First of all, I agree that we need to give Callahan more time. It is foolish to expect him to win with a bunch of guys who were recruited to play option football (and who couldn't even do that very well).

That said, I take issue with this statement by Wrasslin: "In fact, if Nebraska had been in the Big 10 for the past 40 years, it could be argued they would not have won any National titles." Despite the fact that the statement is phrased in such a way as to make it irrebuttable - anything can be argued - it still borders on lunacy.

Of the five Cornhusker teams that have claimed national championships over the past 40 years, the 1970 Husker national championship team would be the most difficult to defend because it had a tie, finishing the season 11-0-1 (tying then #3 USC at USC), and because it was ranked #3 behind Texas and the Big 10's Ohio State going into the bowl games. Both of those teams lost and Nebraska beat #5 LSU. Nebraska finished the season as the only undefeated major program.

Based on the premise of the argument - that playing in the Big 10 would have prevented the Huskers from winning any national titles - there are two teams that could rouse substantial debate. The 1997 team, which shared the title with Michigan, a Big 10 team, and the 1994 team, which won the title outright. (Penn State - the eleventh team in the Big 10 - also went undefeated in 1994.) The only definitive statement that could be made regarding the 1997 national championship, had Nebraska played in the Big 10, would be that either Nebraska or Michigan would not have won the championship that year, as they would likely have played each other in the regular season. (Not all Big 10 teams play each other every year though and there is no conference title game in the Big 10.) Virtually the same analysis can be applied to the 1994 Nebraska team. I will not analyze the strengths and weaknesses of those teams because there are still two more national championship teams to discuss . . .

And here is where Wrasslin's statement really starts to look ridiculous.

The 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers finished the season with a 62-24 drubbing of then #2 Florida in the Fiesta Bowl. The Huskers were the only undefeated, untied team in college football in 1995 (#24 Toledo went 11-0-1). The highest ranked Big 10 team was either Ohio State (#6,#8) or Northwestern (#8,#7), depending on which poll you looked at. Both teams had two losses. Colorado (#5,#4) was better than both of them. Kansas State (#7,#6) was better than at least one of them. Even Kansas (#9,#10) got into the mix. So the "little 8" wasn't so little in 1995, with half of its membership in the top 10 of the final polls. Moreover, 1995 Nebraska is widely regarded as one of the best teams OF ALL TIME. What 10-2 Big 10 team could stop this juggernaut?

And last, we have the 1971 team. This team, too, finished the season as the only undefeated major program (#14 Toledo was 12-0-0, who are they playing??). The "little 8" held down the top three spots in the final AP poll in 1971, with #1 Nebraska, #2 Oklahoma, and #3 Colorado. The coaches poll, which did not put out rankings after the bowl games, had spread them out a bit, but you get the point - winning this conference was no small task. This Nebraska team is also widely regarded as one of the best teams OF ALL TIME. (The best Big 10 team in 1971 was Michigan, which finished the season by losing the Rose Bowl to then 8-3 Stanford.)

In conclusion, while there is sufficient fodder for debate about the 1970, 1994, and 1997 teams, there can be virtually no debate about the 1971 and 1995 teams. It would help Wrasslin's argument if there was a conference better than the "little 8" in either of those years, but 1971 and 1995 Nebraska won national titles coming out of the nation's best conference, hands down. No 1971 or 1995 Big 10 team could have derailed these teams, even on Nebraska's worst day.

*A very long post to write in response to such an innocuous comment, I know, but I can't have Wrasslin disparaging Nebraska's history. Disparage the present, sure, it's an easy target, but to belittle such an admirable era of achievement!? It touched a nerve.

For all time rankings, check out
http://www.cfrc.com/Archives/Top_200_2004.htm
or
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/colfootball/teams/best.html
or
http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~dwilson/rsfc/rate/berryman2.txt

I have to take up arms on your behalf, Wrasslin, when the argument comes to The Little 8 Conference (or as some called it for most of the 70s and 80s, the Big 2 and the Little 6) I'm on your side. Realistically, look at some of the streaks Nebraska had going against the schools of the former Big 8:

Colorado: Nebraska lost to the Buffs in 1986, before that was 1967. Nebraska lost in 89 and 90, then tied in 1991, then didn't lose again until the Debacle of 2001, giving NU something like a 30-3-1 record over that stretch.

