Wildcats win!

[NellyLunatic1980]

#17-ranked Kentucky just knocked off #1-ranked LSU in triple overtime. Final score was 43-37.

Wow... what a game!

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

Trying to figure out what's happening in the SEC could make your head explode!

[Beebs52]

All righty then!!!

[takinover]

#1 loses and #2 Cal loses. I am hoping for a South Florida vs. Kansas BCS title game, LOL.

[BackInTex]

#1 loses and #2 Cal loses. I am hoping for a South Florida vs. Kansas BCS title game, LOL.

O.K. I can go for that.

[christie1111]

Penn State and Hawaii win!

[takinover]

#1 loses and #2 Cal loses. I am hoping for a South Florida vs. Kansas BCS title game, LOL.

If Arizona State wins tonight, I will go for South Florida vs. Arizona State.

[earendel]

#1 loses and #2 Cal loses. I am hoping for a South Florida vs. Kansas BCS title game, LOL.

Never happen - Ohio State will be the new #1 and will probably stay there for the rest of the season.

Oh, and let me add:

SOONERS WIN!!!!

CARDS WIN!!!

[tanstaafl2]

#1 loses and #2 Cal loses. I am hoping for a South Florida vs. Kansas BCS title game, LOL.

Never happen - Ohio State will be the new #1 and will probably stay there for the rest of the season.

Perhaps not but Ohio State vs South Florida is a possibility if BC can manage to get beaten by Va Tech next week, a reasonable possiblity.

Would be great to then see South Florida trounce Ohio State. That should tick off the numbnuts who run the absurd BCS system and maybe push us closer to getting a legitimate playoff system.

Of course South Florida still has to run the table, very possible but certainly not a given.

[takinover]

Never happen - Ohio State will be the new #1 and will probably stay there for the rest of the season.

Oh, and let me add:

SOONERS WIN!!!!

CARDS WIN!!!

I am assuming losses at some point for teams ranked ahead. If Arizona State goes undefeated, it would be hard to keep them out of the game. Same for South Florida if Auburn and West Virginia play well for the rest of the year.

[silverscreenselect]

This could well be the season without a major unbeaten team. Just two weeks ago, people were wondering if we wouldn't have too many unbeatens. Ohio State has had a fairly soft early conference schedule, with only two road games, one of them Minnesota. They still have to go to Penn State and Michigan, and play Illinois and Wisconsin at home. I don't see them going unbeaten. South Florida has a decent shot at going unbeaten, with a fading Rutgers their only tough road game left. I just don't see the BCS putting them into the championship over a one-loss SEC, Big 12 or Pac Ten powerhouse however.

It is very difficult for a team to be at its best for twelve or thirteen weeks in a row. It's not surprising that an LSU gets through a tough game against Florida and then goes on the road against a team that's sky high and runs into trouble. Same scenario with Oklahoma. Or that California loses its starting quarterback and runs into trouble.

I still can't figure out how Southern Cal lost at home to Stanford though.

And I wonder if Holtdad can let us know how much the Cornhusker faithful appreciate their team giving the coach a big new contract extension.

[lilclyde54]

It has definitely been a crazy year for college football. Still, some things stay consistent. Alabama beat us for the third straight year by 3 points and there was controversy at the end. The officiating crew reversed a 40 yard completion of ours that put us on the 4 yard line with 7 seconds left. Our guy was forced out of bounds and was therefore ineligible to be the first to touch the ball. The rub from our point of view was the the Bama cornerback grabbed the ball first on the way down and our guy snatched it from him before they hit the ground. That would have been a legal catch but that isn't how it got ruled. That decision certainly put a damper on our party in The Grove after the game.

[tanstaafl2]

This could well be the season without a major unbeaten team. Just two weeks ago, people were wondering if we wouldn't have too many unbeatens. Ohio State has had a fairly soft early conference schedule, with only two road games, one of them Minnesota. They still have to go to Penn State and Michigan, and play Illinois and Wisconsin at home. I don't see them going unbeaten. South Florida has a decent shot at going unbeaten, with a fading Rutgers their only tough road game left. I just don't see the BCS putting them into the championship over a one-loss SEC, Big 12 or Pac Ten powerhouse however.

Perhaps, but if Arizona St loses a game, and that seems a reasonable possibility given their remaining schedule and South Florida wins out and becomes Big East champ, TPTB/numbnuts that run the BCS may have little choice left despite the presumed lack of credibility in the Big East programs, since it still has a BCS automatic bid. And if OSU and South Florida are the only two major unbeaten teams left it could happen!

Of course there is no guarantee that either team will avoid a loss and as of now there are still at least four other unbeatens to deal with (Not sure anybody would count Hawaii, and the WAC is not part of the "elite 6" anyway, and most probably don't give much credence to Kansas either, who also still have a rough road ahead). But other than OSU none of the other unbeatens are real attractive opponents right now, compared to say USoCal, LSU or Florida for example.

What would be great is if South Florida stays unbeaten, OSU loses and another "undesirable" remained as the only other unbeaten.

