Husker Spring Football

Next week is the Husker spring game. Chances are I won't be attending for two reasons: (a) holiday weekend is booked solid, and (b) I don't learn anything watching the starters beat up on the scrubs. Let's face it, how many people thought that Joe Dailey's and Zac Taylor's spring game performances were any indication on how they'd play at the start of the fall? (Don't worry, Steve Pederson is not taking names...) It seems like the main reason to show up is to impress recruits.

So I'm going to go by what media folks are saying. Not that they know anything, but at least they're watching the scrimmages and practices. Here are some thoughts, based on what I've read and heard so far.

The Good
Zac Taylor Last spring and early into the fall, I wasn't that impressed with him; he seemed to be a serviceable quarterback, ala Trent Dilfer. He gradually improved during the season, but what impressed me more about Taylor is his toughness. In road games against Missouri and Kansas, Taylor showed me that while he doesn't have the running ability of a Scott Frost or an Eric Crouch, he did share their toughness and durability. And as he took a beating all season, I really started to admire his heart. This spring, it sounds like Taylor is just seeing enough work to stay sharp, which is fine by me. This is the first spring in 5 years that Nebraska has a solid returning quarterback who isn't learning a new offense.

Matt Slauson This freshman was a silent last-minute addition to the Huskers last fall, but might have been the key to the Huskers' performance against Colorado and Michigoon. Slauson's play on the offensive line solidified a line that made Zac Taylor a living bruise and limited the Husker ground game. Yesterday, KOZN's Sean Callahan said that Slauson is having an impressive spring and talked about this previously unknown walkon eventually being an Outland Trophy candidate in a couple of years.

Steve Octavien Octavien wowed the fans in the first quarter of the Maine game with playmaking that reminded us of Terrell Farley or Demarrio Williams. Then he broke his leg, and we all wondered, was that just a fluke against a 1-AA opponent, or is this guy for real. So far this spring, it looks like he is real. Earlier this week, Octavien knocked both Marlon Lucky and Cody Glenn off the field with injuries.

Cody Glenn Husker fans loved the tough running this guy showed in short yardage situations last fall. Now, he's catching the ball, hitting his holes, and by all accounts, is the first-string starting I-back.

The Bad
Harrison Beck Zac Taylor is firmly entrenched as the Huskers' starting quarterback, and doesn't need much work this spring. That is giving Beck every opportunity to take his game to the next level. So far, it's not happening. Everybody talks about Beck's cannon for an arm, but it's erratic. Sometimes great, but then sometimes awful. There is a growing concern that Beck may not pan out, though it's still way too soon to know. At this point, he's developing much slower than people expected. (Of course, that's probably more the result of the unrealistic hype from Recruitniks than anything else...) Perhaps this is why Bill Callahan is still so worked up about losing Josh Freeman to Kansas State; he needed the competition and another solid QB in case Beck flops.

Marlon Lucky His kickoff returns against Kansas aside, I didn't see enough from Lucky to warrant his 5-star hype last season. Now, it sounds like Lucky is battling with Leon Jackson for the backup I-back position. Perhaps Lucky will be used as a "slash" player, alternating between receiver and running back to utilize his speed. At this point, he doesn't look like an I-back; word is that he may be closing his eyes approaching the hole in preparation for getting hit. (Apparantly these college players hit harder than the guys in high school...) Perhaps Nebraska should give him a shot at punt returns; it sounds like he's got the hands and the open-field running ability to excel there.

Matt Herian The unspoken story this spring is Matt Herian. Still hobbled 18 months after his broken leg, people are now wondering if Herian will ever be able to return from that devastating injury. You don't ever give up on a player as talented as Herian, but at this point, any contributions from Herian may be a bonus at this point. That's a shame, too, because Herian made plays we haven't seen since Johnny Mitchell left prematurely for the NFL.

The Quiet
So far, there hasn't been much discussion about receivers and the secondary. I get the feeling that Nate Swift and Terrence Nunn are quietly establishing themselves as the starters. However, I believe some fans are hoping that some of the young recruits will challenge them at those positions. We'll see how that turns out; those hopes generally didn't pan out last season.

Some Final Four thoughts

Well, I'll admit it...my basketball prognostications this season sucked. I'm finishing last in both of my tournament brackets. And last month, I even dissed Cinderella, George Mason. Heck, I even agreed with Jim Nantz and Billy Packer on the mid-majors. I thought the RPI's were out of whack, but that's the great thing about the tournament. In the end, you have the capability to silence your critics, even if they are the guys calling the games. Last month, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tried to prove the Missouri Valley's worthiness, but ended up proving Nantz' and Packer's point instead. When seeded #6 or lower, the MVC had a lower winning percentage than any of the "big time conferences". The only conference that was even close was the SEC...and the SEC put 2 teams in the Final 4...

The rumor mill has Barry Collier interested in the Ball State head coaching job. Although it's being denied, I can't help but wonder if this isn't really part of a plan to get a coaching change in place without Pederson having to drop the hammer. Collier leaves with his head held high, and Nebraska gets a new coach. It's not heard of before...remember how Dana Altman left Kansas State for a woeful Creighton program?

I see Harrison Beck is now moonlighting as a rock singer in Lincoln now. Just saw some "highlights" on channel 3, and he sings worse than some of those passes he threw against Kansas State last November. (Just ask the guy in the West Stadium who caught one of Beck's errent throws!) A couple of weeks ago, Sean Callahan of Huskers Illustrated and Kevin Kugler of KOZN radio were discussing Beck, and the stat of a 40% completion percentage in practice was discussed. 40%? We might shake our heads at the idea of an Eric Crouch or Jammal Lord completing less than 50% of their passes, but Crouch and Lord made plays with their feet. 40%??? Even Mickey Joseph could do better than that. (I used to scream "Run Mickey Run" whenever Joseph dropped back to pass...) There is some concern that Beck needs to start establishing himself as the heir apparent to Zac Taylor, or Bill Callahan and Jay Norvell will dip back into the JuCo ranks for a quarterback. Beck may have the physical tools to be a great quarterback, but time and time again, I wonder about the mental makeup of Beck. Whether it's some of his comments when he was a senior (remember his blog?), or his sideline antics (dancing with the Cornhusker Marching Band during the Oklahoma game or oggling the Kansas dance squad), I really wonder about Beck.

Would you have REALLY said that in the Freeman's Living Room?

In a Lincoln Journal-Star article this week on talk radio, "Husker Information Minister" Jim Rose bemoans the negativity and criticism that frequently air on sports talk radio:

“Don’t say anything about somebody unless you’d say that to them from across a coffee table,” he said.

Oh really, Jim? In December, you really would have spent two hours in the Freeman's living room berating Josh and his father?

I think not....

Bill Thomas: Hot Sauce/BLT in Wayne's World

Last night, UNO's Bill Thomas made his NHL debut with the Phoenix Coyotes, 4 days after the Mavs season ended. While it's sad that his UNO career is over, it's awesome to see him already at the next level.

Some video clips from phoenixcoyotes.com:

• Bill Thomas
  
• Wayne Gretzky - The Great One says the Coyotes were short handed, and joked that Thomas made it back from the mall (spending some of his signing bonus) in time for the game.
  

Another Steve Pederson SNAFU

Did you enjoy watching the Nebraska-Kansas baseball game on Saturday? Unless you went to the game or were a subscriber to Cox Cable in Omaha, you didn't see the game. After 25 years, Nebraska denied Nebraska Educational Telecommunications the rights to televise Husker baseball, electing instead to sell the rights to Cox. For the first game, only Cox (approximately 2/3'rds of the Omaha area) and Time-Warner (Lincoln, Columbus, Fremont) customers were able to see the game. Cox's technical problems with their first broadcast meant that Lincoln customers saw nothing (getting the game that evening on tape delay) while Omaha viewers saw half the game in split-screen as the vertical hold was malfunctioning.

So the first Husker baseball broadcast had a few technical glitches. Steve Pederson yesterday repeated to Tom Shatel that moving Husker baseball to Cox was intended to improve one thing:

"Recruiting," Pederson said. "The wave of the future for sporting events is cable TV. We want to find out what is out there with cable TV. NETV is fabulous. They're great to work with.

"But the fact is, we have to recruit nationally, in all sports. And getting our product on cable is a way for recruits to see it. This might allow us to be on CSTV (College Sports TV), or the sports cable network in Kansas City, Texas or Colorado, where Mike (Anderson) recruits a lot. We don't know what's out there. This is about finding out."

So, the switch didn't go smoothly for the first game. What does?

The problem is that, once again, the Nebraska Athletic Director is not being completely accurate. I'm not disputing that Pederson wants to get Nebraska baseball coverage expanded beyond the reach of the NET signal. The fact is, the decision to pull Husker baseball from NET has caused the exact opposite effect.