Iowa State: NU lost in 60 then in 76 and 77, then not again until 92, then not again until 2002. That's a 42-game record of 37-5.

Kansas: Until last Saturday, NU had won the past 36 games, dating back to 1968.

Kansas State: From 1968 to 1998, K-State won the two bookend games, but it was 28 straight NU wins in between.

Missouri: Beat us in 67, then not again until 78, then not again until 2003. That's a 34-3 record.

Oklahoma State: From 1961 to 2001, the record was 38-1-1.

As for the Oklahoma series, let's go back starting to when I was born in 1969 (cool year, and plus NU started a three-game winning streak against the Sooners that year) and NU is 17-17 against OU, counting this year.

NU had some fairly average teams between 1968 and say, 2001. Granted, the 1971, 1994, 1995, and 1997 NU teams were pretty special. but knowing that at least four of those games every year would be cakewalks made things much easier. Take 1990 for instance. NU didn't play anyone decent and was 8-0 until we got to Colorado, and they buried us at home 27-12. Two weeks later Oklahoma mauled us 45-10 (and don't tell me Mickey Joseph would've saved us in that game if he hadn't gone down early) and in the bowl game Georgia Tech blasted us 45-21. That was one of Osborne's worst teams, but at 9-3 still ended up as Big 8 runner-up.

Sorry for the long post. The point I'm trying to make is that the weakness of the Big 8 made us the traditional power that we were. I am as die-hard of a Husker fan as you will find (just ask my family) but even I am realistic enough to admit that if we would have played in the current Big 12 beginning in about 1970, we wouldn't have nearly the record over the past 35 years that we have had.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Lance Stallion,

I'm hardly a "big red" fan by any stretch of the imagination, and as an outsider, here's a few observations:

The Huskers haven't seen a losing record in over 40 years... Do you realize how many D-I programs there are that would give portions of their anatomies just to have a .500 season?

Look at the futility of Northwestern in the late 70's/early 80's... What? 0 and 30-something in the course of 4 seasons?

Husker fans (and I don't mean to be insulting/condescending, but that's the way this will sound) are fickle. They expect instant success and a perfect season every year, based on the successes of Osborn and Devaney over their tenures as coaches, and that should carry over to Solich and Callahan. Anything less would be construed as failure.

Transition between coaches takes time... Time for the coaches and players to adjust to each other; time for the new coaching styles to become effective; time for the old coaches' players to phase out and the new coaches' players to come in.

Patience is key... It will be at least another two seasons for the Callahan players to come into full swing.

What Nebraska accomplished over the 40 years is one of the greatest accomplishments in college football history. Yes, at times the streaks were aided by lesser quality in the old Big 8. That should not diminish what the Husker football program accomplished. If it was so easy then why didn’t Oklahoma accomplish the same things? Every conference has perennial doormat teams. Why didn’t Michigan, Ohio State, Miami, Penn State, Alabama, Florida State, LSU, UCLA, USC, etc. have similar streaks over their conference door mats?

Take a look at what Nebraska did during the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. The Southeastern Conference is considered one of the toughest football conferences in the nation year after year. Nebraska beat their conference champion in 1970, 1971, 1977, 1984, 1986, 1995, and 1997.

To say that the Big 8 was always bad is also not entirely true. In 1971 the Big 8 finished 1, 2, and 3 in the final AP rankings even after the bowl games. In 1995 the Big 8 had four teams in the top 9 final AP rankings. In addition the Big 8 teams have won 10 National Championships in 30 years. That is 1/3 of all National Championships which is amazing.

I think those links to the all time rankings says a lot. One ranking has Nebraska #1 and #3. Another ranking has Nebraska #1, #2, #11, and #13. Yet another has Nebraska #1, #3, #4, and #9 (3 out of the top 4, wow!). These are not your “blind” Husker fans doing these all time rankings. No other team other than Oklahoma (2 teams) has more than one in the top 10, which happens to come from the Big 8.

