Tom Osborne
- Thread starter Charlie Marlow
- Start date
As great as TO was, I think there were only two other teams that could have pulled it off:
The 1982 team that got screwed blind in Happy Valley by an officiating crew made up of booster club members, and the team that lost to Miami in the Orange Bowl the following year.
The 1993 team was on the cusp of greatness, but not sure they could have run the table in this kind of tournament.
The 1982 team that got screwed blind in Happy Valley by an officiating crew made up of booster club members, and the team that lost to Miami in the Orange Bowl the following year.
The 1993 team was on the cusp of greatness, but not sure they could have run the table in this kind of tournament.
I went with 7 to 10 but this is what I was originally thinking. Those Osborne teams would’ve excelled in a tournament format.
1983…I know the defense wasn’t ideal but can’t count out a team with that offense.
1987…This team had the ability to make a run regardless of the OU and bowl game.
1996…This team was one fumble away from possibly playing for it all.
I like the topic but it would be great to hear your answers but that is not how you roll.
Those teams from warm climates have a huge edge playing in warm climates, fast paced , fast track, good throwing condtions, spread the field, if the Florida teams like 83,93, 94 played Nebraska in bad conditions (cold weather ball harder to throw, windy) they would have all lost to NU by minimum 4 TDs
I think the '78 team beat the best team ever to leave Memorial Stadium with a loss, and then had a golden opportunity to win the title. But I don't think a tournament format would have favored them.
Shane Swanson once told me that of all the fields he played on in college or high school that the 1984 Orange bowl was the worse field he had ever played on, and that was for the National Championship, they put sand down on the field and spray painted the field so it would look better for television.. I believe the Dolphins had a playoff game days ahead of the Orange bowl game and the field was turn up.
He was from Hershey Nebraska.
He was from Hershey Nebraska.
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1999 team was pretty dang good. Could have made a good run.
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Wasn't that the '99 team? That team would have made my list, but it was post-TO.
Good call.
That team would maybe have been 2nd or 3rd favorite with Florida State and Virginia Tech that year, but I would have taken our chances against either. That was an amazing year of college football.
We were 17 point favorites.
We were totally unprepared defensively.
We should have run roughshod on their small and weak DL. But we kept stepping on our own toes. One of the few times Osborne got flat outcoached.
Yeah specifically 1982, 1993 and 1996 maybe because we were better than Texas and shouldn't have lost in ccg
I don't disagree with you on those two, but you forgot '99. There is no doubt in my mind that the '99 team was EASILY the best team in the Country.
That 99 team gets overlooked historically. Fumbled their NC hopes away in Austin, TX. Would have loved to see that team go up against Florida State.
I didn’t forget the ‘99 team. But those were TO’s players coached by Solich and Company.
1980 would have had a shot. We gave away two home games that year to FSU and Oklahoma.
We completely outplayed FSU, but gave them four turnovers in an 18-14 loss.
We similarly outplayed OU, but Buster Rhymes broke a couple of long runs in the last minute in a 21-17 loss. More Sooner magic.
Had that team made the playoffs (we were eighth in the final AP poll), we would have made a run. Georgia won it all, but we'd have had a shot.
Otherwise, '82, '83, '87 and '96 would have had a chance to go all the way.
We completely outplayed FSU, but gave them four turnovers in an 18-14 loss.
We similarly outplayed OU, but Buster Rhymes broke a couple of long runs in the last minute in a 21-17 loss. More Sooner magic.
Had that team made the playoffs (we were eighth in the final AP poll), we would have made a run. Georgia won it all, but we'd have had a shot.
Otherwise, '82, '83, '87 and '96 would have had a chance to go all the way.
0. We played many championship games and always lost to the fast Miami, FSU teams. Only after we changed our philosophy in 1993 to go to a 4-3 defense with more speed is when we started to actually compete. Osborne lost a lot of big bowl games with title implications because of our lack of speed. 1983 team was our only chance at another championship but Osborne and co. lost to an undermanned Miami team, which actually started the U tradition. People actually wanted to fire Osborne in the 80s because of our annual beating by Switzer and OU.
Oklahoma 78 was a loaded team... the game that we won was the most incredible performance by any Nebraska team that was an underdog at home... my favorite game that I witnessed in person...
One problem with a playoff is the extra games and likelihood of losing a key player. I hate the playoff. Loved the old bowl system. The debate was fun and put more emphasis on the regular season.
I think he would have won a few more.
