Corn Nation: All Posts by Aaron MusfeldtNebraska Cornhuskers Football - Gimme Red 'Til I'm Dead!https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48565/corn-fave.png2013-08-28T17:00:09-05:00https://www.cornnation.com/authors/brandon-cavanaugh/rss2013-08-28T17:00:09-05:002013-08-28T17:00:09-05:00Nebraska - Wyoming. A trip to Laramie
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<p>In 2010, I decided to make the trip to Laramie to see the Huskers play the Cowboys at the highest elevation stadium in college football.</p> <p>The year was 2011. Nebraska had made the jump to the Big Ten and people were getting excited about the upcoming season. We had been given a daunting schedule for our first two seasons in our new conference; Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Before the season even began, people were circling October 1st on their calendars. "Are you going to the Wisconsin game? What about the next weekend when Ohio State visits?" That's all people wanted to talk about. The Big Ten. But there was another game on that schedule that interested me more. Wyoming.</p>
<p>Yea, I was excited about the new conference, but for years, I had been eying that game against the Cowboys. It suprised me that Nebraska had never played there considering that we had connections with the school. It's where Bob Devaney got his first head coaching gig and many of the folks out in Western Nebraska and Eastern Wyoming relate to both schools. Kids in the panhandle go to Wyoming. Kids from Wyoming interact with these Nebraska kids and build a bond with them. Since the schools rarely play, there is no rivalry there, just the mutual respect.</p>
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<a href="http://www.cowboyaltitude.com">
<h2>SB Nation Wyoming Cowboys Blog</h2>
</a> <span>For more on the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/wyoming-cowboys">Wyoming Cowboys</a>, check out SB Nations' Cowboy Altitude.</span>
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<p>So, like most non-routine decisions, I was indecisive. I wanted to go to Laramie, but I didn't exert the effort to get tickets. That spring, I looked up the Wyoming athletic department website and considered buying tickets. But if you wanted to go to the Nebraska game, you had to get season tickets. I wasn't sure I wanted to do that since I wasn't going to drive out to Laramie each week and use 'em. I guess I could donate them to a local charity, or back to the University. Regardless, I didn't pull the trigger on the tickets.</p>
<p>The first three games of the 2011 season came and went. The defense had plenty of holes in it against Fresno State and Washington. Fans were getting ancy and weren't sure how the team was going to handle things when conference season got started. On top of that, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/8290/jared-crick">Jared Crick</a> hadn't been playing and, just after the Wyoming game, decided to hang up the cleats for the year. Though it was the week of the Wyoming game, no one was focused on it. Wisconsin was two weeks away and the Cowboys were just a speed bump in our road to Big Ten glory.</p>
<p>Game week was here. Monday passed. Tuesday passed. Wednesday passed. Thursday, did not pass (well, eventually it did...). On the drive home from work that Thursday, I made my decision. I was going to Laramie (from Omaha), to see the game. I had no ticket and had never been to Laramie before. I called my dad up to see if he wanted to tag along. He declined, but offered me his car if I wanted it. I took it. My truck gets terrible gas mileage and it was 11 years old. I wasn't sure how it would handle a 1000 mile trip. So I stopped by my parents house that evening, traded vehicles and headed home.</p>
<p>When I got home, I told my wife that I was headed to Laramie for the game on Saturday. It wasn't a complete surprise to her. I had been thinking about it for years and talking about it for 6 months. When we got married, we did a wine tour around the state. Our goal was to hit up every winery we could, without using the interstate. But that's another story. Some of our favorite wines came from this winery out in Mitchell, Ne, so I promised her I would make a slight detour to go pick up a case. She was happy with that and I started packing.</p>
<p>I got to work the next day and told everyone that I was going to the game. "Do you have a ticket?" they would ask.</p>
<p>"No," I responded, "I'm just going driving out there and hope I can find one. If I can't, I'll just hop back in the car, listen to it on the radio and start heading back home." Either way, I was excited to be going back out west; to see the sand hills and the mountains.</p>
<p>After work on Friday, I gassed up the car, grabbed some munchies and hit the road. It was probably 4:30pm when I got out of Omaha. The plan was to drive to North Platte and see how I felt and, if I could go on, make it to Sidney.</p>
<p>Things were going really well until a few miles east of York. There was a semi that had gone off the road and cause a huge mess on the highway. Traffic was backup for 2 miles until the next exit where the state patrol was detouring cars off the interstate. The detour took traffic 10 miles north to the nearest highway and then back through York to connect up the interstate again. During the bumper-to-bumper 5 to 10 mph trip down to the next exit, I had plenty of time to check out my map of Nebraska to find an alternative route. I have one of those really detailed maps of the state back from when I use to storm chase in college. I found a little dirt road just off the interstate that should suffice.</p>
<p>It was a gamble. Ten miles of dirt road that may or may not even exist anymore. Though I couldn't drive as fast as I wanted to, I made it. It was fitting that next week would be our B1G opener because I could see about three yards ahead of me and a giant cloud of dirt. I made good time, didn't have any problems on the dirt road and came out on the other end ahead of the game. I stopped to pee at this little dive of a gas station right before the interstate entrance and I was off again.</p>
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<p>Most people hate the drive across Nebraska. I'm just the opposite. The scenery changes so much from Omaha to the panhandle. There are lots of hills between Omaha and Lincoln. West of Lincoln, the landscape is flat. There's no denying it. You can see for miles in certain places and the road is straight as an arrow. About mid-state, you see the transition from farmland to the sand hills. Past, Lexington, the sand hills can be seen off in the distance to the north. The interstate follows the Platte River until the Colorado boarder. Without that river, there would be even less to look at on your trip.</p>
<p>To pass the time, I turned on the radio. I listened to Sports Nightly until I lost the signal. As the sun started to set I could pick up other radio stations. I found myself listening to a Friday night game on the BYU radio network. I think they were playing Central Florida. It was a good game to listen too. Exciting until the end and it kept me awake</p>
<p>When I got to North Platte I decided to continue onward to Sydney. By the time I got there, I was ready to sleep. I parked at the rest area, climbed in the back seat of the car and curled up under a blanket. It was not comfortable. A 6'3" dude shouldn't be sleeping in the back seat of a car, but hey, I was trying to save a buck.</p>