NET and CSTV have a long running cooperative relationship, broadcasting Husker volleyball and baseball, plus UNO Maverick hockey. And now that NET has lost the rights to Husker baseball, the NET/CSTV partnership will now be televising Creighton baseball. Oops!

So why was this change made? Pederson denied to Shatel that this was attempt to influence NET, as I commented earlier this month. Perhaps so. But why Cox? Why not FSN? My guess is that, like the football coaching search, Steve Pederson was caught unprepared and unable to find an alternative. In this case, Cox was all they could find to carry the games.

I don't know if anything else can be salvaged for this season. My guess is that Nebraska will try this again next season. My suggestion is to sit down again with NET and CSTV, and work on an agreement to distribute Husker baseball regionally. Maybe figure out a way that MetroSports in Kansas City and Altitude in Denver can carry the games in those markets.

Good Luck to Frost & Thomas

Well, the line of Parse and Thomas has been officially broken up. Many UNO fans expect Scott Parse to sign with the LA Kings, who hold his rights. (Not that fans want him to go, but after the season and honors he's earned...) Today, though, Bill Thomas signed with the Phoenix Coyotes for a reported $900K a year. The expectation in Phoenix is that Thomas will go straight from the Mavs to the Coyotes, bypassing the minors for now. Can't blame Thomas for taking the money at all. Good luck BLT/Hot Sauce!

Rumor mill is that several other Mav players may be making the jump to the pros as well. Hopefully not, but then again, it is to be expected when UNO has the talent to make the NCAA tournament and the NHL is finally getting back into business.

Meanwhile, once again some Husker "fans" are branding Scott Frost a traitor. First, it was spurning NU for Stanford with his dream to be an NFL quarterback. Then it was in criticizing Steve Pederson last fall. Now, it's because he's joined Kansas State as a graduate assistant. I'm not sure what people expect Frost to do. Tommie Frazier went to Baylor and coached against Nebraska. Frost has a connection to the new Kansas State defensive coordinator, and Frost has said that he hasn't felt as welcome in Lincoln around the new regime. Sometimes opportunities present themselves in ways you wouldn't expect. I'll bet that John Blake never expected to be wearing Husker Red. Barney Cotton didn't expect to be a Cyclone. Being a grad assistant at a Big XII school is too good of a gig to turn down. Shame on those that brand him a "traitor".

A Period to Forget

Yesterday's UNO-Boston University hockey game in Woostah started off promising, with an early power play goal by Bill Thomas giving UNO a 1-0 lead, and freshman Jerad Kaufmann making outstanding save after outstanding save. But late in the first period, BU tied it up after an interference penalty on Scott Parse, making the Mav faithful gathered in the DCU Centre and sports bars all over town a little uneasy, as BU seemed to be controlling the play after being surprised by the Mavs early on.
In the second period, the Terriers came out like you'd expect the consensus #1 team in the country would, taking a 3-1 lead. The Mavs' Tomas Klempa quickly answered to pull the Mavs within one. But BU quickly countered with 2 goals in the next minute to blow the game wide open, ripping the heart out of the Mavs.
UNO's first NCAA game ended as a disappointing 9-2 blowout. Fans of teams that just missed the Big Skate will point to this game as proof that UNO didn't belong, but they forget that one week earlier, BU beat NCAA qualifier New Hampshire by the same 9-2 score. Boston U just might be that good. Like the Huskers vs. Miami-FL in the 2001 BCS title game at the Rose Bowel, someone else might have had a better matchup, but chances are that BU would have smashed anybody yesterday.

UNO fans can mope about the blowout, or remember a memorable season. UNO made that next step and played in the tournament, getting valuable experience. They've now experienced that environment, and know what champions play like. If they choose to, they can remember that awful taste in their mouth all summer long in the weight room and in training to drive them to take this program to the next level.

UNO loses seniors Mike Lefley and Jason Krischuk for sure, and it's quite possible that Scott Parse will sign with the LA Kings. That leaves quite a few talented underclassmen (Bill Thomas, Tomas Klempa, Alex Nikiforuk, Dan Charleston) with one more year of experience. Plus a solid goaltender with experience in Jerad Kaufmann. This team should still be loaded next year and can make another run for post-season.

Do You Remember?

Remember 10 years ago, when then-athletic director Don Leahy announced that UNO was starting a Division I hockey team from scratch?

Remember 9 years ago when James Chalmers scored UNO's first goal against Manitoba. Remember how that first "U! N! O!" chant rang out.

Remember that first victory against Air Force? No one heard that 6-1 victory because of a city-wide blackout due to a huge ice and snow storm.

Remember Scott Hewson's goonish "welcome" when the Mavs joined the CCHA?

Remember "Tuesday Night" when Jeff Hoggan nearly blew the roof off of the Civic Auditorium?

Remember St. Patrick's Day 2000, when Hoggan and the Mavs took out Michigoon in Detroit to make the CCHA Championship game in their first year in the conference?

Remember when Billy Pugliese scored in double overtime against Ohio State in 2001 to send the Mavs back to Detroit?

Remember the Mavs just missing the NCAA tournament that season?

Remember the Mavs taking that 3 goal lead in the Stampede against defending national champion Minnesota?

Remember when Dan Ellis became UNO's first NHL player, winning against the LA Kings?

Remember Jeff Hoggan scoring his first goal for the St. Louis Blues, then thanking UNO fans on MavPuck.com?

Remember the artistry of Bill Thomas and Scott Parse, such as the game winning goal against Michigan State with 27 seconds left in overtime?

Remember Bryan Marshall scoring twice in the final 51 seconds on New Years Eve against Yale?

Remember the determination of Alex Nikiforuk, who ripped the hearts out of the Weasels by scoring the game winning goal 6 seconds after Michigoon tied up the game?

Tomorrow, the Mavs open up a new chapter in their history with their first NCAA tournament appearance. Many teams will dismiss the chances of UNO, saying they are just happy to get the invitation. They doubt UNO's ability. They think UNO will wilt under the pressure.

They don't remember.

A Difference in Two Coaches

Last night's Creighton-Miami NIT game featured an occurance that we've seen quite a bit of lately; the head coach gets steamed over a non-call that potentially decided the game, reacts inappropriately, and the fans start throwing things. Does this sound familiar?

It does at first, but that's where the similarity ends. That's because Creighton coach Dana Altman acknowledged that he was in the wrong and accepted responsibility immediately after the game:

"I'm disappointed for our players, and my frustration at the end of the ballgame was that I wanted that opportunity to play one more time for them," Altman said. "That's where your frustration boils over, and you act like a fool. That's what I did, and there's no sense to that.

"The officials made their calls, and I apologize to the fans and the officials and to everybody else. I have done that too often in 12 years, but there's no excuse for that. We shouldn't have done that as a crowd, but that's my fault. They reacted to my reaction, and that's not the way we do things here."

Contrast that to the response from Husker football coach Bill Callahan after "GestureGate". When originally contacted hours after the Nebraska-Oklahoma game, Nebraska's Sports Information Department didn't respond to inquiries about the incident. On the Big XII conference call on Monday, Callahan feigned ignorance. And at Tuesday's press conference, he once again refused to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. Three missed opportunities to make amends for his actions, and Callahan ended up being reprimanded by the Big XII conference for his actions. The whole incident would have never gotten as far as it did if Callahan and the Nebraska Sports Information department would have handled this late Saturday night or Sunday. Even a response on Monday might have limited the damage.

Creighton's Altman showed a lot of class in how he handled his mistake. I sure hope that the folks in Lincoln followed this and learned something.

NCAA: Mavs @ Boston U; Where are our TV stations???

UNO fans are celebrating the Mavs first NCAA tournament berth today; they will play Boston University at 3 pm on Friday afternoon in the East Regional, hosted by BU.

So far, the only announced television coverage is on ESPNU, which isn't on any local cable system. However, it is available via ESPN+ for any local television station to pick up.

Paging all our local television stations; paging all of our local television stations. This game demands local broadcast coverage. Don't give us excuses, call ESPN and get this game on the air where it belongs.

Local TV Station Contacts

• Channel 6: sixonline@wowt.com?subject=Programming
  Frank Jonas, WOWT General Manager,
  frank.jonas@wowt.com 346-6666
• Channel 7: http://www.ketv.com/station/177307/detail.html
  Joel Vilmenay, KETV General Manager,
  jvilmenay@hearst.com, 345-7777
• Channels 15/42: Contact42@KPTM.COM
  Randy Oswald, KPTM General Manager
  Roswald@kptm.com, 554-4200

I'm excluding KMTV-channel 3 because of their commitment to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. A Saturday regional (6pm against Miami or Boston College) would pre-empt March Madness...

Local TV stations! This is a historic event in the history of UNO... It should be broadcast to the entire viewing area, whether they have cable or not.