The timing of his offense sometimes got thrown off with the long layoff between the last regular season game and the bowl game. It’s a problem he fixed in later years by modifying the bowl practices. But a shorter layoff definitely would be a plus for TO. As well as the other teams would have less time to prepare for his unique offense.
Also, we would have had some advantage playing in cold weather games if we hosted first round games.
But perhaps the biggest advantage would have been our fitness and physical style of play. Other teams would be getting worn down week by week, while our teams would have been only getting stronger.
Omg....duh. I was thinking NU in general WITH a playoff. What makes it worse for me is.....the thread title is Tom Osborne.
I get an F in this thread. I'll see my way out. 🤣
Going through every years final rankings, and going off previous, I have mapped out Osborne's 1973-1985 12 team playoff based off of rankings alone, and conference champions. I didn't seed based on conference titles, because ain't nobody got time for that even if one is bored from 8 week surgery recovery. So if a conference champ from the ACC was previously ranked 16, they bumped the 12th ranked team assuming any agreement for a nation wide playoff would include most conferences. WAC wasn't included unless they were ranked in the top 12. There were a lot of Independents back then. And a lot of these Independants were considered on the rise, powers or even a blueblood. I would prefer the landscape looked like this still. Win your region or have a great record within 6 or a different conferences or you're left out. Can't take care of business? Tough shit. Another interesting thing is if you lost by 20 in the poll, the voters had absolutely no issue dropping you 10 to 15 spots, especially if it was your second or third loss. Happened to OSU a handful of times. Even when they would have made a theoretical playoff.
I'm doing this quick, so I am guessing accuracy is around 98 percent.
1973
1 Bama SEC
2 OU BIG 8
3 N.D. INDEPENDENT
4 OSU BIG 10
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 PSU BIG 10
7 USC PAC 8
8 TEXAS SWC
9 UCLA PAC 8
10 ASU WAC
11 TT SWC
12 NC ST ACC
Nebraska was ranked 12 previous to bowls but NC ST bumped for winning conference.
1974
1 OU BIG 8
2 BAMA SEC
3 OSU BIG 10
4 MICH BIG 10
5 USC PAC 8
6 AUBURN SEC
7 PSU INDEPENDENT
8 NEBRASKA BIG 8
9 ND INDEPENDENT
10 MARYLAND ACC
11 TEXAS SWC
12 BAYLOR SWC
1975
1 OSU BIG 10
2 aTm SWC
3 OU BIG 8
4 BAMA SEC
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 NEBRASKA BIG 8
7 ASU WAC
8 PSU INDEPENDENT
9 TEXAS SWC
10 COLORADO BIG 8
11 UCLA PAC 8
12 MARYLAND ACC
1976
Doesn't matter. Nebraska didn't make it in. TT does as the 9th seed, and NU beat them in the Blue Bonnet bowl. Colorado is a 12th seed. Won't see them anymore from here out until late 80s
1977
Nebraska once again ranked 12 going into the bowls. Bumped by 14th Clemson for an ACC representative.
1978
1 PSU INDEPENDENT
2 BAMA SEC
3 USC PAC 8
4 OU BIG 8
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 NEBRASKA BIG 8
7 CLEMSON ACC
8 ARKANSAS SWC
9 HOUSTON SWC
10 ND INDEPENDENT
11 GEORGIA SEC
12 MICHIGAN ST BIG 10
1979
1 OSU BIG 10
2 BAMA SEC
