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The state of the NU Athletics Program

ridge22

ridge22

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Oct 19, 2004
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As of today, since the beginning of the calendar year the NU Basketball and Baseball and Softball teams are a combined 12-35! You have basketball programs that are in the bottom of the league in the standings. Baseball and Softball are early in the season, but not off to an especially hot start. Football had another so-so year after a promising start.
I hate to be an "energy vampire", but right now the athletic program is a mess. There is nothing that this entire athletic program has right now to offer other than volleyball. Volleyball had a nice run and is a very consistent national contender, which is great, but honestly for me volleyball is not that big of deal. Sorry, call me sexist, bigot, racist or what ever it is you call a white, conservative, male between the ages 30-50 that you don't agree with according to your national media outlet of choice.
There has to be some big changes made down there. For me personally, I am sick and tired of the government mentality that has seeped in to sports of, if all else fails let's throw more money at the problem.
 
If men's basketball wasn't a joke, I doubt this thread would exist. Success in sports like bowling and volleyball are certainly worthy of some attention but when baseball and basketball are flops, the Spring Scrimmage becomes huuuge.
 
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The basketball program has very little winning tradition, but I like watching them win. I don't expect them to be ranked. I would love it if they could get there though. It's not like BC or DS won anything, so TM should get at least 6 years like they did IMO.

The volleyball program has tradition and championships. They are fun to watch every year. It is a big part of Nebraska sports whether you or I care for the sport or not. Many Nebraskans care for it.

The baseball team has some tradition and it's ok with me to expect them to be a good team. I have never watched a lot of it over the years though.

I have never paid attention to the softball team really. It doesn't get my panties in a bundle if they lose.

Girls basketball saddens me a little, but with a new coach and the current situation, I am ok with down years. I don't expect championships from them like I do the bowling team!

I want the football team to win conference championships. If they don't, I will still live. It's not like BC or BP won a CC, so MR has time. I want them to be competitive in every game and win most games year in and year out.

Not every fan cares for every sport, so to each his own. Support the team if you want. Don't support it if you want. Just because the football and volleyball teams won some championships doesn't mean that every sport should be able to.

How does this year compare to the previous hundred years in all sports? Better? Worse? The same? I couldn't tell you.
 
hddude55 said:
If men's basketball wasn't a joke, I doubt this thread would exist. Success in sports like bowling and volleyball are certainly worthy of some attention but when baseball and basketball are flops, the Spring Scrimmage becomes huuuge.
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The other sports are cool and everything, but to me they are nothing more than a nice distraction until spring ball and football season. For me football is and always will be top dog. If the other sports do good. Great. If not...meh...football is my passion!!
 
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ridge22 said:
As of today, since the beginning of the calendar year the NU Basketball and Baseball and Softball teams are a combined 12-35! You have basketball programs that are in the bottom of the league in the standings. Baseball and Softball are early in the season, but not off to an especially hot start. Football had another so-so year after a promising start.
I hate to be an "energy vampire", but right now the athletic program is a mess. There is nothing that this entire athletic program has right now to offer other than volleyball. Volleyball had a nice run and is a very consistent national contender, which is great, but honestly for me volleyball is not that big of deal. Sorry, call me sexist, bigot, racist or what ever it is you call a white, conservative, male between the ages 30-50 that you don't agree with according to your national media outlet of choice.
There has to be some big changes made down there. For me personally, I am sick and tired of the government mentality that has seeped in to sports of, if all else fails let's throw more money at the problem.
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this is the epitome of cherry picking to make an argument... Really shallow to base the state of the entire program on 3 sports that aren't doing so well.

Nice Job!
 
If northwestern wins an NCAA tourney game Nebraska will be the only power 5 program to have never won at least one NCAA tourney game.

It could be argued that we are, and continue to be, historically the worst major college basketball program of all time.
 
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timnsun said:
this is the epitome of cherry picking to make an argument... Really shallow to base the state of the entire program on 3 sports that aren't doing so well.