<p>I had my alarm set for 6am the next morning, but I didn't need it. For starters, my body was an hour ahead of the local time, and I'm always up early in the morning, anyway. The slightest hint of sunrise convinced me that it was time to get up, stretch my legs and enjoy a few minutes on the quiet prairie.</p>
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<p>The game was at 5pm mountain time, so I had plenty of time to get to Laramie. At the Kimball exit, I took my detour north to the winery. I had never been on this road before, but it was a pretty drive with lots of rock formations, etc. My path took me through Gering and past <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nps.gov/scbl/index.htm">Scottsbluff Monument</a>. A few more miles down the road and I was in Mitchell. The sign on the door said they were closed. Really? I drove an extra hour out of my way to get here! I got out of my car and tried the door, anyway. It opened. Two people were playing cards and sipping on wine and they welcomed me in. I told them I was headed to Laramie for the game and that I was here to pick up a case of our favorite wine. They gladly sold to me and I was on my way again.</p>
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<p>I could have headed back south to catch the interstate, but since I had the time, I thought I would trail blaze. I headed west out of Mitchell and soon crossed over into Wyoming. Talk about nothing. I continued on to Torrington, WY and then cut south to Cheyenne. Everything was brown and dead, for the most part. I didn't even seen very many ranches; just endless open barren land. It was one of those roads where you hope you don't have car problems and gives you a new found respect for the people that traveled across this land in covered wagons. But, I had never seen this before and new roads are always exciting to me. There was nothing to listen to on the radio out here but some Catholic radio station and a syndicated NFL radio show. I wasn't in the mood for either on a Saturday morning. About the only sign of life out here was a few sunflower fields and a Husker party RV that passed my on the highway. Otherwise, I saw more ranchers driving their pickups than anything else. Very few of them didn't have a cowboy hat on.</p>
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<p>The traffic picked up once I hit Cheyenne, and west of town, the scenery changed. It became more mountainous, but not what I was hoping for. When you head to Denver, you get to see the front range off in the distance. Here along I-80, you gradually ascend until you just realize that you are in mountains. East of Laramie a few miles is the highest point on Interstate 80. I stopped for a few minutes to take a break and get a few pictures. This is where I got my first real sign that it was game day. I was seeing a lot of yellow Wyoming shirts here. People were headed to the game.</p>
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<p>Laramie is just down the hill a few miles from the highest point on I-80. It's not a very big town and was easy to get around in. I had a map that I printed off before I left, so I knew about where I wanted to park. I was hoping that there would be no "No Parking" signs in that area. I was in luck. I found my spot not a mile away from the stadium and just a few blocks from campus. I scouted out a Subway and had lunch and planned on coming back for dinner before going into the stadium. Now for the hard part. I made it to Laramie, but it was time to find a ticket.</p>
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<p>It was probably 1:00 local time when I got to campus. I had my sweatshirt around my waist, everything else packed into my camera bag and had a good four hours to find me a ticket. Easier said than done. I hung around the stadium for awhile. People were coming and going. There were lots of yellow shirts wandering around. There were lots of red shirts, too. There were even a lot of mixed shirts. Quite a few people had taken a Nebraska shirt and a Wyoming shirt, cut them both in half and sewed two half’s together. Lot's of T-shirts, but not many tickets.</p>
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<p>Some dude tried to give me a sheet of paper that had "WANTED TICKETS" written on it. At first I thanked him, but when I looked closer it had his phone number. Apparently he thought I would make a good billboard for him to get his tickets. There were lots of students trying to sell their tickets, but I didn't want to pay what they were asking. I had told myself that I wanted to only spend around $100, but I would go up to $120. It was a little harder because I only wanted one ticket. Most people had two or four and wanted to sell them together. I did find one guy who I thought I could get his ticket for $100, but he just wrote my name and number down on his list and told me he would get back to me. That kind of irritated me, but whatever, Rick.</p>
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<p>I decided to just wait it out. I realized that my best bet might be to just hold on until after the game started and get a cheap ticket, so I found a nice curb to sit on outside the stadium. I chatted with some Husker fans and realized that most of them were Western Nebraska folk that had been anticipating this game since the day it was scheduled. I hit up the subway again around 3:30 and then went back to my curb. It was then that someone was smiling on me.</p>
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<p>An older fella came up to me and asked me if I needed a ticket. His name was Denzel. I told him that I did and he said to come with him. He told me that he and his wife had gotten some tickets for their kids, but their daughter was nowhere to be found. When the two of us found his wife outside the gates, she was getting itchy about getting into the stadium and finding their seats. They couldn't get ahold of their daughter, though, and she was ready to sell me the ticket. I offered my cell phone to them and they tried to call her with that, but had no luck. Denzel decided that dumping the ticket and not having to listen to his wife complain was his best course of action so I got me my ticket. Not only that, he sold it to me for $50 (face value of $75). He said that the person who sold him the ticket wanted $50 so he offered it to me for the same amount. Not too bad. Thanks Denzel and Lois Weatherly from Tekamah. I had my ticket and it was time to go into the stadium, but not before Rick called. "Aaron do you still want this ticket?"</p>
<p>"Sorry Rick. I just got my pass, thanks, though." I smiled a bit when I said that.</p>
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<p>I got into the stadium just fine. (I always worry that my ticket will be invalid or a fake.) I wandered around for a bit before finding my seat. I started seeing shirts that said, "<a target="_blank" href="http://wyomingcowboys.cbscollegestore.com/store_contents.cfm?store_id=39&dept_id=19033&product_id=240323">I bleed brown and gold</a>". I didn't say it, but all I could think of was that people in Wyoming bled "piss and shit". The stadium wasn't very big, but it was very homely. There were evergreen trees behind the end zones. I thought that was really neat. It was late September up in the mountains and so there was a slight chill to the air. It was just a perfect night for a football game.</p>
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<p>I found my seat and as soon as I sat down, the gentleman behind me tapped my shoulder and asked if I was in the correct spot. He knew the person who owned these seats and apparently I was not that person. I showed him my ticket and he gave in all disappointed-like.</p>
