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Do any of you think that Nebraska will even again be back in the National Champonship hunt

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bullmarket

All-Conference
May 29, 2001
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What do you think?

I do hope someday we have an OU-Nebraska football game again annually.
What a great rivalry between two old friends with such memerable moments.
The exception was in the Bill Callahan era.. Bill Callahan created a hatred in this series.
 
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OUSOONER67

Heisman
Mar 23, 2004
22,474
49,183
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I just don't see it happening anytime soon. They jumped right out of the frying pan into the fire and may never recover. Sad really for such a storied program. The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. It very well could be why OU has not left the big 12. If you look at what has happened to the ones that left OU probably got weak knees everytime they considered leaving. Who would trade places with Colorado, aTm, Nebraska or Missouri right now or at any time since those teams left? Sorry but I don't miss any of them, let them reap it.
 
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owenfieldreams

Senior
Aug 15, 2010
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Never say never...I don't think changing conferences has affected any of them. They are all still what they were. Nebraska was on the skids before they left. A&M has simply taken it's history of mediocrity to the SEC and Mizzou is it's usual up and down self. CU seems to be back on the upswing but again can they sustain it? All I can say about OU is that staying in the Big 12 is not in our best interest and the game Sat. in Columbus is a prime example. You'll get that same atmosphere in Lincoln, Madison, Ann Arbor, Happy Valley, East Lansing, & at Iowa.
 
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BillyRay_rivals31072

Heisman
Jul 14, 2001
14,858
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bullmarket said:
What do you think?

I do hope someday we have an OU-Nebraska football game again annually.
What a great rivalry between two old friends with such memerable moments.
The exception was in the Bill Callahan era.. Bill Callahan created a hatred in this series.
Click to expand...
Good question Bull that I have thought about from time to time. Like was said before, never say never. But I just see it as such a huge road to get back to where they were these days. Changing conferences took them out of playing in the region of the country they had played for decades and decades. No doubt it has massively hurt their ability to recruit Texas. And now they are having to recruit in a region where the current generation grew up mainly dreaming of playing for the traditional Big 10 powers. It may take a solid generation before a new crop of kids grow up wanting to play for Nebraska to get their recruiting back to where it was. But then again all it takes is a superb coaching hire to turn things around.
I'm sure in the 90's many in the country were saying the same about OU. OU had fallen off into a horrible program, changed from the Big 8 to the Big XII, and I'm sure many thought that alone would work against OU ever reaching the level of greatness again. But one coaching hire changed it all.
 
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iasooner1

All-American
Nov 13, 2002
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Beat iowa; they are even losing the "black friday" component starting next year I believe.
 
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CTOkie

All-American
Sep 20, 2001
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Nebraska recruiting is hurt somewhat by Texas high school players not wanting to play for a team that does not play the likes of Texas, TCU, Baylor and Texas Tech in the state of Texas. Nebraska has not faced any Texas team since 2010, its final year in the Big 12. In its secession from the Big 12, Nebraska shot itself in the foot.....big time. They remain competitive, but are far removed from championship worthiness.
While Oklahoma enjoys its proximity to Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana, Nebraska is surrounded by South Dakota, Iowa, Wyoming and Colorado....aside from being two states (one of which is Oklahoma) removed from Texas.
Nebraska cherry picks like OU does, but the records on the field reflect there is a serious talent drop off from the glory years in Lincoln.
This also tells me that OU must maintain its rivalry with Texas every year or suffer the same fate as Nebraska. So far, 8 of Oklahoma's 19 commitments are Texas kids, with a few more pending. OU's roster on this website lists 24 Texans among its 81 total.
 
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BillyRay_rivals31072

Heisman
Jul 14, 2001
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Ya other Big 10 programs get some Texas recruits, but nothing like what Nebraska would pull out of the state back in the day. Back in the day, half of Nebraska's class could be kids from Texas. No other Big 10 program leans that much on Texas talent. At least not the elite programs. Maybe a bottom feeder Big 10 school pulls a ton of 1-2 star kids. That's it.

I just think right now Nebraska is still trying to establish their recruiting footprint up there. They had a TON of ground to makeup compared to the heavy hitters in the Big 10.
 
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Plainosooner_rivals54053

Heisman
Oct 20, 2002
38,097
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Ever is a long time.

Nebraska has a great fan base, a full stadium every home weekend, and a school that seeks a quality program. It can happen. But leaving their longtime conference was counterproductive. I totally understand leaving UT Austin in their rear view mirror, but it did hurt them.
 
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YourCrimsonNightmare

Senior
May 29, 2001
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Almost always a team that has a long history of great success goes through a period of turmoil and relative failure, that team eventually finds its way back to the top. There are different dynamics going, but I still believe that somebody will grab the reins and bring them back to power. It's too juicy of a job not to eventually find a coaching savior.
 
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iasooner1

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Nov 13, 2002
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They are in a fluffy soft division (with the only consistent threat being Wisconsin) that still play ball like teams from the last 25 years of the previous century. There only hope to become relevant in the near future would require the addition of the Sooners to the b1g West OR a home/home series with us at least once every decade, imho
 
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owenfieldreams

Senior
Aug 15, 2010
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A few more observations...they were in a fluff division in the Big 12. Never, I'll say again, Never, did half their roster come from Texas. In their heyday they recruited Texas, California, Florida , and New Jersey with equal success. The supplemented the top talent from these prime talent areas with their famed Husker program that funneled kids from the immediate area into the program on other than athletic scholarships and developed them into talented 5th year seniors ( mostly linemen). That program was put out to pasture by the Big 12 and that as much as anything started their decline. When I think of great Nebraska players...Glover, Rogers, Frasier, Ferragamo, and on and on...none of them were from Texas. Yes, they recruited Texas well but it seems to me they could replace Tx. with the Chicago area and duplicate their Tx. success.
 