Nice Job!
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Ok let's dig a little deeper. Of the programs the NU is running I would say that Gymnastics both men and women are doing well, both ranked and in the top part of the Big Ten and made the NCAAs. I would probably say the Rifle team is in good shape, they are ranked 18th in the nation, although I know nothing about rifle other than it is some type of shooting. Wrestling is highly ranked and has a decent tradition, but is probably in the middle to upper part of the Big 10, although they have lost their last 3 duals, but to highly ranked teams. Soccer is probably OK, last season they were decent, but went out in the first round of both Big 10's and NCAA tourney. Currently the women's tennis team is winning a lot, but did not qualify for the Big 10 tourney last season. Bowling is good, really good highly ranked and has been in the national title picture as of late.
Now the flip side, Tennis for the men looks pretty bad. 1-7 this year with a dual loss to UNO to start the season. Men's and women's cross country were 10 out of 12 and 13th out of 14 in last years Big 10 meet. Men's and women's golf were both 13 out of 14 in last season Big 10 meet. Track and field in the latest Big 10 meet (indoor) the men were 4th and the women 8th. This is far below what the T&F programs are use to in the past. Women's swimming and diving was 10th out of 13 teams at the most recent Big 10 meet.
Looking at how things are right now, I would say there are Bowling and Volleyball that would be considered teams that would be favorites or in contention for conference or national titles for next year. That is under 10% of the total 22 teams that NU fields that have a legit possibility to take home a conference crown. To me those aren't great numbers.
 
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ridge22 said:
Ok let's dig a little deeper. Of the programs the NU is running I would say that Gymnastics both men and women are doing well, both ranked and in the top part of the Big Ten and made the NCAAs. I would probably say the Rifle team is in good shape, they are ranked 18th in the nation, although I know nothing about rifle other than it is some type of shooting. Wrestling is highly ranked and has a decent tradition, but is probably in the middle to upper part of the Big 10, although they have lost their last 3 duals, but to highly ranked teams. Soccer is probably OK, last season they were decent, but went out in the first round of both Big 10's and NCAA tourney. Currently the women's tennis team is winning a lot, but did not qualify for the Big 10 tourney last season. Bowling is good, really good highly ranked and has been in the national title picture as of late.
Now the flip side, Tennis for the men looks pretty bad. 1-7 this year with a dual loss to UNO to start the season. Men's and women's cross country were 10 out of 12 and 13th out of 14 in last years Big 10 meet. Men's and women's golf were both 13 out of 14 in last season Big 10 meet. Track and field in the latest Big 10 meet (indoor) the men were 4th and the women 8th. This is far below what the T&F programs are use to in the past. Women's swimming and diving was 10th out of 13 teams at the most recent Big 10 meet.
Looking at how things are right now, I would say there are Bowling and Volleyball that would be considered teams that would be favorites or in contention for conference or national titles for next year. That is under 10% of the total 22 teams that NU fields that have a legit possibility to take home a conference crown. To me those aren't great numbers.
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Now do that exercise for the other schools in the B1G.

Your expectations are for the other athletic programs at Nebraska to be better than they have ever been.

Every school has their bell cow sports. As was stated earlier, if Nebraska beats Iowa or Tennessee in football or if the basketball team weren't going to finish below .500 , again, this thread doesn't exist.
 
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jlb321 said:
If northwestern wins an NCAA tourney game Nebraska will be the only power 5 program to have never won at least one NCAA tourney game.

It could be argued that we are, and continue to be, historically the worst major college basketball program of all time.
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Where is the Bill Snyder of basketball when you need him?
 
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I could understand saying that the results are a little disappointing overall. To say the athletic department is a mess is a gross exaggeration. I mean I get you think that football last year was disappointing, but it is far from being at the point where it is so bad that it is a total irrelevancy and an embarrassment.
 
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Tuco Salamanca said:
Now do that exercise for the other schools in the B1G.

Your expectations are for the other athletic programs at Nebraska to be better than they have ever been.

Every school has their bell cow sports. As was stated earlier, if Nebraska beats Iowa or Tennessee in football or if the basketball team weren't going to finish below .500 , again, this thread doesn't exist.
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Exactly.
 