Nebraska’s football history is something to be proud of.

First off, the tradition that I'm most proud of is the 144 (I think that's still the number?) of Academic All-Americans that Nebraska has had. No team in the nation comes anywhere near that mark.

The thing that kept Nebraska football at the top for so long, in my humble opinion, is the lack of turnover among the coaching staff in the program. We had a staff where many turned down other coaching jobs that would have paid much more or given them more upward mobility, but they chose to stick with a system that they personally believed in.

Another area where the Husker program was ahead of everyone else was in the area of innovation. NU was one of the first if not the first football power to put a major emphasis on strength training and conditioning. NU was always on the cutting edge when it came to new regimens, machines, and philosophies. And speaking of philosophies, Tom Osborne was one of the greatest offensive minds in college football history. The "run and shoot" offense, which was so popular in the 80s and was the precursor to the West Coast Offense, was invented by Dr. Tom when he was still an assistant under Bob Devaney. Osborne used his degree in psychology to begin mental preparation and strengthening programs for his athletes, before most coaches had ever heard of the phrase "mental toughness". And as he pointed out in his book of the same title, the game really was about "More Than Winning".

As far as other teams accomplishing what Nebraska did, Oklahoma did. Oklahoma ran up streaks as long as Nebraska's against many of those same teams, and ran up some streaks against the Cornhuskers as well. Three national championships and numerous Big 8 titles in the 70s and 80s attest to that. But once Barry Switzer left, and most of their assistants with him, the program saw its darker days in the late 80s and most of the 90s. The other teams you listed--most of them being Southern schools--didn't start to thrive until the focus of college football shifted in the 1980s from the power football game of the Midwest and Northeast to the speed passing game of the Southeast and West Coast in the late 80s and 90s. NU's biggest struggles of the Osborne era came not against the wishbones, option attacks and five man defensive fronts of the Big 8, but the spread formations, four man fronts and speed blitzes of the ACC, Big East and Pac-10. Only when Osborne went out and recruited speed from Texas, California, and Florida (thank God for Tommie Frazier) were we able to keep up with the Floridas, Washingtons, etc.

I will never argue that Nebraska's football tradition isn't something to be proud of...it is. But even more than the wins and losses, I am proud of the integrity and work ethic our football program has demonstrated over the past forty years.

All right, here's a chance for all who think Bill Callahan is a genius to explain this:

Fourth quarter, NU leads by 2. 10 minutes left in the game, and your starting quarterback is out. Your opponent has zero time-outs. Your offense has been ineffective after making all of those astounding adjustments at halftime (again). Throw three straight incompletions, running 10 seconds off the clock, or running three times for zero yards, running approximately two minutes off the clock. Whaddaya think about this "stragegy?"

Oops--strategy

I haven't been this emotionally fired up about a Husker game since the 2001 Colorado debacle.

I really never thought I'd say this...because I haven't had one since college...but I really need a cigarette right now.

Sheesh...

SilverHawk, when your offensive line is playing like a couple of schoolgirls in a pillow fight, you have to throw the football and try to get some yards. Plus we had the wind and K-State was putting nine in the box. We had to take a chance. K-State was STILL putting nine in the box when they were ahead by a point with three minutes left in the game.

Lance some people just don't get it. Cory Ross had fumbled the ball twice during the game and we want to run the ball, Marlon Lucky made a stupid decision to come out of the end zone and you couldn't put him in. Here is the result people we will now go to a bowl game, we will get another 2-3 of practice after the Colorado game. We will be able to show recruits improvement and the recruiting is the #1 thing we need to worry about now. This is a depleted team devoid of junior and senior talent and who is the reason for this I'll tell you Frank "I screwed this program up" Solich!

Yes, Cory didn't exactly light things up on Senior Day. The encouraging thing is that we had some decent play from some freshmen:

Congdon at K
Beck at QB (the pass he did complete was pretty good)
Swift at WR
Potter at DE
Turner at DT
Slauson and Murtha at OT

Lucky did make a bonehead play on that kickoff, but I think he will make up for it by running one back before the season's over. And Cody Glenn will definitely be a big-time player.