Make it happen.

UNO Clinches NCAA Tournament Bid

Adam Wodon of College Hockey News has declared that the UNO Mavericks have clinched their first ever NCAA tournament bid:

Omaha can breath a collective sigh.

From everything we can tell, as opposed to previous assumptions, Nebraska-Omaha is definitely IN the tournament, no matter what.

Scott Parse: CCHA Player of the Year & Hobey Baker Finalist

UNO's Scott Parse received a couple of awards today. At the CCHA's Player of the Year tonight at the CCHA Awards Banquet in Detroit this evening. Also, Parse was named as a finalist for the Hobey Baker award.

Hobey Baker fan voting has now begun voting at http://www.hobeybaker.com. Each person can only vote one time, so every vote counts.

MavPuck.com's "Section 14" has been researching the PairWise ratings, and has come up with the following formula to lock in a UNO NCAA bid tomorrow night:

* Bentley to lose Friday or Saturday
* UMD/SCSU winner (tonight) to lose either Friday or Saturday to Minnesota
* Dartmouth and Colgate to both lose either Friday or Saturday (Go Harvard & Cornell)
* Northern Michigan to lose either Friday or Saturday

By the way, if you are asking who the &#($ Bentley is, they play in the Atlantic Hockey Association. Why Bentley? Simple, a Bentley championship gives them the AHA automatic bid, but also bumps Holy Cross into an at-large NCAA bid as it also supercharges Holy Cross' "Teams Under Consideration" factor. If anybody else wins the AHA, the AHA just gets their champion in.

Oh, and if any of those items don't happen on St. Patty's Day, there are about 1,000 remaining possibilities.... :-)

The Husker Cone of Silence

One of the more disturbing trends over the past couple of years in the "Husker Nation" is a lack of tolerance for criticism. In the past 2 years, Pinnacle Sports has terminated both Gary Sharp and John Bishop, both of whom weren't afraid to speak critically when they felt it was necessary.

Now, Nebraska is beginning to pull sports from NET, Nebraska's public television network. In January, a Husker wrestling match was pulled from the airwaves. And now Nebraska has signed with Cox Cable in Omaha to televise Husker baseball, ending a 25 year run of baseball on ETV. Why Cox Cable? Possibly for money, since Cox can sell TV commercials unlike ETV. However, outside of Cox Cable subscribers, this will black out Husker baseball to the majority of the state. Time Warner Cable, who serves Lincoln and many other areas of the state, doesn't sound optimistic. Certainly, this will not expand the audience for Husker baseball with the games only on in part of the Omaha metro area.

Folks in the media business think that Nebraska is pulling the broadcasts from ETV to "punish" Kevin Kugler for critical commentary of Steve Pederson and Nebraska on his "Unsportsmanlike Conduct" radio show on KOZN 1620-AM.

What does this mean to the fan? Simply put...less coverage of Nebraska sports. It's bad for the fans, and worse, it's also bad for the Cornhuskers.

Why is it bad for the Huskers in the end? Simple. It won't silence the criticism. And furthermore, it opens up broadcast opportunities for Nebraska's competitors. NET will now carry Creighton baseball statewide.

This afternoon, KXSP's Matt Perrault called out Nebraska's coaches, asking them to push to end Pinnacle's exclusive contract with Pinnacle Sports to allow the coaches to be interviewed on other Nebraska radio stations. Currently both KXSP and KOZN feature weekly interviews with Dan McCarney, and frequently interview coaches from other schools, such as Kansas State's Ron Prince. With the growth of sports talk radio, the teams that Nebraska is now fighting with for recruits are now gaining unprecendented access to Nebraska's radio airwaves to influence folks.

Nebraska can't keep on trying to silence criticism. It is simply counterproductive.

Reflections on a Wacky Weekend

I must say that last night's annoucement that Barry Collier was not being fired shocked me. Frankly, it still doesn't make much sense. If you were truly going to give Collier every opportunity to succeed, you would not have pulled out the "no comment" card last month. On the other hand, if you aren't sure Collier is the right guy, why should the two victories in Dallas change your mind? And I'm not even going to touch the comparison's with the Frank Solich situation. I think we're all tired of that discussing that. Perhaps it was a financial decision in the end, though Steve Pederson denies that. (Of course, we've heard plenty of his denials that turned out to be not-quite-so-true though not-quite-a-lie either...)

If we're going to move forward with Barry Collier, Nebraska has to get Husker Hoops back in the mindset of fans in this state. First of all, Nebraska needs to seriously upgrade the schedule. Husker fans will show up for big games; look at the crowd that showed up for Texas Tech, for example. Nobody wants to see Lipscomb, even if they were good enough to make the NIT. Secondly, Nebraska needs to find a way to get an Omaha station to televise the Big XII package of games. Nebraska has ceded practically the entire Omaha market to Creighton.

The doom and gloom from Northern Michigan's sweep in the CCHA quarterfinals over UNO is starting to clear. Last night, UNO's luck started to turn with North Dakota eliminating Minnesota State-Mankato. Then Minnesota-Duluth upset Denver to eliminate the 2-time defending National Champs at home. Today, people started crunching the PairWise numbers and UNO now is in a 4-way tie for 10th. Still on the bubble, but things are looking up. Many of the teams UNO is competing with for an NCAA spot are playing this weekend--- and playing each other.

USCHO has posted a PairWise predictor on their web site and fans have been trying all sorts of combinations. And to the surprise of many of the previously negative folks, most of the combinations seem to work in UNO's favor. It's not a guarantee by any means, but there are more ways UNO gets in than misses. One almost assured way for UNO to lock up a bid is for the Harvard Crimson to beat Dartmouth on Friday in the ECAC semifinals. A Cornell victory over Colgate in the other ECAC semifinal would also be helpful.

UNO's biggest fear is to have a team win an automatic bid in an upset and take away an at-large spot. However, that's not a universal truth. If Northern Michigan wins the CCHA, they jump up in the standings and remove Minnesota State-Mankato from UNO's calculations, and thus boost UNO's ratings. Ah the fun of the math!

Needless to say, the March Madness many Omaha sports fans will be watching this weekend isn't the one with the round orange ball....

Collier to stay

Well, I didn't see this coming. Steve Pederson has just announced that Barry Collier will remain as Nebraska's head basketball coach.

Awaiting the Barry Collier Announcement

In this morning's Omaha World-Herald, Steve Pederson said that he plans to sit down with Barry Collier and then make an announcement to talk about the "future of the program". Does that quote sound familiar?

Tom Shatel commented on several possiblities for Barry Collier, and I think the following is the most realistic: "Pederson is going to make a change, but he's going to do it deliberately. Pederson is still smarting from the roasting he took after firing Frank Solich in 2003. Remember, there were as many critics of how Pederson fired Solich as the fact that he was fired."

In any event, Pederson did say that this would all happen before the NIT game, which is scheduled for Thursday night at Hofstra. What do I think will happen? I still believe Collier won't be back as Nebraska's coach next season. Whether that's the right thing or not, I don't know. I see arguments on both sides. But almost every sign I see points to "gone". I expect the press conference either tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday. I don't think they'll delay it too much closer to game time Thursday. I think it's all a done deal at this point, and here's hoping that it goes much smoother than the Solich dismissal.

The NIT Brackets are now out, and it's interesting that they put Nebraska and Creighton into separate brackets, so they couldn't meet until the semi-finals in New York. Creighton's game is scheduled for Friday night, but the Qwest Center is booked with Arena Cross. So will Creighton lose their home game, or will they get bumped to the Civic?

By the way, how close to the NCAA tournament was Creighton? Hint: They only managed a #2 seed in the NIT...

Is UNO Toast?

In the aftermath of this weekend's sweep by Northern Michigan, many Mav fans are thinking that the season is over.

In the immortal words of Yogi Berra:

It ain't over till it's over.

UNO fell to 14th in the Pairwise ratings. And USCHO's latest Bracketology has them the last team out. But look a little closer: Who is the last team in? New Hampshire, a team UNO beat 5-3 in October. Also, note that USCHO has given an automatic berth to Dartmouth, who still must win the ECAC tournament this weekend. If #5 Cornell or #8 Harvard wins the ECAC, then they get the automatic bid and UNO could move from "last team out" to "last team in".

Another game of interest include Denver vs. Minnesota-Duluth tonight. Denver is lurking just under UNO in the Pairwise, so the sooner they are eliminated, the better.

Those PairWise ratings also do not take into consideration the NCAA's bonuses for "good wins"; when applying some suggested bonus values (.003/.002/.001) to the Pairwise, they move to a tie with New Hampshire.

Bottom line: UNO is on the NCAA bubble. Much like Creighton basketball, they need some things to work out in their favor to get in the tournament.