<p>So I mentioned to you that I got a $75 ticket for $50, but I never mentioned where the seat was. I could hardly have asked for a better seat. I was at the 30 yard line, 8 rows behind the Nebraska bench. I could hear the players and coaches if they yelled loud enough.</p>
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<p>The stadium was rockin' at kick off, at least as well as a stadium that seats 30,000 can. It was about this time when the owner of my seat showed up. He gave me the once over and we exchanged pleasantries. "You know, I'd be curious to know how much you paid for your ticket," he said.</p>
<p>So I told him my story. "The guy who sold me this ticket said that he had bought it from a guy at the hotel this morning for $50. He thought it was some big wig in the Nebraska Legislature, but he couldn't tell. Since he got the ticket for $50, he offered it to me for the same."</p>
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<p>"Well good," he responded. "Because that's what I sold it for." He seemed pleased by this and throughout the game we chatted back and forth as best as two fans from opposing sides can. He called it the biggest game in the history of the program. I knew he wanted to beat us. All those Cowboy fans wanted it badly. This game was very important to them. Their mentality was that this was the best chance they would get at us. We have the Huskers on our home field. Their defense has been very bad the last couple weeks. The altitude will cause them problems. It all added up to be a big game.</p>
<p>Even with all of this, I didn't quite comprehend how important this game was until the attendance was announced. You could feel how disappointed the crowd was when we were notified that the attendance for this game ranked No.2 all time. Everyone wanted this to be the largest crowd in stadium history. Unfortunately, the Texas game in 2009 still ranked No.1. Sorry Huskers fans, Texas was beating us even when they weren't playing us.</p>
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<p>Nebraska had sent a pep band with the team to Wyoming. I found it interesting that the band was wearing their marching uniforms. We always wore our "warmup" outfits on the pep band trips when I was a geek. That and they never sent pep bands to non-conference games. I would come to find out that the reason they wore their marching uniforms was because they actually marched with the Wyoming band during halftime. Kind of cool. They did a tribute to the good relations the schools have and the for the people of Western Nebraska/Eastern Wyoming.</p>
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<p>As the game kicked off, l couldn't help but to just think about all the traveling and chances I took to get here and how perfectly it turned out. I sat back and soaked it all in. The game itself started out slowly. I spent two years living in the mountains of New Mexico. I moved from Omaha, Nebraska (1000 feet elevation) to Los Alamos, New Mexico (7500 feet elevation). Beautiful town and great job, but the first time I went for a jog, my lungs were burning after about four blocks. It took me a couple weeks to really get acclimated. You could tell that the team seemed to be struggling with the higher elevation. The game was close until after halftime. Nebraska ended up pulling away in the third quarter and iced it in the fourth, but it still was an entertaining game to watch.</p>
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<p>I was raised to enjoy every moment. Even though this wasn't an Ohio State or a Texas game, it was still a game. And this game matter to a lot of people. I realized as the game was in it's waning moments that it would probably be the only time Nebraska will ever visit Wyoming and I was glad I made the trip. I stayed behind for a bit after the stadium was mostly empty and then headed for my car. My body was still working on central time and the plan was to make it back to Sidney before I stopped for the night. It would give me a good head start for the next day when I was suppose to be in Omaha for an afternoon dinner. My father-in-law was coming to town that day and so there would be no detours on Sunday.</p>
<p>I listened to the postgame on the radio to keep me awake. The ride back up through the mountains was less spectacular without any daylight and I made it to Sidney in a couple hours. After another crappy night sleeping in the back seat of the car, I climbed a hill at the rest stop and watched the sunrise. Back across Nebraska I drove and made it back to Omaha by 2 in the afternoon.</p>
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<p>It was a fun trip and I'm glad I did it. So while the Wyoming game this weekend may be a boring, cupcake game to most Eastern Nebraska Husker fans (and the rest of the country), it is a meaningful game to me, and a few people out west.</p>
https://www.cornnation.com/2013/8/28/4663914/nebraska-wyoming-a-trip-to-laramieAaron Musfeldt2013-08-21T11:00:09-05:002013-08-21T11:00:09-05:00Cobby promoted to Vice President of Stupid Titles.
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<p>Annual promotions at Corn Nation result in big $$$ for Cobby.</p> <p>28 minutes ago * Lincoln, NE * Corn Nation</p>
<p><br>In a stunning move today, the President of Corn Nation, Jon Johnston, promoted Cobby to Vice President of Stupid Titles.</p>
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<p>"I felt it was time to give our most unbelievable writer a raise. His content might be second to some on Corn Nation, but his spirit keeps us going every day. We hope that this deal will lock down Cobby's services' with Corn Nation for years to come."</p>
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<p>As with any Vice Presidential position, he will get a ginormous raise, a stupid title, and be required to do very little to earn his compensation. Cobby's promotion comes on the heals of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2013/08/jim_tressel_getting_back_in_th.html#incart_flyout_sports">Jim Tressel's recent promotion at Akron</a> to "Vice President for Student Success". His former position with the Zips was "Vice President of Strategic Engagement." Along with his new title, the former Ohio State coach will be teaching a football coaching class at Akron. Below is a syllabus that I was able to obtain for the course he will teach.</p>
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<p>Weeks 1-3, How to hire good assistants. "Hey, they are the ones who really do all the work for you, right?"</p>
<p>Weeks 4-6, How to make your players bigger, stronger and faster than everyone else (but the SEC).</p>
<p>Weeks 7-9, How to make your players bigger, stronger and faster than everyone else (but the SEC) without getting caught.</p>
<p>Weeks 10-12, Proper email and social media protocol to avoid problems.</p>
<p>Weeks 13-15, How to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2011-12-21/chronology-ohio-state-scandal">give tattoos to your players</a> so they don't get free ones down the street.</p>
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<p>When I asked Cobby for an interview, he declined the request saying, "Now that I'm in the Good-Ol-Boys club, I've got a date with Kate Upton, the golf course, and the 19th hole. So long sucker."</p>
<p>/humor</p>
https://www.cornnation.com/2013/8/21/4643496/cobby-promoted-to-vice-president-of-stupid-titlesAaron Musfeldt2013-08-14T12:31:30-05:002013-08-14T12:31:30-05:00Does Nebraska Deserve a Top 25 Ranking?