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CTOkie

All-American
Sep 20, 2001
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owenfieldreams said:
A few more observations...they were in a fluff division in the Big 12. Never, I'll say again, Never, did half their roster come from Texas. In their heyday they recruited Texas, California, Florida , and New Jersey with equal success. The supplemented the top talent from these prime talent areas with their famed Husker program that funneled kids from the immediate area into the program on other than athletic scholarships and developed them into talented 5th year seniors ( mostly linemen). That program was put out to pasture by the Big 12 and that as much as anything started their decline. When I think of great Nebraska players...Glover, Rogers, Frasier, Ferragamo, and on and on...none of them were from Texas. Yes, they recruited Texas well but it seems to me they could replace Tx. with the Chicago area and duplicate their Tx. success.
Click to expand...
No one said "half" the Nebraska roster ever came from Texas.
I said that Texas high school players generally want some connection to their home state if they decide to go out of state. Playing for OU or OSU, or an SEC team allows this, thanks to Texas A&M being in the SEC.
Nebraska has always had to cherry pick from coast to coast, north to south. But Nebraska high school football, like that in Oklahoma, has declined over the years. Where there were 355 high school football programs in Nebraska in 1983, there's now 282. Where there once were many players on Oklahoma's roster from small towns in Oklahoma (like Eufaula, Miami, Duncan, Muskogee, Enid, Lindsay, Ada, Okmulgee), you now see the majority from big urban areas like Houston, DFW, Tulsa and OKC. Again, this is why its proximity to Texas is vital for OU and why OU has a huge advantage over Nebraska in staying high in the rankings each year.
 
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owenfieldreams

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Aug 15, 2010
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I thought we were talking about Nebraska not OU....totally different scenario. Oh, by the way, both Eric Crouch and Dave Rimington were from Omaha. And, from what I've seen in terms of OU recruiting trends we are now recruiting nationally and we are less dependent on Texas. This is not to say that the state of Texas isn't critical to our recruiting success but we are a national recruiting program now. Someone posted earlier that half the Husker roster was from Texas which has never been the case. In the final analysis, Nebraska can get back to being Nebraska with the right coach.
 
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soonerinlOUisiana

Heisman
May 29, 2004
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How much do facilities have to do with it? A few years ago, some local sports commentators were saying that Nebraska in the late Osborne era was a recruiting juggernaut largely because of their facilities --- the specific topic was why they were able to recruit so well in the New Orleans area. Apparently Nebraska had the finest facilities of the time. Now, even Sunbelt schools invest the money to have competitive facilities. The facilities that once had NU head and shoulders above the competition now represent the norm, or perhaps the bare minimum. Ie. There just isn't anything that recruits find in Lincoln that they can't find in a whole host of other schools. Everyone has caught up with or surpassed them.
 
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CTOkie

All-American
Sep 20, 2001
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owenfieldreams said:
I thought we were talking about Nebraska not OU....totally different scenario. Oh, by the way, both Eric Crouch and Dave Rimington were from Omaha. And, from what I've seen in terms of OU recruiting trends we are now recruiting nationally and we are less dependent on Texas. This is not to say that the state of Texas isn't critical to our recruiting success but we are a national recruiting program now. Someone posted earlier that half the Husker roster was from Texas which has never been the case. In the final analysis, Nebraska can get back to being Nebraska with the right coach.
Click to expand...
I am COMPARING Nebraska to OU in terms of maintaining championship worthiness. In the days of the Big 8 and early Big 12, these two teams were birds of a feather.
Yes, OU is a national recruiting program even more than it was in Switzer's time. It has to be with in-state high school football being less rich in talent.
But OU is as much dependent on Texas talent than it's ever been and will always have the advantage of its geographic location than Nebraska, plain and simple.
Both schools have a "brand name", but considering the down cycle Nebraska is in (at least 4 losses per season since 2003), its geographic location and its presence in a weak division of the Big 10, it will indeed require a great coach to overcome these issues.
For the record, I want Nebraska to return to glory. Not having OU's rivalry with them has been the most disappointing part of my love for college football in my life. But despite Nebraska's absence from OU's schedule, I hope the Huskers get back to prominence.
 
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veritas59

All-Conference
Nov 1, 2003
12,764
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Those big Nebraska farmboys that they used to let "walk on" *wink* *wink* can't take PEDs anymore. That's the difference between then and now. And it's not going to change back to "then".
 
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roygbell

Junior
Feb 11, 2011
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I doubt that any of them would ever come back to the Big XII. They are in conferences that give them some security and money. The Big XII is a risk until after the next expansion round.

However, outside of the money, they would be better off in the Big XII. Outside of Missouri's first year none of the four have really competitive in their new conference. Nebraska has probably lost the most from a pure football standpoint. Missouri and A&M aren't close to being competitive and may never be.

Colorado and Nebraska lusted over the Pac 12 and the Big Ten for decades and I'm sure they are happy. I don't think the Huskers have much chance in getting back to the great teams they had in the Big 8 and Big 12. The other three never really had consistent success over the long term.

If, we can keep four or five teams really competitive this conference can survive. It won't survive as Oklahoma and the nine dwarfs.
 
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