Implosion at Marquette

UNO gets swept by Northern Michigan this weekend, losing 4-1 last night and 3-2 tonight. Not only did that knock UNO out of the CCHA playoff chase, but it also may prove to be a mortal wound in UNO's NCAA tournament chances. Their PairWise rating plummetted to 14th, which puts them on the outside of the NCAA tournament bubble.

UNO still might find a way to sneak in, though they will need help over the next week. Lots of scenarios out there that can help UNO's strength of schedule and also hoping that teams below UNO in the PairWise ratings don't win their conference championships and get automatic bids.

In many respects, UNO is in the same predicament as Creighton; blowing chunks in their conference tournament and hoping and praying that somehow they might still get in the tournament. At least Creighton knows they will play again, as there is an NIT in basketball.

Speaking of basketball and the NIT, the Husker basketball team sure made things interesting down at the Big XII tournament by beating both Missouri and #19 Oklahoma before sucumbing once again to Kansas. It now looks like Nebraska is in the NIT, which will delay the anticipated coaching change a little while longer. I've heard rumors on all sides, but the strongest ones seem to indicate that Barry Collier has agreed to a buyout of his contract.

Jerad Kaufmann's Biggest Save

Last summer, Mav fans all over town were anxiously awaiting this hockey season. A 4th place finish in the league with a team loaded with talented freshmen and sophomores led to visions of greatness for this season.

Then the New York Rangers came in and made goalie Chris Holt an offer he just couldn't resist. Hard to blame Holt, but it sure put UNO in an awkward position. The only returning goalie for UNO had a rough freshman year. So all eyes were on the goaltender position as the season opened up.

Sophomore Eric Aarnio started the season, but was injured after his second game. True freshman Greg Barrett, signed after Holt left, played inconsistently in his first few games. Then, against Bowling Green, coach Kemp gave freshman Jerad Kaufmann a shot, and he grabbed hold of the position. He played well enough to keep the starting job through November and December.

Then came January, and hit his stride, shutting out Ohio State in Columbus. His hot streak coincided with UNO's hot streak, and UNO rode Kaufmann up the standings to where they are today. While Hobey Baker candidate Scott Parse is clearly the star of this squad, Kaufmann is the unsung hero.

In today's Omaha World-Herald, Chad Purcell covers Kaufmann's journey from his recruitment as the "practice goalie" (door opener???) to leading UNO into the NCAA tournament.

Let's compare Kaufmann's numbers in his rookie year to his predecessors final year, who have both played in the NHL:
Dan Ellis (2002-03) 11-21-5, .900 save percentage, 3.18 goals allowed/game
Chris Holt (2004-05) 19-14-4, .903 save percentage, 2.88 goals allowed/game
Jared Kaufmann (2005-06) 17-8-6, .907 save percentage, 2.72 goals allowed/game

Exceeding expectations would be a quite an understatement. Kaufmann's biggest save was with UNO's dream season.

Haven't we seen this before?

Northern Michigan's Puckheads are busy trolling the Maverick nation in preparation for this weekend's 2nd round of the CCHA playoffs. Northern practically needs to clinch the Mason Cup to advance to the NCAA tournament, while College Hockey News feels UNO is a lock to get a bid at this point.

Thanks to the CCHA's tie-breaker mechanism, this series is in Marquette instead of Omaha. 4 week ago, UNO travelled to Northern Michigan and swept the Wildcats 2-1 then 8-3. The Puckheads point to their subsequent sweeps of Lake Superior State and Ohio State as evidence that the Wildcats have turned it around.

Only problem with that logic is that the Lakers and Buckeyes tanked down the stretch; the Lakers going winless in their last 7 (losing 6) and the Buckeyes losing 8 out of their last 10.

The Olympic sized ice at NMU is an advantage to UNO's high flying offensive players. Scott Parse, the nation's leading scorer, scored 4 points a month ago, and freshman Tomas Klempa is back in the lineup after missing the first series.

Creighton Brie Whining on the Hilltop

I see Creighton has already started the whining up on the Hilltop as they watch their NCAA tournament chances fading away. Limping through the month of February after Josh Dotzler's injury, they now hope to sneak into the NCAA tournament on the new-found respect for the Missouri Valley conference.

Is that respect earned? It depends. In the Valley's defense, they are a pretty good mid-major conference. Maybe the best of them. But after watching some of that conference tournament and some selected games this season, it's pretty obvious that the Missouri Valley is not on the same level as the "BCS Conferences". And was that championship game between Bradley and Southern Illinois tough to watch or what? Dennis Dodd summed it up best:

"Everybody's favorite mid-major topped off a weekend of physical, ugly and almost traumatic basketball with more of the same."

I've watched the Missouri Valley tournament for years, and thought the sights of fans jumping around in a mostly empty Saavis Center with their silly "Missouri Valley Champs" signs was pretty humorous. It's nice to win your conference title, but let's face it, the Missouri Valley is still a mid-major conference. A very improved Valley, that's for sure. But, the RPI gives the Valley much more respect than they deserve. And Monday morning, I bet the brass at CBS were thinking the same thing.

Creighton is pinning their hopes on their victories of George Mason (who? They lost in the semis of the Colonial Conference tournament), Nebraska, and Xavier (tenth in the A-10). Well, shoot, if we're going to name drop, Nebraska beat Marquette (4th in the Big East) and Oklahoma and we know Nebraska isn't even remotely close to the tournament.

I really admire what Dana Altman has done at Creighton. He's one of the best coaches in the country. He did an excellent job with his best player out for the season, and his next-best player out for the past month. But, Creighton is what Creighton is. A decent team in a mid-major conference. Last year, they had to win the Missouri Valley tournament to get in. This year, their hopes are fading.

Are we setting up for another NIT rematch of Nebraska and Creighton? Hard to say, especially since the NIT is now set up with brackets and seedings. In the past, they tried to set up matchups like NU/CU to sell tickets, but with the NCAA running the show, that might not be in the cards for this year.

More Bulletin Board Material from Billy C

This morning, Bill Callahan decided to put some reading material up on Kansas State's bulletin board at the Special Olympics breakfast:

“We want players who want us, because we feel Nebraska’s a special, special situation,” Callahan said during his keynote speech at a Special Olympics fund-raising breakfast in Omaha. “If you’re a prima donna, if you’re a drama queen, there’s no room for you at Nebraska. You can go to Kansas State.”

Compared with some of his previous comments (Hillbillies, Dumbest Team), this one is pretty mild. And while I agree that Nebraska is a special place, there's no need to keep bashing Josh Freeman. This is Nebraska, and losing a quarterback recruit to Kansas State isn't worth getting worked up over. We're bigger than that.

This is Nebraska. Let's act that way.

Barf: Expecting a Collier Resignation?

In this morning's World Herald, Lee Barfknecht writes that several basketball "boosters of substance" (Bill Byrne's words, not mine or Lee's) expect Barry Collier to resign at the end of the season with a negotiated settlement.

Barf also mentions Northern Iowa coach Greg McDermott as a candidate for the Nebraska job. Northern Iowa recently gave McDermott a raise, even though their athletic director seems to be encouraging McDermott to move to Nebraska. McDermott started his coaching career at Wayne State.

Hobey Baker!

UNO completed their sweep of Bowling Green tonight with another 4-2 victory. In the 3rd period, Hobey Baker

candidate Scott Parse teamed with linemate Bill (L or "Hot Sauce", your choice) Thomas to score a sweet highlight reel goal that ended up being the deciding score in the game.

Next up for UNO is Northern Michigan in Marquette, Michigan; last month, the Mavs went up to Marquette and swept sending NMU Puckhead Emeritus Mojo into the hospital. Here's hoping for a repeat, except of course that the only heart problems Mojo has is a broken heart...

UNO's loss last week at Western Michigan looks a little better after the Broncos went to Sault Ste. Marie and swept Lake Superior State. But, more and more, it looks like the trend of playing up or down to the perception of the opponent continued last week and to some extent, last night. If that trend holds, UNO should be in good shape; they won't be seeing anybody that UNO could "play down to" from here on out.

The sweep of the Falcons, combined with the Nanooks sweep of Notre Dame boosted UNO's PairWise rating back to a tie for 5th with Michigan State. UNO may have just punched their NCAA tournament bid tonight, though there's still 2 weeks of hockey left to prove it. (And not to mention their seeding...)

And let's go back to the man of the evening: Scott Parse. With his sweet goal in the 3rd, Parse became UNO's all-time leading scorer, passing David Brisson.

How Many Licks Does It Take?

Hockey fans know that there is NOTHING like playoff hockey; everything gets kicked up a few notches. And these 2 teams already are 2 of the top 3 scoring teams in the league: UNO with 133 goals and Bowling Green with 120 goals. The big difference is in defense; UNO has given up 116 goals while the Tootsie Rolls have given up 139.