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<p>Earlier today, <a target="_blank" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130814/sports-illustrated-preseason-top-25/?sct=hp_t11_a2">SI.com released their Top 25 preseason college football rankings</a> and Nebraska was not included. How can this be? Nebraska is a blue blood that has consistently won 9-10 games a year during Bo Pelini's tenure. They ran the gauntlet against the Big Ten's best last year and made it to the conference championship game. They hung with Georgia until the fourth quarter. The same Georgia team that almost knocked out Alabama in the National Championship game. I mean the SEC Championship game. How could they possibly be ranked below Michigan, Michigan State, or Northwestern; three teams they beat last year?</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Nebraska, no one outside of the state remembers this. Nationally, the perception of Nebraska is a team that wins the games that they are suppose to and then gets blown out by the better competition. The two loses last year to Ohio State and Wisconsin have defined the 2012 Huskers and that trickles over into this years preseason polls. On top of this, Nebraska had a lot of close games that could have gone either way. The Huskers, some perceive, were just fortunate to get those wins and could have easily been a 7-6 team.</p>
<p>Don't overreact to this Husker fans. Preseason polls are complete guesses based upon what happened the previous year and what the new year might bring. Nebraska is replacing a lot of their defense. Why should this years defense be any different if they spent most of last year on the bench behind the guys who struggled?</p>
<p>So vent if you must, but just realize that if the Huskers go out and win, they will soon be back in the Top 25. If they win a lot, they may even break into the Top 10. If they go undefeated, then we will be in Pasadena this year. The polls don't really matter. If you win, things tend to take care of themselves. Besides, we could be Wisconsin Badger fans. They probably have more of a beef than we do for being left out since they won the conference title last year.</p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote data-partner="tweetdeck" class="twitter-tweet">— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) <a href="https://twitter.com/Andy_Staples/status/367680339319488512">August 14, 2013</a>
</blockquote>
https://www.cornnation.com/2013/8/14/4621292/does-nebraska-deserve-a-top-25-rankingAaron Musfeldt2013-05-08T13:00:07-05:002013-05-08T13:00:07-05:00What Will Parity Scheduling Look Like?
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JMwoLsfaINhTqKSA3h161E-2LWY=/0x621:2667x2399/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/12755099/20130427_jla_ab8_499.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What might the future of Big Ten schedules look like as the conference moves to "parity scheduling" and a nine-game conference schedule? </p> <p>
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<p>With the <a href="http://www.cornnation.com/2013/4/28/4279028/big-ten-makes-east-west-official-nine-game-football-schedules-being" target="_blank">new Big Ten divisions set</a> for football, now is the time to start thinking about what the schedules will look like. In 2014/2015, the Big Ten will play eight conference games (six teams from our division and two cross-over games). Come 2016, that will change. There will be nine-game conference schedules with three cross-over games.</p>
<p>I decided to sit down and hammer out what the schedules might look like, using the following criteria:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Purdue and Indiana have the only protected cross-over game.</p>
<p>Attempt to play every school in the opposite division at least once during a four year period.</p>
<p>Made lost trophy games (Little Brown Jug, Ililbuck) more of a priority.</p>
<p>Integrated one version of a <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/75684/jim-delany-talks-divisions-league-schedules" target="_blank">"parity based" scheduling</a> concept as outlined by Jim Delany:</p>
<p><b>Delany:</b> The strong majority view was that we not have assigned crossovers, so we could play each other as much as we could over a long period of time. Obviously, Indiana and Purdue have the Bucket game, it's historic and we wanted to preserve that. It made Purdue comfortable going West, Indiana comfortable going East and it preserved that tradition.</p>
<p>An awful lot of our rivalries could be taken care of through divisional play. If you look at the schedules, what you'll see is over time, the crossovers rotate. In the first 18 years, you're going to see a lot of competition between teams at the top of either division. We call that a bit of parity-based scheduling.</p>
<p>You'll see Wisconsin and Nebraska and Iowa playing a lot of competition against Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan. But it will eventually rotate. BTN did some surveys. We didn't rely on them but we followed the results. We had 62,000 people who participated. By and large, this aligns with what we think is fan-friendly in terms of regionalization, protection of rivals and so on. About 80 percent of fans were supportive of nine or 10 games.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Delany states that it will be an 18-year cycle. I can do it in 12. Making this schedule wasn't as difficult as it seemed. I started off with defining how parity should be done. Mr. Delany is quoted as saying he wants to see Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin play Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State more. With that information I decided to start making groups of scheduling partners. You may want to click on this image to get a bigger copy of it (right click + open in new window).</p>
<center> <a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2585447/B1G_Groups.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2585447/B1G_Groups_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="B1g_groups_medium"></a> </center>
<p> </p>
<p>So what am I doing with this? As you can see, I created four groups of three teams. Purdue and Indiana are different because of their protected game and so they are excluded right now. Each school has a group of four teams that they are assigned to. The first three schools (light blue) are assigned based on what Jim Delany stated. Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State all get Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin. The opposite is also true. The other three schools from each division get each other (Michigan State, Maryland and Rutgers get Northwestern, Illinois and Minnesota). To make schedule rotations easier, each school also gets one school from the other pod (green). The choices I made were based upon the following criteria:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Preserving Illibuck as much as possible.</p>
<p>Preserving the Little Brown Jug as much as possible.</p>
<p>Preserving the budding Wisconsin-Michigan State rivalry.</p>
<p>To a lesser extent, getting Penn State into Chicago and Nebraska into New York City (expansion is all about TV bucks right?)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The remaining three schools from the other division (including Indiana and Purdue) were placed below each schools "group of four" pod.</p>
<p>So where am I going with all of this? The idea behind this scheduling concept is to play two schools from your group of four home-and-away for two years and then rotate with the other two schools in your group of four. The three remaining schools rotate each year with a full home-and-away cycle for them occurring once ever six years. Purdue and Indiana get two different schools each year, completing their full home-and-away cycle in six years.</p>
<p>Going back to the chart, you will also see numbers next to each school in a group. These numbers represent which part of the cycle you play that team. A "1" next to a school means that you play that school home-and-away the first two years. A "2" means you play that school in a home-and-away in years three and four. For the three odd teams, you play them in years 1, 2 and 3. Here is an example of what Nebraska's first six years might look like. Again, click on the picture to expand it.</p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2585711/Nebraska_Example.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2585711/Nebraska_Example_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Nebraska_example_medium"></a> <br id="1367852611764"><br id="1367852489862"></p>
</center>
<p>Comparing the two, you can see Michigan and Ohio State are home-and-away the first two years, while Penn State and Rutgers are home-and-away years three and four. Maryland, Michigan State, and Indiana rotate through a six year cycle. This works for the non-Indiana schools very well. When we include them, they will rotate two schools every year and will complete a home-and-home cycle with all cross division opponents in six years. Using this method, you can come up with the following cross over games for each school for the first six years. The next six years continue on the same path and you complete the cycle after 12 years.</p>
<p><b>West Division 2016-2021</b></p>
<center>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2585727/West2016Cross_medium.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2585727/West2016Cross_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="West2016cross_medium"></a></p>