ridge22 said:
Ok let's dig a little deeper. Of the programs the NU is running I would say that Gymnastics both men and women are doing well, both ranked and in the top part of the Big Ten and made the NCAAs. I would probably say the Rifle team is in good shape, they are ranked 18th in the nation, although I know nothing about rifle other than it is some type of shooting. Wrestling is highly ranked and has a decent tradition, but is probably in the middle to upper part of the Big 10, although they have lost their last 3 duals, but to highly ranked teams. Soccer is probably OK, last season they were decent, but went out in the first round of both Big 10's and NCAA tourney. Currently the women's tennis team is winning a lot, but did not qualify for the Big 10 tourney last season. Bowling is good, really good highly ranked and has been in the national title picture as of late.
Now the flip side, Tennis for the men looks pretty bad. 1-7 this year with a dual loss to UNO to start the season. Men's and women's cross country were 10 out of 12 and 13th out of 14 in last years Big 10 meet. Men's and women's golf were both 13 out of 14 in last season Big 10 meet. Track and field in the latest Big 10 meet (indoor) the men were 4th and the women 8th. This is far below what the T&F programs are use to in the past. Women's swimming and diving was 10th out of 13 teams at the most recent Big 10 meet.
Looking at how things are right now, I would say there are Bowling and Volleyball that would be considered teams that would be favorites or in contention for conference or national titles for next year. That is under 10% of the total 22 teams that NU fields that have a legit possibility to take home a conference crown. To me those aren't great numbers.
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Thanks for this response... at least is is more all encompassing, which I appreciate.

Like Tuco said in his response, how does this compare with other Universities and their overall athletic prowess? And how does it compare to what Nebraska looked like 20 years ago? Have we ever been relevant in Men's tennis? Have we ever been relevant in Track and Field or Swimming and Diving? I really don't know... Maybe we have.

I have no problem with you bemoaning the state of specific athletics at Nebraska, such as baseball, softball, basketball, as you did in your initial post, but I am not sure those three sports should identify the athletic department as a whole, which is why I responded the way I did initially.

This most recent post is much tighter, which I appreciate. But again, what are the comparisons we are holding it to? Both in terms of other universities and in terms of past history for Nebraska.
 
The athletic department is in good shape financially, but that is not translating to a whole lot of success on the fields/courts for some reason.

With volleyball looking at somewhat of a rebuilding year next year after losing many top players and all of the assistant coaches....and a few other teams that will have coaches on the hot seat....it could be an interesting year.
 
I love digressing, but just think if James Naismith had ended up in Lincoln, NE and not Lawrence, KS.

On another note, I think the state of the program is okay. With how the world is right now and the advancement of technology that is particularly targeted toward bigger cities, I think Nebraska athletics has done a great job in staying relevant nationally technologically. The brand is still very strong nationally, as anywhere you go you are realistically bound to see the N. Of every vacation I've been on, I have seen at least one 'N' on a t-shirt or hat 80% of trips. That's a huge credit to our national and even international fan base.

On the field performance has varied across all sports. Our track and field team is one of the best in the country. The best talent pool of athletes that we have around us is Volleyball players, and next best I would say is wrestling, with track and field following and so on with soccer and football athletes after that. Yes, football results are not what we want them to be, but I think Mike Riley is on to something. And when football is really nationally prominent, that's when everyone will say our athletics program is amazing. Kind of a conundrum if you ask me. But that's just what I observed being at UNL.
 
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maplesyrup95 said:
I love digressing, but just think if James Naismith had ended up in Lincoln, NE and not Lawrence, KS.

On another note, I think the state of the program is okay. With how the world is right now and the advancement of technology that is particularly targeted toward bigger cities, I think Nebraska athletics has done a great job in staying relevant nationally technologically. The brand is still very strong nationally, as anywhere you go you are realistically bound to see the N. Of every vacation I've been on, I have seen at least one 'N' on a t-shirt or hat 80% of trips. That's a huge credit to our national and even international fan base.

On the field performance has varied across all sports. Our track and field team is one of the best in the country. The best talent pool of athletes that we have around us is Volleyball players, and next best I would say is wrestling, with track and field following and so on with soccer and football athletes after that. Yes, football results are not what we want them to be, but I think Mike Riley is on to something. And when football is really nationally prominent, that's when everyone will say our athletics program is amazing. Kind of a conundrum if you ask me. But that's just what I observed being at UNL.
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Think if Bob Devaney didnt
 
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Eichorst has been here for 5 years. His 2 hires have been very underwhelming so far. Not saying he should be fired, but not sure he's achieved anything yet to warrant that million dollar salary that Harvey gave him.
 
Harry Caray said:
Eichorst has been here for 5 years. His 2 hires have been very underwhelming so far. Not saying he should be fired, but not sure he's achieved anything yet to warrant that million dollar salary that Harvey gave him.
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His two hires have been below average.
 