Back in early November, Bowling Green swept UNO, and they hope to repeat that feat. However, things have really changed in the last 4 months. In the Friday night game, Bowling Green blasted freshman Greg Barrett for 6 goals in the first 2 periods. Saturday night, freshman Jerad Kaufmann got to make his first start for UNO and lost 4-3. Since the Christmas break, Kaufmann has become a solid goaltender, putting up numbers similar to his predecessors Dan Ellis and Chris Holt, both who have seen action in the NHL.

Meanwhile, both teams feature players in the top 10 in scoring in all of college hockey. Hobey Baker candidate Scott Parse leads the nation, while BG's Alex Foster is tied for 2nd. The Mav's Bill Thomas and BG's Jonathan Matsumoto are tied for 8th.

UNO's weakness this season has been against the tight defensive teams, while they have flourished when the ice opens up. And with offenses like this, things will definitely open up.

Speaking of the NHL, they've noticed UNO stepping things up this season, ranking them #10 in the country and featuring them in an "On Campus" story.

How many licks does it take to the Tootsie Roll center and pop the BG bubble? One Friday night, and one Saturday night. Go Mavs!

Brokeback Falcon

The average sports fan in Omaha probably wouldn't name Bowling Green as a rival. Heck, most aren't even aware where the heck Bowling Green is.

And when UNO applied to join the CCHA, they certainly weren't a rival.

But something happened along the way. Namely, Scott Hewson decided to goon up the Civic Auditorium and "welcome" the Mavs to the CCHA back in the 1998-99 season. And the rivalry was on.

The rivalry intensified in the Mavs inaugural season in the 2000 CCHA playoffs "play-in game" when UNO defeated Bowling Green to qualify for the CCHA semi-finals in a game forever memorialized as "Tuesday Night"; quite possibly the loudest sporting event ever held at the Civic Auditorium.

Then last year, 7 Bowling Green players were suspended after a team hazing incident where a teammate was photographed naked with profanity and racial slurs written across the victim's body. They were reinstated just in time to play UNO. Hence, the birth of the "Where's my Sharpie???" chant.

Remembering 5 years back to that memorable run, it featured defeating Bowling Green in Omaha, and Northern Michigan in Marquette, MI en route to the Joe Louis Arena and the CCHA semi-finals. Will history repeat itself?

The Barry Collier Conundrum

I imagine that it would be easy to assume based on my postings about Barry Collier that one would assume that I'm advocating his firing. Which I'm not; however, I'm not sure I'm defending him anymore. Here's my take on the "Keep Barry/Fire Barry" argument:

Keep Barry

• Currently in 6th place in the Big XII, and only 1 game out of 4th place (and the first round bye in the Big XII tournament with 2 games to play)
• A winning season at 17-10.
• A fairly young team with some talented young players (Aleks Maric, Marcus Walker, and Jamel White)
• Playing better ever since Joe McCray left the team

Fire Barry

• RPI of #105
• Lowest attendance in years
• Creighton 70, Nebraska 44
• Kansas 96, Nebraska 54
  

In all fairness, I haven't seen much of Nebraska basketball this season. With the diminishing interest in Husker hoops, no Omaha TV station carries the games so except for an occasional ESPN or FSN game, I only go by what I read and hear. I'm torn; Barry's teams are much better than the final few Danny Nee teams, and their actions don't embarass the school or the state. But, on the other hand, you'd like to have seen a little more progress.

But it really doesn't matter what I or most other fans think.

I'm focusing my analysis on what I think will happen, not what should happen. And in my mind, I think Barry Collier is on his way out. Some people think that having a successful season will prevent Steve Pederson from firing Collier, but that's never stopped him before. Some people think Nebraska is just a football school, but then how do you explain Texas and Oklahoma? Some people think that Nebraskans don't care about basketball, but then how do you explain the sellouts at Devaney in the early to mid 90's, or the 13,000 that regularly attend Creighton games?

I may very well be wrong, but I think Barry Collier is going to be fired, based purely on the deafening silence from above. In fact, I think he knows it as well. And remember, I'm not saying "should be" either.

Husker Information Minister doing a little Name Dropping

This morning on KFAB, Husker Information Minister Jim Rose followed up a story about Indiana's Senior Day by commenting to remember the name "Mike Davis". He said "that's all I'm going to say about it."

Gee, I wonder what he might be referring to?

Lousy Weekend Wrapup

Last night's loss has the Nebraska-Omaha fan base in an ugly mood; probably a natural reaction to an ugly game with an ugly result. Time to turn that foul mood towards something positive; namely squeegeeing the fresh ice at the Qwest Center with Bowling Green this weekend.

It was a weird weekend in college hockey. Wisconsin got swept by Minnesota-Mankato. The Weasels of Michigoon tied, then lost, to Ferris (Bueller!) State.

UNO is still 7th in the PairWise ratings, so they are still in position to make the NCAA tournament with a good showing in the CCHA playoffs. Everything UNO wanted to accomplish is still possible; as far as the CCHA playoffs goes, it's just going to take more work. No need to hit the panic button yet.

Husker hoops followed up a very impressive victory against Colorado with an off performance at Texas A&M. Aleks Maric got into early foul problems, Nebraska fell behind quickly by 10, and that's pretty much the way the game played out.

Johnny Dorn pitched much better today, giving up 3 runs in 5 innings today against St. Johns for the Husker baseball team. Huskers won 12-4 after losing to Rice 3-2 yesterday.

Thud.

Going into this weekend, UNO only needed one win against last place Western Michigan, or a loss from both Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan.

It didn't happen.

Last night, UNO had a 3 goal lead late in the 3rd period, but the Broncos came back to tie it up. Then tonight, the Broncos jumped to an early lead, and UNO had to play catchup all night. And Northern Michigan got the sweep against Ohio State.

This one hurts. UNO's 10 game unbeaten streak came to a crashing halt.

UNO has to put this weekend behind them in a hurry. There's no point crying over the lost first-round bye. It's gone, and Bowling Green is coming in.

Where's my Sharpie???

YostBuilt Analysis

Interesting read from the Evil Empire on last weekend's Michigoon/Nebraska-Omaha series. Despite not even listening to the games, he correctly predicted that on 3 out of 4 UNO goals Friday night, a Weasel defenseman "screwed up".

Speaking of Jack Johnson, lots of commentary there about the Weasel's talented goon. The speculation is that he'll only play one season in Ann Arbor. You can see his talent, but his lack of discipline is going to inhibit his development.

Husker fans might enjoy their take on the Alamo Bowl as well.

Here we go again

In today's Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska executive associate athletic director Marc Boehm was interviewed regarding Barry Collier:

"We're not going to discuss the job status of any employee - head coach or any employee - unless that job status changes."

Sound familiar? It sure reminded me of previous statements by Steve Pederson that he doesn't talk about coaches in-season.

Only problem with that policy, is that Pederson and company don't always follow that policy.

In the uproar that followed last season's 40-15 thrashing by Kansas, Pederson sent a letter to boosters - violating that very policy that they cited today:

"I did some interviews earlier this week where I was asked about the coaching staff, the team, and the future of Nebraska football. I told them that I've seen dramatic improvement in practice and on Saturdays. We are playing a style of football that is attracting the nation's top young talent. Our coaching staff has the trust of our players and together they are improving. Our prospects for recruiting another strong class are great."

Perhaps Barry Collier has already been told he's going to be fired. But if he hasn't, this continued dangling in the wind is just delaying the inevitable. If you aren't going to live by the no-comment rule when Bill Callahan is in the cross-hairs, then don't use it regarding Barry Collier.

Boehm's "no comment" is about as close to "he's fired" as you can get. If you really want to dispel these rumors, you'd say something along the lines of "There are still 4 games left in the season, and we're in the upper division in the Big XII conference standings. Our focus is on finishing this season strong." Last Saturday's loss hurts, but the Huskers are still in position to get a first round bye in the Big XII tournament.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking - President's Day Edition

UNO's 3 points this weekend all but wrapped up home ice and a first round bye for the boys in the CCHA playoffs. They just need a win against last place Western Michigan, or a loss by Lake Superior State (against Michigan State) and Northern Michigan (against Ohio State).

Michigan State's sweep of Miami this weekend shook up USCHO's PairWise ratings; UNO is now in a 3-way tie for 4th place. This still projects them out to the east coast for the NCAA tournament, but now as a #2 seed.

Just like college football fans bitching about the BCS, hockey fans bitch about the PairWise ratings as well. We'll hear the same complaints next month in college basketball from somebody who ended up in the NIT instead of the NCAA basketball tournament.

All in all, it was a shame that this series conflicted with the Nebraska High School wrestling tournament. The Civic is a great barn for college hockey, but this series could have drawn 9,000 or more to the Qwest Center when you consider lost skybox and club tickets, plus a walkup crowd that the sellout turned away. It did get incredibly loud at the end of Friday night's game; nobody heard the horn go off at the end.