</center>
<p><b>East Division 2016-2021<br></b></p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2585735/East2016Cross_medium.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2585735/East2016Cross_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="East2016cross_medium"></a></p>
</center>
<p>Completing the schedules is very easy. Within your division, you play 6 games, 3 at home and 3 on the road. Pick your poison and then rotate them the next year. You will come up with something similar to these schedules:</p>
<center>
<p align="left"><b>Nebraska</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586039/Nebraska.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586039/Nebraska_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Nebraska_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Iowa</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586071/Iowa.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586071/Iowa_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Iowa_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Minnesota</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586079/Minnesota.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586079/Minnesota_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Minnesota_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Wisconsin</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586087/Wisconsin.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586087/Wisconsin_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Wisconsin_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Illinois</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586095/Illinois.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586095/Illinois_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Illinois_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Northwestern</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586103/Northwestern.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586103/Northwestern_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Northwestern_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Purdue</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586111/Purdue.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586111/Purdue_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Purdue_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Ohio State</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586167/Ohio_State.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586167/Ohio_State_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Ohio_state_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Michigan</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586241/Michigan.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586241/Michigan_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Michigan_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Penn State</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586279/Penn_State.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586279/Penn_State_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Penn_state_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Michigan State</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586289/Michigan_State.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586289/Michigan_State_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Michigan_state_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Indiana</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586319/Indiana.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586319/Indiana_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Indiana_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Maryland</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586327/Maryland.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586327/Maryland_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Maryland_medium"></a></p>
<p align="left"><b>Rutgers</b></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586335/Rutgers.jpeg"><img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2586335/Rutgers_medium.jpeg" class="photo" alt="Rutgers_medium"></a> <br id="1367855852976"></p>
</center>
<p>NOTE: These are not the schedules for the following years. These are an example; a projection of what they might look like.</p>
<p>Are they fair? No. They are designed with the criteria that Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany set forth. I think it will help the weaker schools in the long run develop their programs and will help the stronger schools with their strength of schedule when the playoffs come around. Again, this is what I came up with. It is not set in stone. Delany mentions an 18-year cycle so it sounds they may already have a plan in place.</p>
<p>What do you think about this so called parity based scheduling?</p>
https://www.cornnation.com/2013/5/8/4304780/big-ten-parity-scheduling-predictions-2016Aaron Musfeldt2013-04-29T16:28:31-05:002013-04-29T16:28:31-05:00Jack Hoffman Visits The White House
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/udizgG_vVx6UDMAvgCS1kpOTA1M=/0x88:534x444/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/12426057/the_president_and_jack.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Official White House Photo by Pete Souza</figcaption>
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<p>"Mr. President, I'd like you to meet Jack Hoffman, star running back for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln."</p> <p>Just a quick note, Jack Hoffman took time out of his busy schedule today, to pay a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/8693903542/">visit to the White House</a> and meet President Barack Obama. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.curesearch.org/legacy.aspx?id=10201">TeamJack</a> continue to garner good vibes nationally from his touchdown at the spring football game.</p>
<p>From the <a target="_blank" href="http://journalstar.com/news/local/jack-hoffman-meets-president-obama/article_307431de-7726-5de2-9caf-4c2b04084bd5.html">Lincoln Journal Star</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The trip to Washington came about after Sen. Deb Fischer mentioned Jack's touchdown run to the president in casual conversation, said Jack's father, Andy Hoffman. Obama told Fischer that he knew about Jack from watching his touchdown run on television and that Jack should visit him at the White House.</p>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
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<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_Jmisv1Spck" frameborder="0" height="236" width="420"></iframe></p>
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https://www.cornnation.com/2013/4/29/4283500/jack-hoffman-visits-the-white-houseAaron Musfeldt2013-02-20T13:00:04-06:002013-02-20T13:00:04-06:00$$$ Expansion $$$
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v4A5quiTwWiqKpa3MxEYoAn8CWU=/0x46:4000x2713/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3685393/20121120_jla_so3_034.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>The Star-Ledger-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The week before Thanksgiving, we all came to realize a cold hard truth that we tried to hide from ourselves. We wanted to believe that the Big Ten wanted us because we were a good cultural fit for the conference. We wanted to believe that they actually wanted us and not just the dollar signs that followed with our football team. But after the Maryland/Rutgers invites, we see that expansion is only about the money. The new "tradition" is to see if you can make more money than the other guy. Nothing else.</p> <p>First off, I would like to welcome Maryland and Rutgers to the conference. We will definitely have to make friendly wagers pitting your seafood against our steaks. I'm looking forward to it. Also, I'm not against the Big Ten expanding. I'm just very cautious about it. So with that being said, let's talk about the latest expansion in our great conference.</p>
<p>I'm just going to say it. It's all about money and survival. If you think conference expansion is anything else, you are fooling yourself. So where does the money that keeps athletic departments running come from? It comes from television rights, advertising revenue and us. We buy tickets to games. We spend money on jerseys and hats. We give the concession stands five bucks for a bottle of water. We fork over $100 a month for cable to watch games and because we can't even view the "National Championship" game over the air anymore. We also watch BTN and the same Buffalo Wild Wings commercials over and over again.</p>
<p>Cable. That appears to be where everything is headed and what has fueled all this expansion. Cable companies pay a lot of money for the right to air sporting events. That amount is dependent on two things: viewer interest in the contests, and amount of likely viewers. The quality of the match up is the most important factor that can directly affect the viewer interest and amount of likely viewers.</p>
