination of bullies and petulant children.

Ndamukong Suh

Your move.

So I don’t know if it started with Bill McCartney circling Nebraska on the calendar when he was first hired, or if it is just a symptom of being a fan of a program that will always be mediocre.

Yeah, but Colorado's is because there's a lot more you can do there like ski, see pro baseball/football/basketball/hockey, climb mountains, see the sights, etc.

In Hawaii, you live long because the weather and atmosphere is perfect.
Nobody lives very long in Nebraska - it's just so cold and boring it FEELS like it.

 

[BamaBuc]

Barrett Sallee: the Braves under Alex Anthopolous are the best they ever have been in my lifetime. 3 straight division titles

Wise Guy on Twitter: when they had 14 straight division titles and 1 WS ring was not in your lifetime?

I saw all of 14 of those while in Atlanta and the 2 in Milwaukee - also the two WS - one in Milwaukee and the other in Atlanta, wise guy on twitter should ask him some of the less well known things about the Braves!
Or what player signed in 1954 with the Milwaukee Braves, Spoiler Alert, HA...!
Come to think of it this guy must still be in diapers, who is he by the way?

 

[81usaf92]

“I’d rather be dead than red.” That was said this past week by Bill McCartney who is a former football coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. He is mostly known for the “30 for 30” on ESPN titled “The Gospel According to Mac.”

No, he's actually better known as the Buffs coach, the head of Promise Keepers, and the guy who won a game on a Fifth Down.

His tenure at Colorado was the most successful in school history as it went 95-55-5 over his 13 seasons in Boulder.

This is technically true since he coached over 150 games, although an argument can be made for Fred Folsom. You've probably never heard of him - I mean, they only named the STADIUM after him but whatever.

It is somewhat interesting that he had fives ties in his tenure while Tom Osborne had one.
That one tie actually came in a game between Colorado and Nebraska.

Yeah, but you left out the part about where Nebraska wound up in a tie because McCartney literally froze your kicker to death by calling ALL THREE TIMEOUTS each time they lined up for the final kick, which....oh yeah, Colorado BLOCKED to salvage the tie.

But I'm not sure what your point is, either. I mean, it's not like ties were necessarily the fault of one particular coach. His tie against Tennessee in 1990 came despite his team not having their best player in the game.

There was a six season stretch in which Colorado was rather dominant across the landscape of college football.
Colorado was only really "dominant" in 1989-1990 and in 1994. The other three seasons, they were good but not great.

So why the hate from Colorado? Is it because Bill McCartney, the best coach in program history, went 3-9-1 against Nebraska in his career?

Well, yeah, Osborne beat him like a drum but then again compare where Colorado was when McCartney started and where Nebraska was when Osborne started. In the previous three seasons under Chuck Fairbanks, Colorado was 7-26. In the previous three seasons before Osborne took over from Bob "If I Build It, Osborne Will Win" Devaney, Nebraska won 2 national championships and finished #4 in the AP poll the other time.

Probably because no matter what Colorado does they will be always be a mediocre program. You cannot go to Colorado and play big time college football.

That's true, but you can't do that at Nebraska anymore, either.

So what do fans of mediocre programs do when other fans come into their “house?”

Well, if you're Nebraska, you probably lose the game and talk about how good you used to be.

If Colorado is any indication they must turn from likely decent human beings into hate filled fans who will do anything from throwing drinks at you to slashing your car tires.
They obviously lack confidence. You know who else lacks confidence?

Whoever has to hire the Nebraska football coach????

Bullies. And ever since Bill McCartney was hired (and maybe before then), Colorado and their numerous fans decided they wanted to be bullies to one of the biggest programs in the conference.

What's funny is that McCartney ASKED the student body and alumni of CU WHICH school they'd like to choose for a rival, a team to aim to beat. They chose Nebraska. Ironically, they chose Nebraska because a lot of the CU fans complained that since - back when the Hucksters were GOOD - their fans who couldn't get tickets to a home game would drive 600 miles to Boulder and buy CU tickets and basically turn Folsom Field into another NU home game. I'm not gonna begrudge Nebraska for that success, but he actually did it both for that reason AND because McCartney thought "Nebraska is everything a big name program should be."

They even won a couple times including 2001 which we all know about.
That wasn't a win, that was criminal behavior that calls for the death penalty in some cultures. (62-36 for anyone reading this who doesn't know what I mean).

But they still act like a combination of bullies and petulant children.

Ndamukong Suh

Your move.

So I don’t know if it started with Bill McCartney circling Nebraska on the calendar when he was first hired, or if it is just a symptom of being a fan of a program that will always be mediocre.

Yeah, but Colorado's is because there's a lot more you can do there like ski, see pro baseball/football/basketball/hockey, climb mountains, see the sights, etc.

In Hawaii, you live long because the weather and atmosphere is perfect.
Nobody lives very long in Nebraska - it's just so cold and boring it FEELS like it.

Everyone thinks Oklahoma and Texas hates Nebraska the most but it’s really Colorado and Missouri. There is years upon years of Nebraska just beating the brakes off of each of them and taking most of their tickets, and more shenanigans. I doubt Nebraska could beat either in their current form.

 

[BamaBuc]

It wouldn’t have mattered anyways on recruiting. Nebraska can’t recruit. All this did was prove to the rest of the country what many already know.... Mississippi St is now a better job than Nebraska.

Heck, I am of the opinion that Vandy is a much better Job, if only by speaking Geographically!