Meanwhile, in Lincoln, a big crowd showed up to watch Barry Collier's team take on Bobby Knight. Problem was that Aleks Maric picked up two quick fouls in the first half and spent the rest of the half on the bench, which ended up erasing the momentum Nebraska brought from their win at Iowa State. When Maric sat, Nebraska was up, but by halftime, Tech was up. This was another loss that has Husker fans shaking their heads.

Husker baseball got started this week, with Joba Chamberlain on fire but Johnny Dorn getting rocked. No radio coverage will begin until after basketball season, since all of Pinnacle's staff is busy with hoops. (Rose is the PA announcer at men's basketball games.) This is where Pinnacle's decision to fire John Bishop last year really hurts the Huskers. Husker baseball is huge right now, and baseball games will probably get better ratings than basketball. Heck, 1620 the Zone carried 3 Creighton baseball games this past weekend, and they've hired Bishop to announce for them.

Saved by an Angell

Amazing the things you notice in a tight hockey game. During the third period of tonight's UNO-Michigoon, my (admittedly uneducated) eyes observed Mav defenseman Phil Angell struggling to clear the puck several times. Once into the bench, several times right into the stick of a waiting Weasel. So as the clock ticked into the final minutes of the game with the Mavs trailing the Weasels 4-3, UNO was looking for a hero. Would it be Hobey Baker candidate Scott Parse? How about Bill Thomas? And don't forget last night's hero, Alex Nikiforuk.

With just over 2 and a half minutes to go in the 3rd, UNO gets control of the puck deep in Weasel territory and the Parse-Thomas-Marshall line is out there. I take a quick glance at the bench and goalie Jared Kaufmann; do you pull him yet? I look back, and I see tonight's hero take a big slapshot from just inside the blue line. The puck whizzes past the Weasel goalie and the lamp lights with 2:02 left in the game.

The hero? None other than Phil Angell, the guy who I could have sworn was struggling earlier in the period.

UNO kills off a penalty that stretched into the overtime, which gave the Weasels several chances to end the game. And with 30 seconds left in OT, Thomas tried to feed Parse with the game winner, but the shot went wide. The game ended as a 4-4 tie, giving UNO 3 points on the weekend and extending their undefeated streak to 9 games.

UNO has also clinched a home ice playoff series; the worst they can finish is 7th place. With next week's series against last place Western Michigan, they can clinch a first round bye with one victory or one loss each by Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan next weekend.

Mavs 4, Weasels 3

UNO's hot run in 2006 continued tonight at the Civic with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Michigoon. UNO jumped out to an early lead in the 1st period, and found themselves up 3-0 in the third period before the Weasels came storming back. Freshman goon Jack Johnson pulled the Weasels to within 1 by scoring with under 4 minutes in the game while both teams were one man short. Then, Matt Hunwick scored his second goal of the period to tie the game one minute later. (Video: WOWT.com)

Did that silence the Mav crowd? For about 2 seconds. By the time the teams lined up for the ensuing faceoff, the crowd was already chanting.

Six seconds later, bedlam ensued.

Alex Nikiforuk took the faceoff and skated straight for Weasel goalie Noah Ruden and buried his shot to reclaim the lead with the game-winner. That had to be quite a shot to the Weasels psyche after fighting back to tie the game and grab the momentum, only to have Niki immediately rip it out of their throats.

Quite a game at the old barn, and should be quite a game tomorrow night to finish out the series.

USCHO: UNO a #1 Seed in NCAA Tournament

USCHO.com's latest "Bracketology" has UNO a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, if they were to be seeded today. However, as a #1 seed they would get shipped out to Worcester, Mass. Last week, as a #2 seed, they would have been sent to Grand Forks to play at the Ralph...

The Weasels are Coming, The Weasels are Coming!

This weekend has to be the biggest sports weekend in Omaha this year. The Nebraska High School Wrestling Tournament starts tomorrow morning. Creighton plays at 11 pm Saturday night in the ESPN "Bracket Buster".

But the biggest event of this weekend by far has to be the 2 game series between Nebraska-Omaha and the Michigoon Weasels. Why?

It's simple. This series is HUGE. UNO is 5th in the country in USCHO's Pairwise Ratings, 6th in RPI. Michigoon is 8th. Michigan is 2nd in the CCHA; UNO is tied for 4th place. The top 4 teams in the CCHA get a first round bye, so this weekend's winner will likely earn a bye during the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

UNO is one of the hottest teams in the country; they've only lost once (and that was in overtime against Michigan State) in their last 11 games. They feature the nation's leading scorer in Scott Parse, who also leads the fan voting for the Hobey Baker award.

Michigoon is a traditional power, winning 9 national titles. They feature the fifth leading scorer in the country in T.J. Hensick. They also feature one of the roughest players in the game in Jack Johnson, who has over 100 penalty minutes this season.

Both games are almost sold out, and should be epic. This will be the biggest regular season series ever played in Omaha. And without a doubt, the biggest event in Omaha sports this weekend.

Another Steve Pederson Coaching Search underway?

With Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald stalking Steve Pederson again, that can only mean that another coaching search is underway. Oh sure, Steve Pederson denies that it was only a casual get-together with an old friend. But when that "old friend" is Rick Majerus and your current basketball coach is under fire, it sure looks like the coaching search is underway. While I think hiring Rick Majerus might allow Steve Pederson to shed his "Enemy of the State" title, I also think that's about as likely as me winning tomorrow night's $300 million Powerball jackpot.

Tom Shatel nails it in today's World-Herald. Even you believe Pederson's latest yarn, it certainly looks bad. Pederson's football coaching search was roundly criticized and satirized, and he's not getting his basketball coaching search off to a very good start either.

Barry Collier isn't fired... yet. Nebraska is 5-5 in the Big XII, good for 5th place. An upper division finish isn't out of the question; heck, it's not impossible for them to work their way to 4th place and a 1st round bye in the Big XII tournament. And don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating firing Collier. Collier's teams are a vast improvement over what we saw at the end of the Danny Nee era.

But, after 6 years, I'm not sure I can defend him all that much anymore. And all the signs seem to point to a firing. In the past week, Jim Rose himself seemed to imply that Collier was history twice: once in an interview with WHB radio in Kansas City and again this morning on KFAB. If the "Husker Information Minister" isn't going to step up to defend him, I'm not sure who will.

Whether I like it or not, it looks like Barry Collier's days in Lincoln are coming to an end. And with that, the circus appears to be back in town.

PS: Speaking of Jim Rose, it looks like the Pinnacle folks are going on retreat, so Kent Pavelka is back behind the microphone for the next two basketball games on radio.

Post "Recruiting Sabbatical" Topics

Did you miss me? Probably not. But here are some odds-and-ends that I've found in catching up after my "recruiting sabbatical"...

As predicted, the recruiting services were not kind to Callahan's 2006 signees. Scout had them around #30, and Rivals had them at #20. No big deal; these rankings are irrelevant and mostly make-believe. But it is fun to watch the recruitniks squirm. Let's check back in a few years and then evaluate these players.

Tom Shatel notes that Kansas was able to raise $31 million for football facilites rather quickly. (more from KU and ESPN) Compare that with the difficulty Steve Pederson is having raising $50 million at Nebraska. (2 years to raise only $21 million.) More evidence that there is a problem in Lincoln that is going to need to be addressed at some point. The additional funds from expanded seating will buy more time, but eventually, this is going to need to be addressed. Denial is not a river in Egypt.

Joe McCray is proving that it takes more than just talent to succeed in athletics. After getting suspended and then dismissed from the Husker basketball team, the team caught fire and won 3 in a row. After a poor finish against Kansas, the Huskers looked pretty good in the first half today against #7 Texas, but wilted at the start of the second half. Sure looks like a case of addition by subtraction at this point.

And finally, the hottest team in these parts has to be the Nebraska-Omaha hockey team. After a poor performance against Notre Dame at the start of January, they've only lost once in their last 11 games - and that was in overtime against Michigan State. This weekend, they went on the road and swept Northern Michigan. Tonight, they got off to a hot start with 4 goals in the opening period and won 8-3. USCHO's pairwise ratings currently have the Mavs as a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament. College Hockey News has UNO a possible #1 seed. Unbelivable!!! Next up for the Mavs - Michigoon.

Leading the way for the Mavs is Hobey Baker candidate Scott Parse, who continues to lead the nation in scoring. And Parse is now aking a commanding lead in fan balloting this week.

One highlight from my sabbatical... last night, I ran into the Colorado men's golf team. A friendly group of guys; they even offered me an extra can of juice from their bag. I think they wanted to take it back. though, when I showed them my Husker duffle bag as I thanked them. Not a happy bunch of Buffies!