3 USC PAC 8
4 FSU INDEPENDENT
5 OU BIG 8
6 ARKANSAS SWC
7 NEBRASKA BIG 8
8 HOUSTON SWC
9 BYU WAC
10 PITT INDEPENDENT
11 TEXAS SWC
12 NC ACC
1980
1 GEORGIA SEC
2 FSU INDEPENDENT
3 PITT INDEPENDENT
4 OU BIG 8
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 BAYLOR SWC
7 ND INDEPENDENT
8 NEBRASKA BIG 8
9 BAMA SEC
10 PSU INDEPENDENT
11 USC PAC 10
12 NC ACC
1981
1 CLEMSON ACC
2 GEORGIA SEC
3 BAMA SEC
4 NEBRASKA BIG 8
5 SMU SWC
6 TEXAS SWC
7 PSU INDEPENDENT
8 USC PAC 10
9 MIAMI INDEPENDENT
10 PITT INDEPENDENT
11 NC ACC
12 IOWA BIG 10
1982
1 GEORGIA SEC
2 PSU INDEPENDENT
3 NEBRASKA BIG 8
4 SMU SWC
5 UCLA PAC 10
6 PITT INDEPENDENT
7 CLEMSON ACC
8 TEXAS SWC
9 WASHINGTON PAC 10
10 WEST VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT
11 ASU PAC 10
12 MICHIGAN BIG 10
1983
1 NEBRASKA BIG 8
2 TEXAS SWC
3 AUBURN SEC
4 ILLINOIS BIG 10
5 MIAMI INDEPENDENT
6 SMU SWC
7 GEORGIA SEC
8 MICHIGAN BIG 10
9 BYU WAC
10 IOWA BIG 10
11 CLEMSON ACC
12 UCLA PAC 10
1984
1 BYU WAC
2 OU BIG 8
3 WASHINGTON PAC 10
4 NEBRASKA BIG 8 RECEIVED FIRST ROUND BYE DUE TO PROBATION FOR FLORIDA
5 OSU BIG 10
6 SOUTH CAROLINA INDEPENDENT
7 BC INDEPENDENT
8 OKLAHOMA ST BIG 8
9 SMU SWC
10 LSU SEC
11 MARYLAND ACC
12 UCLA PAC 10
1985
1 PSU INDEPENDENT
2 MIAMI INDEPENDENT
3 OU BIG 8
4 IOWA BIG 10
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 NEBRASKA BIG 8
7 TENNESSEE SEC
8 AIR FORCE WAC
9 aTm SWC
10 UCLA PAC 10
11 MARYLAND ACC
12 LSU SEC
In case I don't finish this tomorrow. I'm going to assume that by 1995, it would have got to 16 teams.
1 NEBRASKA BIG 8
16 VIRGINIA ACC
8 FSU ACC
9 TEXAS SWC
4 TENNESSEE SEC
13 VIRGINIA TECH BIG EAST
5 OSU BIG TEN
12 USC PAC 10
2 FLORIDA SEC
15 MICHIGAN BIG 10
7 COLORADO BIG 8
10 KSU BIG 8
3 NW BIG 10
14 OREGON PAC 10
6 ND INDEPENDENT
11 KANSAS BIG 8
3 or 4 teams had 3 or 4 losses. You didn't need a 16 team playoff to know who the best team was that year. Spurrier even said it. You also didn't need a 16 team player to know who the GOAT was. Every iteration to improve this thing after the Bowl Coalition has ruined this sport. And it keeps getting worse and worse. Stop messing with it. If we ain't going back, then keep it right here. Lose 3 times, get f*ked.
I'm doing this quick, so I am guessing accuracy is around 98 percent.
1973
1 Bama SEC
2 OU BIG 8
3 N.D. INDEPENDENT
4 OSU BIG 10
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 PSU BIG 10
7 USC PAC 8
8 TEXAS SWC
9 UCLA PAC 8
10 ASU WAC
11 TT SWC
12 NC ST ACC
Nebraska was ranked 12 previous to bowls but NC ST bumped for winning conference.
1974
1 OU BIG 8
2 BAMA SEC
3 OSU BIG 10
4 MICH BIG 10
5 USC PAC 8
6 AUBURN SEC
7 PSU INDEPENDENT
8 NEBRASKA BIG 8
9 ND INDEPENDENT
10 MARYLAND ACC
11 TEXAS SWC
12 BAYLOR SWC
1975
1 OSU BIG 10
2 aTm SWC
3 OU BIG 8
4 BAMA SEC
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 NEBRASKA BIG 8
7 ASU WAC
8 PSU INDEPENDENT
9 TEXAS SWC
10 COLORADO BIG 8
11 UCLA PAC 8
12 MARYLAND ACC
1976
Doesn't matter. Nebraska didn't make it in. TT does as the 9th seed, and NU beat them in the Blue Bonnet bowl. Colorado is a 12th seed. Won't see them anymore from here out until late 80s
1977
Nebraska once again ranked 12 going into the bowls. Bumped by 14th Clemson for an ACC representative.