Well, someone has to be responsible for the state of the athletic department. We were told back in December that everyone was doing a good job. :rolleyes: Then people started getting fired.

I'll be happy when they send that skid mark packing.
 
I agree that SE has not done an outstanding job so far but he has not done a horrible job by any means. Realistically, Eichorst and Riley ride the same train. We will have to wait and see which way the train decides to go. Just like any business, what Riley is trying to do is put our football program in a position to get lucky right now.

Part of the problem with our "fans"—and I have stated similar thoughts before—is that the majority of them are incredibly impatient/stubborn. I am not trying to preach to the choir but our sportswriters like to infuse whatever rhetoric they want and stir the pot about coaching changes. Yes it is their job but it does not change the fact that in just 20 years, we have had managed to have 4 head coaches since T.O. and Nebraska's 1997 National Championship. That is TERRIBLE coaching retention (especially assistant coach retention as they see and develop the players more than anyone) considering the other top Power 5 schools. Look at the other Power 5 schools who have been successful in the past 20 years and find me a top 25 school that has had success with tons of coaching retention. Has Miami had playoff-caliber success since 2002? Nope. USC since Pete Caroll? Finally getting traction. Michigan since Lloyd Carr? Finally getting traction. Texas since Mack Brown? Nope.

This is also why I believe it would not be a great idea to fire Tim Miles yet. If you ask me, Nebraska football is never going to have instant success. It is going to take time to build regardless of sport. Though it is bittersweet to say, that's my personal belief and I gotta stick to it.
 
of the BIG universities .. which ones fund the BIG welfare program and which ones drain the program?
 
4.6.3 said:
Nah. Someone has to fix the absolute crap show he inherited from Pope Tom.
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Eichorst hasn't fixed anything yet and I can't wait for his next surprising hire.

You're hatred toward TO is amazing.
 
I can't believe this is even a debate honestly. All 3 of the major sports at Nebraska are struggling, bad. We are (insert any really average school here), with a little more tradition. Basically, right now, we kind of suck at a lot of stuff.
 
litespeedhuskerfan said:
I can't believe this is even a debate honestly. All 3 of the major sports at Nebraska are struggling, bad. We are (insert any really average school here), with a little more tradition. Basically, right now, we kind of suck at a lot of stuff.
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The simple fix would be to just hire former Huskers to coach everything...... oh wait.
 
We better listen to numbers the blow hard that has a hard on for certain individuals.
 
Speaking of irony. Blaming the AD for lack of support like the Bloners. Somebody get me a machete to cut through that shit.

We all hear about all this talent, and another absolute shit end to the season. But like I said, he should get 1 more. Funny how NOW the focus is on Molinari, when some of us have been saying he is pretty worthless for some while.
 
Sub-posting, #zone6 style.

It's not blame, but I'm not surprised you can't differentiate the two. You don't have a response for Eichorst neglecting basketball as to why the recruiting budget was at the bottom of the conference so the easiest, and dumbest, thing to do is a "bloners!" response. Miles has overcome that though, unlike Pelini. Just recent, supposedly but not documented as promised, Eichorst increased the budget to middle of the pack.

The focus from me has been on Molinari from day one. I've sent you texts, I've sent them to kaz and hb13 since day one. But go ahead, keep recreating history.

Good thing now, Rivals archives posts...
 
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coachDubs said:
Sub-posting, #zone6 style.

It's not blame, but I'm not surprised you can't differentiate the two. You don't have a response for Eichorst neglecting basketball as to why the recruiting budget was at the bottom of the conference so the easiest, and dumbest, thing to do is a "bloners!" response. Miles has overcome that though, unlike Pelini. Just recent, supposedly but not documented as promised, Eichorst increased the budget to middle of the pack.

The focus from me has been on Molinari from day one. I've sent you texts, I've sent them to kaz and hb13 since day one. But go ahead, keep recreating history.

Good thing now, Rivals archives posts...
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I'm not making excuses for anybody. I will call things out when I see fit, not when it comes in as a handy excuse when things once again go South. I was not aware Nebraska was so challenged dollars and support wise. It's a miracle Miles got all of this talent here.
Hell it must be the AD making all that talent wilt at the end of every season.
 
Never said you did. This is the first time you've heard from me about neglect with the hoops program? Excuse me, I'm gonna call major bullshit on that.

Continue on with your fantasy land, I'll sit back and laugh as I've done for the last year and a half.

#zone6
 
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