It's National Signing Day!!!

Yawn.

Rivals.com: Recruiting Rankings are "Make-Believe"

A footnote to yesterday's posting. Even the folks at Rivals.com don't view their rankings all that highly:

“The whole class rankings is very dangerous,” Rivals.com Big 12 recruiting analyst Matt Malatesta said. “I know that people love to talk about it because it’s the off-season, and everyone wants to talk about it. Everything is make- believe until they hit the field."

Yawn...Fortunately the silly season of recruiting is almost over...

Recruiting Rankings Irrelevant

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated looks at recruiting rankings, and generally found that the rankings don't really mean a lot. Sometimes they are right; sometimes not.

Back in 2004, I looked at Tom Lemming's rankings and found that they really were rather irrelevant in predicting future success. Everybody likes to point to teams that had highly ranked recruiting classes and then had big success with those players, but they never go back and look at all those rankings and evaluate all those rankings.

From 1993 through 1999, only 61% of Lemming's "Top 10" had top 25 football teams 3 or 4 years later, when those "top ten" classes should have been juniors and seniors. Oh sure, teams such as Florida State and Tennessee were both highly ranked by Lemming and had pretty good teams down the line. But there were some major misses as well. Notre Dame had top ten classes 7 out of 8 years from 1993 through 2000, but certainly didn't have much success with those classes. Alabama had top 10 classes from 1998 to 2000, but is just now getting back to prominance. And everybody's poster child for recruiting, USC, ripped off 4 straight "top 10" classes from 1994 through 1997, and couldn't crack the top 25.

Just remember that next week when signing day happens.

Mavs 3, Sparty 2

While not as entertaining from a pure competition standpoint, UNO's 3-2 victory over Michigan State is sure a lot more satisfying. Scott Parse regained the status as the nation's leading scorer with 2 assists last night. The most impressive was forcing the turnover while short-handed, then feeding Tomas Klempa for the eventual game-winning goal in the 2nd period.

Freshman Jared Kaufmann put in another solid performance in goal, only allowing 1 power play goal to one of the hottest teams in the country. He's probably still sore from the whack he took in a second period scrum.

This morning's Pairwise ratings has UNO in a tie for 9th place, which is rather bizarre because UNO currently sits in 9th place in their conference. This weekend is the tough road-trip to Alaska-Fairbanks. They really need to get some points up north this weekend.

I really think it may be easier for UNO to get to the NCAA tournament this season than the Joe (for the CCHA tournament's semi-finals). UNO's non-conference performance, as well as the performance by the rest of the CCHA has elevated the conference's position to the point they may get five teams in the tournament. My guess is that UNO needs to win 3 out of 4 remaining home games (Lake Superior State and Michigoon), then try to split the remaining series at Northern Michigan, Western Michigan, and Alaska-Fairbanks.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk....P U!

In hoops, Kansas blasted Nebraska 96-54 this afternoon; this was the worst loss by the Huskers against the Jayhawks and fourth worst in Nebraska history. I've been a proponent of Barry Collier, but it's looking like he is going to be fired in the next couple of months, barring a turnaround.

The Kansas fans were chanting "Just Like Football" towards the end of the game. Perhaps Collier can turn around the Huskers season like Bill Callahan did...

Sparty 4, Mavs 3: Oh so close

Last night's Michigan State/UNO game was epic; perhaps the best hockey game played in Omaha in years. Michigan State might be the hottest team in college hockey today; their Pairwise rating is 4th in the country, and they are on a 6 game winning streak with a couple of shutouts.

It was high-action hockey on both ends, with each team controlling the play for extended periods with several back and forth opportunities for either team to score. UNO had several chances to win the game at the end of the third period, plus in overtime. Bill Thomas was stopped several times on breakaways, including once in OT. But Sparty fired a nearly perfect shot into the back of the net to win the game in OT, gaining a small amount of revenge on UNO for their OT winner at Munn in November. Great crowd last night; one of the loudest in years.

Game 2 tonight; hopefully the Mavs can get a couple of points to split the series tonight. UNO can choose 2 ways to react to last night: come out even more determined to win, or fold. They really need tonight's game.

Fans who can't make it to the game can catch it on Nebraska Public TV.

Mavs Looking Better than their Record

Two weekends ago, UNO had a horrible weekend against Notre Dame, but last weekend at Ohio State, they bounced back rather nicely, gaining 3 points on the road. Now, USCHO.com has released their PairWise ratings, which attempt to mimic the NCAA selection committee's rankings for the NCAA tournament. And despite what their 12-10-2 record would have you believe, the Mavs would likely be in the NCAA tournament if the season were to end today.

USCHO.com drew up some sample brackets, and right now, they would match up UNO versus the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Northeastern Regional.

But the NCAA tournament is more than 2 months away; we're barely halfway through the season. This weekend brings the Michigan State Spartans to town. Sparty is playing better as of late, beating the Weasels of Michigoon last night 2-0. UNO swept Sparty at Munn in November, so Sparty will be looking for revenge and extend their five-game winning streak. One factor in UNO's favor is that Tuesday night game. UNO played on Tuesday night 2 weeks ago, and came out flat the following Friday versus Notre Dame. Last week, Ohio State played Miami on Tuesday night, and came out flat against UNO on Friday night. Could the Tuesday night jinx come through again?

Sporting News shows Callahan a little love

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News, like most of the national media, certainly took shots at Bill Callahan during the football season. But, this week, he recognizes that Callahan might be finally pulling the Huskers out of the ditch that Callahan and his boss drove the Huskers into.

That raises an interesting phenomenon that has taken hold in this country over the past couple of years. Honest criticism is viewed by some people as hatred or treason. Sometimes it's over serious topics like Chuck Hagel's criticism of President Bush's Iraq policy. Sometimes it's over something as trivial as Nebraska football. It's a sad state of the polarized nature of this country.

Another example came up today on Big Sports 590. (I prefer Kevin and Mike'l on 1620 the Zone, but I can't get their signal most of the time.) Matt Perrault, the afternoon host, was going to promote the Huskers Recruiting Dinner (YAWN!!!!) until the president of Nebraska's "Touchdown Club" booster organization said that a "Callahan-hater" like Perrault wouldn't be welcome. So, Nebraska loses out on some free positive publicity, and insteads looks more and more paranoid.

Hate is a strong term. But in today's society, it seems that criticism gets morphed into hate. I really wonder what some people will say when they run into real hatred. Will they even be able to recognize it?

14,000 excuses for not taking down the tree sooner

Finally got around to taking down the Christmas tree this weekend. Some people might think this is late, but remember, the "12 days of Christmas" traditionally STARTS on December 25th. And judging by the number of people at the tree recycling center, I wasn't the only one. In the 5 minutes I was there, a half dozen more trees showed up.

The undecorating didn't stop me from catching some of the football and hockey action this weekend. I don't ever remember so many road teams winning in the playoffs before; 3 road teams won last weekend, and 2 more today. And anyone who bothered to watch NBC's coverage of the NHL sure got a treat yesterday. Philadelphia scored twice in the last 3 minutes of regulation to tie the game, but Colorado won in overtime. Then they switched to Boston-Dallas just in time for a shootout.

Props to UNO goalie Jerad Kaufmann for shutting out #20 Ohio State on Friday night. UNO followed that up with a tie on Saturday night, giving them 3 needed points in the standings. Up this weekend is Michigan State at the Qwest Center. UNO swept the Spartans in November at their place; another sweep would help UNO's positioning in both the conference and in the battle for the NCAA tournament. Miami is pulling away in the standings, but the rest of the league is up for grabs. 7 points seperates 2nd place from last place.

Last month, I complimented Steve Pederson for his plan to sell the additional 6,500 Nebraska football season tickets. And, as things look, it turned out even better than expected, as they received over 14,000 requests. Scanning the internet over the last couple of weeks, I was amazed by the number of people who worried that a $250 donation per ticket wouldn't be enough to lock into tickets. Guess a lot of people weren't aware that Husker season tickets have been readily available for the last few years for a $150 donation. That ignorance means more money in the athletic department coffers; this reverse auction may have turned out even better than planned. (I think that's why they cut off requests last week.) Of course, the Huskers performances against Colorado and Michigoon didn't hurt either.

Omaha Royals: Solving their problems

The most positive news about the Omaha Royals this week came out on Friday, and it doesn't involve a new stadium. It's that the Minkers are considering selling their interest in the Royals. I don't know whether these new prospective owners would be able to do a better job or not; they still are from out of town. But, they probably can look at the failures by the current owners and make the necessary changes.

New ownership may still move forward on a new stadium, which may make sense for them. These prospective owners recognize the value of Rosenblatt, and if they decide to proceed on a new stadium, they will probably do a better job of selling it to the people of Omaha. Which, if they want much in the way of contributions from the city, they'll need to do.

