Big XII Roundtable: The Face of the Team

Apparantly, the Crimson & Cream Machine is going to make the Big XII Roundtable a weekly affair. Here are this week's questions:

Pick one current player to be the “Face of the Franchise” for your team. You can only select one player so tell us why you selected the person that you did.

I'll take Bo Ruud. Not necessarily the flashiest player, but almost always the smartest guy on the field and a hard worker. He bleeds the Husker Red tradition as he comes from a family full of former Huskers: brother Barrett, father Tom, uncles Bob Martin and John Ruud (he's the guy who devasted Oklahoma's Kelly Phelps on that kickoff return in 1978), and great-grandfather Clarence Swanson.

Tell us what makes your team’s stadium great, traditions, facilities, etc…

282 straight sellout crowds dating back to 1962 pretty much says it all. Steve Pederson has upgraded the facilities and while not the flashiest, it does the trick. And Nebraska's Tunnel Walk has pretty much set the standard for video introductions:

Perhaps the high point was the 2001 Tunnel Walk salute following 9/11... if this doesn't move you, I don't know what would:

Hypothetical – Your team has to vacate their current stadium and play a game in another Big 12 stadium which one would you pick for them to play in and why?

First of all, you pretty much have to eliminate every other Big XII North stadium, as they all are just plain too small. Missouri's is probably the best of the bunch, though. The setting at Kansas is the best, especially if the leaves are turning. The only Big XII stadiums I haven't been to are Colorado, Texas A&M, and Texas. Oklahoma has seriously upgraded their facilities since I've been there, but I think I might choose A&M, though I wonder if the Corp will let the Huskers use the field.

Unthinkable – Take your team’s biggest rival’s head coach and make a case as to why he would be a good fit on your sideline.

Which raises the question: who is Nebraska's biggest rival? Colorado? Well, ABC would like it to be so. Texas? Not a lot of history. Kansas State? In recent years, perhaps. But when you think Nebraska football, there can only be one team that screams "rivalry": the Oklahoma Sooners. And that makes this question almost too easy, as Bob Stoops is easily the best coach in the Big XII conference. Some people think he's too arrogant, but I'm not sure I see it. What I do see is a guy who's won more conference titles than anybody else.

Prediction Time

Tell us who is going to win

Opening week predictions are usually more guesses than anything else:
TCU over Baylor
Colorado State over Colorado
Iowa State over Kent State
Kansas over Central Michigan
Auburn over Kansas State
Missouri over Illinois
Nebraska over Nevada
Oklahoma over North Texas
Georgia over Oklahoma State
Texas over Arkansas State
Texas A&M over Montana State
SMU over Texas Tech