BC vs South Florida. Yeah, that's a hot ticket for the networks for the National Championship game! Wouldn't be surprised to see two once beatens be put ahead of those two for the game by TPTB/numbnuts and make a complete farce of the "championship" game.

Wait, that isn't possible! It is already a complete farce...

[wazzu_kate]

My OSU Beaver neighbor is flying his banner high today. I usually only see that during baseball season.

I, on the other hand, have to just be happy that the Cougs weren't shut out. Little victories and all...

[kayrharris]

I know some people that made fun of Auburn for putting South Florida on their schedule.

[Appa23]

"And I wonder if Holtdad can let us know how much the Cornhusker faithful appreciate their team giving the coach a big new contract extension."

Thanks for thinking of me, albeit with the wrong screen name.

Life is awesome in Huskerland. We are an undisputed #1, avoided being tripped by those pesky Oklahomans, and this could be a team in the running for GOAT.

I am not sure that the volleyball coach got a big contract extension. Maybe you are thinking of the football coach? I don't know how they are doing.

[Appa23]

In all seriousness, I am glad that there are some billionaires living in the Omaha-area, as the Husker Nation is going to need to raise some major funds to buy our ways out of the mess created by our AD.

It would be hard to express the thoughts of the faithful. It has been a shcoking series of events since Tom Osborne and Bill Byrne (former AD) left. In the past several years, I have witnessed the snapping of several record milestones:

- consecutive 9-win seasons
- consecutive winning seasons
- consecutive non-losing seasons
- consecutive bowl appearances

The only thing that remains is the consecutive sellout streak (ongoing for 44-45 years), and now that one is looking wobblier. (BTW, what does it say that Nebraska holds the sellout record in football and the volleyball team is approaching the record for women's sports? Most likely, that there is very little to do around here. LOL)

In December 2003, we had our chance to hire Bo Pelini. There was a fan base calling for it (although there was a vocal minority who thought that Pelini was too rough and unrefined to be an heir to the Devaney-Osborne dynasty). Steve Pederson went the way of trying to find an NFL guy, or even Houston Nutt. (whew!) One thing that I can tell you -- this never would have happened under Pelini.

In a way, I feel for Bill Callahan. Clearly, he had no idea what he would be facing in this job, and the level of scrutiny and comparison. He clearly did not look into the history and look at a calendar. In his four years at Nebraska, he has had to endure the reunions of three undefeated National Champions from the 1990s, including arguably the greatest college team in modern history. This past Saturday was such a 10-year reunion of Osborne's last team. Osborne spoke to the team on Friday. Several members of the 1997 team spoke to the team on Saturday, before the game. The game would have been much closer if we would have fielded that 1997 team this weekend. There is no fire, no pissed-off attitude on this current squad, with a few isolated exceptions.

I spoke with Uly when he was here last month. One of the things that I told him is that fans and former players do not recognize the program, the supposed Blackshirts, or the guys in the block N every Saturday. Nebraska was a team of pride. They wouldn't win every game, but you knew that you were in for a fight. It was going to be 60 minutes of hard hitting and absolute effort. During that amazing decade of the 1990s (which we never will see again), teams literally were afriad to play Nebraska. Because of the sheer physicality, teams were being taken behind the woodshed and beaten, not-so-proverbally. The team was a epitome (likely the most prominent one) of the state and her people.

I have to think that there will be better days. Things looked dark for the Sooners for a few years before Bob Stoops rode into town. All of the major programs have had their low points. Major college football is more and more parity-driven. We had a good 4 decade run, but we now need to re-tool.

I can report that there are some calls for Tom Osborne (the newest King of Ak-Sar-Ben) to take over as interim AD and right the ship (of football and baseball). Now that Buffalo has turned the corner with Turner Gill, there will be calls for him to return to the place that made him famous.

I could talk even more about the ills befalling "The Sea of Red", but I have taken enough of everyone's time.

[silvercamaro]

Barry Switzer isn't doing anything. I know how much Nebraska fans love and respect him.

I just like to be helpful.

[TheCalvinator24]

Hey holtdad, why is your son wearing a Sooners shirt?

At least it looks like it says Sooners.

[silvercamaro]

Hey holtdad, why is your son wearing a Sooners shirt?

At least it looks like it says Sooners.

It definitely says Sooners. I consider this evidence that HD's son is indeed intelligent and discerning.

[Appa23]

Now, SC, you know that we had this discussion on the former Bored.

The Millard Athetic Associations sets up the leagues with certain team guidelines. For the 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 year-old leagues, the teams are various colleges. In the seven year-old league, there were 16 team covering local, Big XII, and "usual CWS visitors": Nebraska, Creighton, Nebraska-Omaha, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Notre Dame, LSU, Miami, Florida, North Carolina, Stanford (?), and some other schools that I can not recall. Sorry, Cal, but no Baylor. [They then move up to minor league teams, whcih I think are the coolest uniforms, before major league teams.]

For the past two years, my son has been an Oklahoma Sooner. Her will be a Sooner next Spring as well. (It is fun to watch the reactions of parents when they are told that their son or daughter will have to wear the unfirom of the Lesser Red.)