Omaha Royals: Rosenblatt is the least of your problems

In today's "State of the City" address, Mayor Mike Fahey announced that the Omaha Royals are working on a financing plan to build a new baseball stadium in "North Downtown" west of the Qwest Center. Since nothing has been disclosed about the plan, it's difficult to comment as to whether this is a good deal for Omaha or not.

Judging from the Royals past comments on the stadium, I get the impression that the Royals were expecting the taxpayers to pay for most of this stadium. That idea simply won't fly; they'll need to better explain the benefits of this stadium to justify a major taxpayer investment.

Many stadium backers point to the Qwest Center as an example of the benefit that could occur. Problem is, unlike the Qwest Center, we already have a wonderful baseball stadium. ESPN spends nearly 2 weeks a year fawning over Rosenblatt Stadium. Before the Qwest Center, the Civic Auditorium was booked solid and Omaha was missing out on major events. The need for a new arena was there; without the Qwest Center, Omaha stood zero chance of hosting U2, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, or the NCAA basketball, wrestling, and volleyball tournaments.

The question for the Royals is: what is the benefit to Omaha for the new stadium? Except for anchoring new development downtown, that hasn't been explained.

The Royals talk about how Rosenblatt is too big for the Royals, but fail to explain why a smaller stadium downtown would help them, except to cut down on the number of empty seats. Rosenblatt didn't suddenly outgrow the Royals; in fact, the opposite has happened. Under the mismanagement of the Minker family, the Omaha Royals have alienated fans and discouraged people from attending games.

I've talked to several people who are knowledgable about the Royals situation, and they agree that a new stadium isn't going to help the Royals at all. And depending on how the new stadium operates, it might hurt them even more than it helps.

Rosenblatt Stadium gives the Royals three distinct advantages:

• free parking
• close proximity to Omaha's biggest tourist attraction: the Henry Doorly Zoo
• a $500,000 a year subsidy from the city of Omaha
  

Relocating to North Downtown would eliminate at least 2 of those advantages. The Royals talk about the difficulty in convincing fans to pay $8 for a ticket. That difficulty increases when suddenly you add a $6 parking fee in a downtown lot/parking garage on top of that $8.

The proble with the Royals isn't the stadium, it's the product. They are the top minor league affiliate of one of the worst-managed major league baseball team: the Kansas City Royals. In the 70's and 80's, Kansas City used to have their best minor leaguers in Omaha. Now, Kansas City trades away their best players before their salaries skyrocket, and then call up their prospects straight from class AA Wichita straight to the major leagues, bypassing Omaha.

And the Minker family has been mostly incompetent in promoting baseball in Omaha. Except for radio ads promoting yet-another-fireworks-night, the Royals don't give the average family a reason to attend their games. Periodically, you hear stories of families being harassed at the gate.

A new ballpark will encourage folks to come down and check the new place out. But if they don't give fans a reason to come back (or worse, continue to give folks reasons to stay away), the attendance gains from a new stadium will be extremely short-lived.

If the Royals want to pay for a new stadium themselves, or can come up with a plan using private funds, more power to them. But don't expect the taxpayers to bail them out of the mess they created.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Saturday night, UNO managed to pull out a 2-2 tie with Notre Dame to avoid getting swept at home. A very disappointing weekend, but there were a few positives to take away. First of all, larger crowds: almost 14,000 combined over the 2 games. (My prediction that the Mavs would double the average attendance of the Omaha Aksarben Knights is looking pretty good...) Saturday night, 2 players in particular stepped it up to show some heart: Freshman Tomas Klempa and Hobey Baker candidate Scott Parse took their game up a level and showed some grit and hustle in battling the trapping Irish.

While the extra joustling cost Parse a couple of trips to the penalty box (only 12 penalties this season before Saturday), it still didn't keep him from contributing an assist on both goals. Parse is now #1 in the nation in scoring.

The retired publisher of the Omaha daily couldn't help once again misanalyzing the Huskers. In Sunday's column, "Weird" Harold Andersen claimed that Bill Callahan's decision to go for 2 in the 4th quarter of the Alamo Bowl was "a gutsy call" that "got little or no attention". Uh, no, it wasn't a "gutsy call" at all. The reason why it got "little or no attention" was that going for 2 was a no-brainer at that point. If you make the 2 point conversion, you are within a field goal of tying the game. If you miss, you still need a touchdown. At that point in the game, there is little difference between being down 4 versus 5 points, but there is a BIG difference between being down 3 versus 4 points.

Speaking of the Huskers, defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove has been offered the job as linebackers coach for the Minnesota Vikings. I'm no Cosgrove fan, so I'm actually hoping he takes the job. In-laws from the Minnesota/Wisconsin area warned us about Cosgrove when he came to Lincoln, and Barry Alvarez was able to hire his successor at Wisconsin after Nebraska took Cosgrove off his hands.

Who would replace Cosgrove? One candidate comes to mind immediately: Marvin Sanders. Sanders turned down a job with the St. Louis Rams to join the Husker staff in 2003. In 2004, he begged to be included in the new coaching staff, but was turned down. Sanders was a key reason why Nebraska's defense improved so much in 2003, according to Bo Pelini. Hiring Sanders would not only be a great upgrade for the Nebraska coaching staff, it would also help heal the divisions in the Husker fan base by bringing a former player onto the staff. Sanders is an outstanding coach, and is a former Husker who really wants to be part of the Husker program.

Mavs: A Team in need of a Heart Transplant

There is no doubt UNO is a talented hockey team. Junior Scott Parse is 2nd in the country in scoring, while sophomore linemate Bill Thomas is 5th.

But there is one thing that seems to be sorely lacking: Heart.

Tuesday night, they went into the 3rd period at Mankato leading 2-0. They give up a power play goal at the start of the 3rd period, and the implosion begins. 10 minutes later, UNO is down 5-2.

Last night against last place Notre Dame with the largest crowd of the year on hand, they come out sleepwalking in the first period and don't wake up much in the 2nd and find themselves down 3-0 late in the 2nd before scoring just before the end of the period. They end up losing 4-1.

Every Mav fan is frustrated by what they saw last night. This team needs a good dose of grit and toughness. In the early years, UNO didn't have the big-time talent. It was a team built on hard-work. Now we've got some big name talent, but the heart has disappeared.

Could we find some eligibility for a Jeff Edwards, a Derek Reynolds, or Jeff Hoggan?

All Hail the Greatest Team Ever..... oops!

ESPN's premature coronation of the 2005 USC Trojans as the greatest team ever was a wonderful job of marketing. They just forgot one little detail:

USC isn't even the greatest team in 2005.

I wonder how long their ludicrous comparison of 2005 USC to 1995 Nebraska will stay online. Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha newspaper made this same mistake in 2003. Before the Big XII championship game, he tried to claim that the 2003 Oklahoma Sooners were the greatest ever. The Sooners went on to get throttled by Kansas State.

Congratulations to the Bovines. And kudos to the best player in college football this season: Vince Young.

Now, if they'd only quit singing "I've been working on the railroad"...

Scott Parse for Hobey Baker

UNO's Scott Parse ended 2005 as one of the hottest players in college hockey. Thursday night against Alabama-Huntsville, he tallied 5 points. Then, last night, Parse and his linemates Bill Thomas and Brian Marshall teamed up to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against Yale.

Down 2-1, Parse assisted on Marshall's game-tying goal with 33 seconds left. Then, with the Qwest Center still buzzing at the start of overtime, Parse made an incredible pass to a wide open Marshall streaking down the ice, who buried it for the game winner just 19 seconds into OT.

ConAgra tried to top UNO's last minute fireworks with an impressive choreographed display last night, but nothing could top those 2 goals.

Parse is now #2 in the nation in scoring with 36 points, and leads the nation with his 1.89 points per game average. UNO's first Hobey Baker candidate?

This week, UNO travels to Minnesota State-Mankato for a game Tuesday, then welcomes Notre Dame for a 2 game conference series next weekend. Every conference game is huge; only 6 points seperates 2nd place from 12th.

Taking things WAY too far

Many Husker fans, myself included, were extremely critical of Steve Pederson after the 40-15 loss to Kansas. I even called for him to either resign or be fired, a position I still maintain even after the Alamo Bowl.

Some fans apparantly have gone further. Quite a bit further. Quite a bit UNACCEPTABLY further, in fact. At the Kansas State game, the State Patrol assigned a trooper to guard Pederson after several threats were made, including an incredibly stupid one in the North Platte Bulletin.

Folks, Husker football is a source of pride in this state. It is part of our way of life. But some fans take it way too far and way too seriously. Threatening Pederson or anybody in his family is not only childish and immature, it is also illegal.

I'll go a step further. Threatening ANYBODY over a football team is childish and immature. It's a friggin football GAME. Get a life.