<p>I care when my team plays on T.V. I want to watch them. However, I don't care about other teams. Both of these are typical for the "average fan". The average fan does not care when two bad teams play each other. On the flip side, the average fan cares a little more than normal when their team is playing a marquee school. The average fan may be more interested in a marquee match up, even if it doesn't involve their school. Also, if their team sucks, the average fan will be less likely to watch them play. Do you think Nebraska Volleyball would have as good of a following if they weren't so dam good? In order to maximize the conferences rights agreement that will start in 2017, people in the newer markets must be interested in watching Big Ten athletics. More specifically, they have to be interested in football. In order for this to happen, the people in Baltimore, D.C. and New York/New Jersey have to be excited. The nationally recognized schools (Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska) must play Maryland and Rutgers (and anyone else they bring along for schools 15 and 16). Ideally, Maryland and Rutgers need to be good so that the interest in the games will also be maximized. If they suck, no one will be interested in watching them play.</p>
<p>The other aspect of cable for us is the BTN. This is the huge wild card in our revenue stream. It has so much potential, but it can also be our biggest let down. Games that don't get picked up by the rights agreements contracted through cable companies are played on the BTN. In order to watch the BTN, you have to subscribe to a cable package.</p>
<p>I don't have cable. I had it in college (when it was free). I had it in my first apartment (when it was free). Since then, I haven't found a reason to shell out the $100 a month (or whatever it is now a days) for 300 channels that I will never watch. I'm a man. When I go to the hardware store to by a replacement drill bit, I buy the size I need and spend $.50. I don't spend $25 on a complete set of bits to get the one I want.</p>
<p>That's what cable is. Excess. You are forced to buy a "package" deal in order to get the one bit you want. You like to watch ESPN, well, you also have to get MTV or the Bravo channel. It's a good strategy in the market place. You see it at restaurants all the time. They want to sell you an appetizer, an entree and then desert. Most of us can't even eat the entire entree, let alone the appetizer and desert. On top of that, they serve you so much food so that they can jack the prices up. Ask yourself this, why don't restaurants give you the option for half the food at half the price? Answer: they wont make any money. Any excuse to give you more than you want is an excuse to raise the price you pay, even if you don't need it or want it.</p>
<p>The majority of cable channels would not exist if they weren't included as part of a package that consumers were forced to buy. When the cable salesman calls me about once every month to try and get me to sign up for cable, my response is always, "Sure. I'd love cable. Send me a list of all the channels you have and I will check off the channels that I want and only pay for them." Their response is always, "Well, legally we can't do that." So what their are saying is that legally, we have to support all these crappy channels that no one cares about. It also tells me that (if their BS line is true) we have laws in place to protect bad and unneeded businesses. I'll stop short of getting to political, though.</p>
<p>Where am I going with all of this? Well, I see the future and cable's future is like the penny. It's not needed anymore but for whatever reason, we keep it around. Up until the mid-naughts, it cost around $.007 to make a penny. If you do the math, the U.S. government made $.003 per penny. Though that may not sound like much, if you make five billion of them per year, it adds up. Now, it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_%28United_States_coin%29#Metal_content_and_manufacturing_costs" target="_blank">costs $.0179 per penny</a>. That's almost double what it's worth.</p>
<p>"But Aaron, cable is not like the penny. I need to watch my television shows and Nebraska football."</p>
<p>That's fine. You can still do that, but why do you have to go through the cable company? What's the future? The future is your T.V. hooked up to the internet. It's turning your television on and it going to your "home page". From your home page you can subscribe to any channel you want and pay a small fee for that channel. You can then access any channel you have subscribed to from your home page. Don't like paying $100 a month for cable to get your BTN, ESPN, History Channel, Food Channel and 300 channels you don't want? Well, now you can subscribe to the 20 channels you do like and pay $20 a month (or whatever the individual channel charges) and get the products that YOU want.</p>
<p>It may take awhile for this to happen. More laws might be passed to protect the cable companies, but once this becomes available, I think a majority of people would prefer to spend less (in some cases a lot less) picking the channels they want instead of spending a lot more to get stuff they will never use.</p>
<p>What does that mean? It means that cable companies will become obsolete. Yea, cable/Internet companies will still be around because they will probably jack up their prices for your internet bandwidth usage.There might be a company that manages channel subscriptions for these cable stations (maybe the cable company), but why wouldn't ESPN just manage all of that themselves? Cut out the middle man.</p>
<p>No one wants the crappy cable stations. They cost us extra money and we have to flip through them in order to get to the channels that we really want to see. It's a huge reason why I don't have cable. When we get to the point where people will be able to chose which channels they want, the only people that will want to watch the PAC-12 Network or BTN or the SEC Network will be the people who care about those networks. Right now, people are being forced to subscribe to these stations. If you take a cable package, you have to pay for ALL the channels in the package. You may only have to pay $.10 per crap channel and it may not seem like much, but tack on 300 channels you'll never watch and the extra nickel that the cable company charges so they can make some money, it adds up. In the B1G footprint, the BTN can charge over $1.00 a month. And while that isn't too bad for us ($12 a year when we were paying $49.95 for a pay-per-view against The University of Tim-Buck-Two), if you don't like Big Ten sports (i.e. the people in New York City, Baltimore and D.C.), why bother with it?</p>
<p>Another strategy that happens a lot with cable packages is deal making between cable companies.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"I have this really awesome channel that lets you watch paint dry. Will you pick it up COX?" - Aaron</p>
<p>"Um. No. That's a waste of time and money." - COX</p>
<p>"Well, if you don't include the paint-drying channel in our package, you can't air our station." - ESPN</p>
</blockquote>
<p>ESPN is good at this. They take a cut of the profits of crap channels that are included in their package. For instance, to get my paint-drying channel on cable, I make a deal with ESPN that gives them $.02 per subscriber. I then charge $.05 and pocket $.03 per subscriber. Easy money for ESPN. Their product is in demand and the cable companies will go along with it. To make up that money, the cable company will now charge you $.10 for my paint-drying channel. Go me.</p>
<p>The B1G is banking on forcing people in the New York/New Jersey/Baltimore/Washington D.C. markets to have to pony up for another channel that they may or may not want. That's all nice and good for us right now, but what happens when people in those areas get to dump the package deals and get to choose the channels they want? Will they decide to subscribe to BTN? Will Rutgers and Maryland still be as valuable then? Maybe. That is the true long term risk that the B1G takes with expansion, in my opinion. A la carte cable. And it's the long term risk all conferences will take when banking on an independent cable station to add to their coffers. How long will cable companies be able to continue to force people to pay for channels they don't want?</p>
<p>Maybe I'm overreacting. When people get to choose, maybe instead of paying $100 to the cable company for 300 channels, we'll end up paying $100 to the 20 channels that we want. Instead of ESPN getting our $5 a month as part of the 300 channel package, they will get $30 a month from me for the single subscription. If that's the case, the world-wide leader will easily be able to fork up even more money for the rights to the games which, in turn, will go into the pockets of the B1G schools.</p>
<p>Another big concern with expansion is our product. It is a good product. People have been down on our conference this year, but it's just one year. Two of our best schools are on probation and one was undefeated. Better days on the field are ahead of us. Continued expansion along the East Coast will likely see some B1G schools rarely compete against schools that they have played against for 100 years. Ohio State is a prime target to anchor an eastern division. They may not see Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State, etc much in the future. Maybe they don't care. This would make things easy on renaming the divisions. We could just call the "western" division the Big Ten and the "eastern" division the Big East.</p>
<p>Stand by. Next article to come: Politics and Conference Expansion</p>
https://www.cornnation.com/2013/2/20/3675410/expansion-fueled-by-cable-and-the-big-risk-behind-itAaron Musfeldt2013-02-12T13:15:18-06:002013-02-12T13:15:18-06:00Nebraska hires Kate Upton to help with recruiting.