1978
1 PSU INDEPENDENT
2 BAMA SEC
3 USC PAC 8
4 OU BIG 8
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 NEBRASKA BIG 8
7 CLEMSON ACC
8 ARKANSAS SWC
9 HOUSTON SWC
10 ND INDEPENDENT
11 GEORGIA SEC
12 MICHIGAN ST BIG 10
1979
1 OSU BIG 10
2 BAMA SEC
3 USC PAC 8
4 FSU INDEPENDENT
5 OU BIG 8
6 ARKANSAS SWC
7 NEBRASKA BIG 8
8 HOUSTON SWC
9 BYU WAC
10 PITT INDEPENDENT
11 TEXAS SWC
12 NC ACC
1980
1 GEORGIA SEC
2 FSU INDEPENDENT
3 PITT INDEPENDENT
4 OU BIG 8
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 BAYLOR SWC
7 ND INDEPENDENT
8 NEBRASKA BIG 8
9 BAMA SEC
10 PSU INDEPENDENT
11 USC PAC 10
12 NC ACC
1981
1 CLEMSON ACC
2 GEORGIA SEC
3 BAMA SEC
4 NEBRASKA BIG 8
5 SMU SWC
6 TEXAS SWC
7 PSU INDEPENDENT
8 USC PAC 10
9 MIAMI INDEPENDENT
10 PITT INDEPENDENT
11 NC ACC
12 IOWA BIG 10
1982
1 GEORGIA SEC
2 PSU INDEPENDENT
3 NEBRASKA BIG 8
4 SMU SWC
5 UCLA PAC 10
6 PITT INDEPENDENT
7 CLEMSON ACC
8 TEXAS SWC
9 WASHINGTON PAC 10
10 WEST VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT
11 ASU PAC 10
12 MICHIGAN BIG 10
1983
1 NEBRASKA BIG 8
2 TEXAS SWC
3 AUBURN SEC
4 ILLINOIS BIG 10
5 MIAMI INDEPENDENT
6 SMU SWC
7 GEORGIA SEC
8 MICHIGAN BIG 10
9 BYU WAC
10 IOWA BIG 10
11 CLEMSON ACC
12 UCLA PAC 10
1984
1 BYU WAC
2 OU BIG 8
3 WASHINGTON PAC 10
4 NEBRASKA BIG 8 RECEIVED FIRST ROUND BYE DUE TO PROBATION FOR FLORIDA
5 OSU BIG 10
6 SOUTH CAROLINA INDEPENDENT
7 BC INDEPENDENT
8 OKLAHOMA ST BIG 8
9 SMU SWC
10 LSU SEC
11 MARYLAND ACC
12 UCLA PAC 10
1985
1 PSU INDEPENDENT
2 MIAMI INDEPENDENT
3 OU BIG 8
4 IOWA BIG 10
5 MICHIGAN BIG 10
6 NEBRASKA BIG 8
7 TENNESSEE SEC
8 AIR FORCE WAC
9 aTm SWC
10 UCLA PAC 10
11 MARYLAND ACC
12 LSU SEC
In case I don't finish this tomorrow. I'm going to assume that by 1995, it would have got to 16 teams.
1 NEBRASKA BIG 8
16 VIRGINIA ACC
8 FSU ACC
9 TEXAS SWC
4 TENNESSEE SEC
13 VIRGINIA TECH BIG EAST
5 OSU BIG TEN
12 USC PAC 10
2 FLORIDA SEC
15 MICHIGAN BIG 10
7 COLORADO BIG 8
10 KSU BIG 8
3 NW BIG 10
14 OREGON PAC 10
6 ND INDEPENDENT
11 KANSAS BIG 8
3 or 4 teams had 3 or 4 losses. You didn't need a 16 team playoff to know who the best team was that year. Spurrier even said it. You also didn't need a 16 team player to know who the GOAT was. Every iteration to improve this thing after the Bowl Coalition has ruined this sport. And it keeps getting worse and worse. Stop messing with it. If we ain't going back, then keep it right here. Lose 3 times, get f*ked.
Would have had at least another title or 2, IMO. No one was beating our title teams and I think we would have fared well in a grind it out playoff. Throw in teams coming to Memorial in off years and reduced time for teams to prepare for the option.
A random team gets 10 days to prepare for the option, while traveling and Christmas thrown in. Not a recipe for success. The deeper we went, the more best up our opponents would have been.
A random team gets 10 days to prepare for the option, while traveling and Christmas thrown in. Not a recipe for success. The deeper we went, the more best up our opponents would have been.
When you look at the seedlings, even at 98% accuracy (lol), I am not sure Nebraska wins many, if any, more.
I sort of agree with you. But the reason I like the Gill-Rozier-Fryar teams' chances is that they never lost at home or on a neutral field.
Those teams, and the 90s teams that won titles, are the only seasons in which I feel like NU truly had the best talent in the country.
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