Also, SC, I think that I had relayed how Barry Switzer actually is fairly well-liked now. If Tom Osborne says that he is a good guy, then that is enough for us. (Besides, Barry admitted on ESPN last year that the best two teams that he ever saw play college football were the 1995 and 1971 Huskers. )

[silvercamaro]

<i>Besides, Barry admitted on ESPN last year that the best two teams that he ever saw play college football were the 1995 and 1971 Huskers. </i>

I saw the 1971 OU-Nebraska game. Best game I ever saw. Perhaps the best game anybody ever saw. Respect is granted in Soonerland when respect is due.

Besides, if I want to use the Sooners shirt as proof that your son is intelligent and discerning (and as cute as he can be,) you really shouldn't provide other reasons.

[silvercamaro]

In all seriousness, I am glad that there are some billionaires living in the Omaha-area, as the Husker Nation is going to need to raise some major funds to buy our ways out of the mess created by our AD.

I didn't realize you might have been hinting that Pederson was going to be fired today.

I don't know anything about his administrative abilities, but I hate that he may have been a scapegoat for an unsuccessful season (a rare event, that), and everybody else had stronger contracts. I trust you will explain this to me.

[Appa23]

In all seriousness, I am glad that there are some billionaires living in the Omaha-area, as the Husker Nation is going to need to raise some major funds to buy our ways out of the mess created by our AD.

I didn't realize you might have been hinting that Pederson was going to be fired today.

I don't know anything about his administrative abilities, but I hate that he may have been a scapegoat for an unsuccessful season (a rare event, that), and everybody else had stronger contracts. I trust you will explain this to me.

According to those who have dealt with him, Steve Pederson is a World-class A$$ who has no interpersonal skills and apparently very little grasp for college football. The latter was shown early when he targeted Dave Wannstadt and Houston Nutt as the top choices for the Nebraska job after Frank Solich was fired. He then got desperate with Al Saunders, a Dallas Cowboys coach (Zimmer), and possibly one more candidate before Bill Callahan came on the radar. He never considered Turner Gill or Bo Pelini (or Marvin Sanders).

For a person who attended Nebraska, and worked at Nebraska, he seemed to forget all about Nebraska tradition. The straw that broke the camel's back probably was the way, in the past few months, that he ran off a popular assistant AD named Paul Meyers, who was a former NU baseball player, and an athletic trainer by the name of Dirk Ostergaard that was a favorite of former Husker players.

Pederson and then-Congressman Osborne never got along during his tenure as AD, starting with the Solich dismissal. He did not seek out Osborne for advice. Osborne consented to allow the new athletic complex to be named for his wife and him, but would not be the fundraising tool that Pederson wanted. In Nebraska, if it is a choice of Osborne or anyone else, Osborne wins. It was like Pederson was the Pope, but he clearly did not have God on his side.

Pederson (along with Callahan to some extent) has shown some hostility to former Huskers, probably because of the Solich thing, as well. (Although many of the former players agreed that Solich was in over his head once the Osborne players left.) If you watched Nebraska games on television over the past few years, you might have seen former Oklahoma or USC players on their sidelines, but rarely former Huskers. Apparently, Pederson told them that they had to buy tickets to attend the games, with no free sideline passes. With growing concern for the football program, Pederson got more paranoid about letting the former Huskers have access. One former player, Matt Davison, who is famous for making the game-tying catch in 1997 against Missouri on the "kicked" ball, works as a sideline reporter for the Husker radio network. In recent weeks, he has provided his opinion on where the problems are, with the players and coaches. He was taken to task for his honesty.

There is one word that you hear over and over gain when it comes to Nebraska football -- TRADITION. In four years, tradition has been thrown right out the window. I already noted the various records/streaks that have been lost. As well, Pederson switched the locker rooms, so that what is now the visitors locker room used to be the Huskers locker room, where all of the Husker great teams used to ready for battle. This year, Pederson decided that the Tunnel Walk needed to be changed, from what was the ultimate Husker experience. (I have not been for a few years, but it used to be a roof-raising, goosebump, hair-tingling event.)

I also should note that the Nebraska baseball team, in the past four years, has gone from a regular CWS participant and national contender to a shell of what was built by Dave Van Horn, with player issues and NCAA violations.

In the end, it is the football losses that doomed Pederson. People have a way of looking past faults when things are good. However, Pederson is the guy who hired Bill Callahan, who is on his way to being the coach with the only two losing seasons since 1960 (give or take a year). Pederson is the guy who proclaimed, after a 9-3 regular season, that he would not stand ofr mediocrity or just give the Big XII to OU and Texas. He set himself up for the fall, and thousands of the Husker faithful apparently have been cheering since early this afternoon.

[SportsFan68]

#17-ranked Kentucky just knocked off #1-ranked LSU in triple overtime. Final score was 43-37.

Wow... what a game!

What a kick! This was absolutely the most fun I had Saturday night. We had a Wildcat amongst our bridge players. So we started the bridge game a little late.

To quote Nelly -- What a game!