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rf60mQ2mh5G-jiQxiFXiUYnm5kg=/0x0:1000x667/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/8037971/139945454.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jonathan Ferrey</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model is expected to help Nebraska land a top 5 class nationally next year.</p> <p>In case you missed the news, the NCAA has adopted new rules this past week that have changed how recruiting works. Some of these rules even caused a stink at the Big Ten meetings this week. It was enough of a problem that the Big Ten is trying to table <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/jeremy-fowler/21687736/big-ten-schools-pushing-to-override-ncaa-recruiting-rules">three of the new policies</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Big Ten schools are in the process of sending official requests to override the NCAA's proposed ruling for unlimited communication with recruits, according to University of Nebraska faculty athletics rep Josephine Potuto.</p>
<p>The Big Ten on Monday announced the league's coaches and athletics directors are pushing back against a set of proposed NCAA rules, including:</p>
<p>*Proposal 11-2: Athletics Personnel -- Limitations on the Number and Duties of Coaches --Elimination of Recruiting Coordination Functions</p>
<p>*Proposal 13-3: Recruiting -- Deregulation of Modes and Numerical Limitations on Communication<br><br> *Proposal 13-5-A: Recruiting -- Elimination of Printed Recruiting Materials and Video/Audio Legislation</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What do these new rules mean? Well, among other things, recruits can be <a target="_blank" href="http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/71429/b1g-asks-ncaa-to-tabl-recruiting-rules">bombarded with text messages, phone calls and mailings from</a> universities. Athletic Departments can spend all sorts of money now on trying to lure recruits to their schools.</p>
<p>With that in mind we've already started seeing the top programs open up their pocket books to hire people that can help sway these recruits.<a target="_blank" href="http://coachingsearch.com/news/2473-breaking-nick-saban-hires-kevin-steele.html"> Alabama hired Kevin Steele</a> this morning specifically for recruiting. Nebraska has decided to go a step further and hire swimsuit model Kate Upton.</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fggNBr8tpC4" frameborder="0" height="236" width="420"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Said Nebraska Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"The Big Ten athletic directors agree that these new rules are not permissible and could cause a destabilization of the recruiting system. However, in case they are upheld, we at the University of Nebraska want to be prepared to "tackle" these recruits properly.</p>
<p>We believe that Kate Upton's "assets" can help us. Her exclusive contract with the University of Nebraska will go a long way into returning Nebraska to the glory days. Kate's job description will include meeting the recruits for "one-on-one" visits and spending some quality time with them.</p>
<p>We look forward to having Kate on our team and to the many prosperous years ahead of us."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other news, LSU is in contact with the "<a target="_blank" href="http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/where-is-the-house-of-the-rising-sun/Content?oid=1331493">House of the Rising Sun</a>" for their services while Texas and Texas A&M are in a tussle for the "<a target="_blank" href="http://www.theatrehistory.com/american/best_little_whorehouse_001.html">Best Little Whorehouse in Texas</a>". God has an option to join Notre Dame's recruiting team, while <a target="_blank" href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1641820&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fncaaf%2F2013%2F01%2F30%2Fvanderbilt-coach-james-franklin-apologizes-to-nick-saban-after-calling-him-nicky-satan%2F1879279%2F&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cornnation.com%2F2013%2F2%2F12%2F3981050%2Fnebraska-hires-kate-upton-to-help-with-recruiting" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">Satan is no longer available.</a> He signed on with Alabama last week as reported by Vanderbilt head coach, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/115134/james-franklin">James Franklin</a>.</p>
<p>There are also unconfirmed reports that Kaley Cuoco is in talks with UNL about joining the staff. Her character on the hit television show "Big Bang Theory", Penny, is from Nebraska. More new to come when it's available.</p>
<p>/satire<br>/humor</p>
https://www.cornnation.com/2013/2/12/3981050/nebraska-hires-kate-upton-to-help-with-recruitingAaron Musfeldt2013-01-30T16:00:07-06:002013-01-30T16:00:07-06:00Big Ten to Rename Divisions "FOX" and "ESPN"
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/269hauEOV1CdscBzGJWeNRKBIsc=/0x0:1000x667/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/7363547/138351397.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Handout</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In an historic move, the Big Ten has sold off it's naming rights to their division names. On top of that, the future of the Star Wars franchise is at stake!</p> <p align="left">We'll just get right to the press release:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><i>Big Ten Headquarters - Chicago, IL</i>. Today the athletic directors of the Big Ten voted to rename the divisions used in football from "Legends" and "Leaders" to "FOX" and "ESPN". This decision was made because of the wonderful partnership the conference has between the two networks. As you know, ESPN owns the rights to the Big Ten's first tier televised games, while FOX is a partner with the BTN.</p>
<p>The resolution passed with a unanimous 12-0 vote. Though new members Maryland and Rutgers were not allowed to vote (they will be allowed to vote on all league issues starting July 1st, 2014), they were present and participated in the discussion. Their input on the subject was taken into account.</p>
<p>We are also excited to announce that the Big Ten Championship game will also determine the opening fanfare of future Star Wars movies. Said commissioner Jim Delaney, "This is an historic day for the conference. We take fan input very seriously and even though we believe "Legends" and "Leaders" are wonderful division names, we decided to change them for the fans. This new setup should resonate throughout not only our conference, but the entire world of college football."</p>
<p>It has not yet been decided which teams will play in the "FOX" division and which will play in the "ESPN" division.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is very good news indeed! After all, I was so worried after <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/business/disney-buying-lucasfilm-will-release-new-star-wars-movie-2015-1C6761343" target="_blank">Disney agreed to buy Lucasfilm</a> last fall. Each of the first six Star Wars films opened up with the 20th Century FOX fanfare. They even made a special fanfare just for Star Wars. Heck, whenever I see any movie with the fox fanfare, I think of Star Wars. I don't even associate it with FOX even though the word FOX is staring me right in the face.</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><iframe width="420" height="236" frameborder="0" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A_5LhRNb2pg"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>20th Century FOX is a subsidiary of News Corp. News Corp. also owns the FOX network and they are a direct competitor with Disney, who owns ESPN. Why on earth would Disney ever use the FOX theme as an introduction to their new line of Star Wars movies? They wouldn't. Can you wait to see the castle and the "When you Wish Upon a Star" theme right before the trumpets blare the Star Wars intro? It's a crazy world we live in.</p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><iframe width="420" height="236" frameborder="0" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mRHrwM814Ds"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>After the press release came out, I did what any good journalist did. I staked out the Big Ten headquarters for Jim Delany to bombard him with questions about how it will all work? When I did find him, he directed me and all of my questions to his lackey, Jimbo Butterfingers.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1166528/someguyplayingpiano.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img width="396" height="583" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1166528/someguyplayingpiano_medium.jpg" class="photo" alt="Someguyplayingpiano_medium"></p>
<p>I didn't really get any straight answers out of Jimbo, but I'm pretty sure he said something along the lines of best 2-out-of-3 determines the fanfare logo. I also tried to sneak in a few questions about possible division alignment and/or more expansion news, but all I got was the same song and dance routine from him. He was a tough nut to crack, but I promise you, loyal readers of Corn Nation, I will get to the bottom of all of this and find the answers. In the mean time, let's think of some cool shirt ideas for Nebraska in the "FOX" division or "ESPN" division!</p>
<p>/humor<br>/sarcasm</p>
https://www.cornnation.com/2013/1/30/3878458/big-ten-to-rename-divisions-fox-and-espnAaron Musfeldt2012-12-13T07:00:59-06:002012-12-13T07:00:59-06:00Redemption at the Capital One Bowl
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v-AQBN7jNz3iOwX68mEuOSl4g1g=/0x80:4000x2747/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/4890355/157306262.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Gregory Shamus</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So lately, I've been all about the humor stories. They're fun. If you understand where I’m going, you probably get a chuckle out of them. At least that's my goal. I don't like a 100% serious blog because people tend to get too anal about things in the comments and discussion sections. We need to make sure we lighten up and have fun here.</p>
<p>Today, I need to be a bit more serious, though. You see, after the Big Ten championship game, I just completely lost interest in the football team. We were this close to a conference title and we effed it up. Royally. I haven't really cared about the bowl game or keeping up on the latest events during bowl preparations because I've been focusing on other things in life. Nebraska Football hasn't been anywhere near my top priority since December 1st.</p>
<p>I'm not getting off the bus. This is our team and we need to support them. Yes, they got their you-know-whats handed to them against Wisconsin. I watched the whole game even though I knew that it was over at half time. Why? Because watching the Huskers is one of my favorite things to do and I would hate to live in a world where that didn't exist.</p>
<p>Losses happen. Blowouts have happened more lately than I would like to see, but it's time to move on and get excited about the future. Good coaches and players learn and get better. Hopefully this team will learn more about themselves from this loss than they have learned from all ten of their wins this year.</p>
<p>Ten games. That's how many they've won so far this year. That's a good thing. No, it's a great thing. Yea, they might finish 10-4 if they lose to Georgia, but they might also beat the Bulldogs and end the season at 11-3. They haven't won eleven since 2001. That record would look pretty good after some bad losses this year. Not too many teams will have eleven wins when the book closes on the 2012 campaign.</p>
<p>The bowl game should be a big event for this team. It's a chance at redemption. Nebraska hasn't made it back to elite status yet, but it is an opportunity to beat a Top 5 team. Winning this game won't make them elite and no one expects them to come out on top. However, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain on January 1st. It's a good position to be in.</p>
<p>I liked that Tom Osborne and Bo Pelini pushed for this game. Maybe it signals a change in scheduling philosophy. If they want to play the big time schools on the big stages, maybe we will see more of that during the regular season non-conference schedule. And why would they want to play a powerhouse SEC team unless they think they have a shot at beating them.</p>
<p>Georgia got smoked by South Carolina this year. They can be beat. When a team throws a few wrinkles at them, they get confused and give up big plays. There's nothing fancy about what they do. Just like Bo, they like to line up and execute plays. Letter the better team win.</p>
<p>Keep supporting your team. Don't be the jackass that calls into the radio show and says, "Bo Pelini is stooopid." He is our last link to the Tom Osborne era. TO has been a mentor to Bo the past few years. He has helped Bo restart the walk on program and given him advice about how things work at Nebraska and fan expectations. That will never happen again. No future Nebraska football coach will have Tom Osborne to learn from. The next guy will be from outside of the Nebraska program. We all know the results the last time that happened. Be careful what you wish for. Bo Pelini is a coach that consistently wins 9-10 games a year. He graduates a lot of players and his team keeps out of trouble. The only thing you should expect more from your football team is to play as well as they can every week and the occasional special season. Given time, as long as Bo keeps learning and adapting, he will give us those years where our team will push for greatness. We will never win if we become one of those schools that hires/fires coaches every few years. Ahem, CoLOLrado.</p>
<p>If you are on the fence about going to Orlando, just go. It will be a fun trip regardless. It's freaking Florida in December after all. Heck, we should invite <a target="_blank" href="http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=16&f=2947&t=11044973">Georgia Tech and Florida State to the Big Ten</a> just for this reason. If you are not going to Orlando, watch the game; the whole game. If you're in Lincoln, show up for the team when they arrive home from the bowl to support them. Give those seniors one last send off the way Nebraska football players should receive. Teach your kids about adversity and that sometimes life sucks, but you have to get up off your feet and work to make things better. How you handle life’s trials helps shape the person you become.</p>
<p>(pauses)</p>
<p>Of course all of this really means nothing. I just wasted an hour of my life writing this because the <a target="_blank" href="http://global.christianpost.com/news/mayan-2012-prophecy-leads-to-surge-in-one-way-flights-to-france-turkey-86469/">world is going to end in a few days</a>. Our last bowl game will probably be the Beef O' Brady's Bowl. Go Ball State. Kick the crap outta UCF. I guess. At least we'll never have to play Maryland. Those bastards think they can <a target="_blank" href="http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/67782/maryland-to-get-front-loaded-deal-from-b1g">get more $$$ from the Big Ten </a>because they are special. You'll still be in debt when the world ends MaryLOLand. Take that to the bank. GBR.</p>
https://www.cornnation.com/2012/12/13/3760730/redemption-at-the-capital-one-bowlAaron Musfeldt2012-11-16T07:01:17-06:002012-11-16T07:01:17-06:00The Last Hurrah
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KM27G7TRr0K9pWG-C3jvIUBJygo=/39x167:2726x1958/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3343135/152036054.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Eric Francis</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As Nebraska's season keeps chugging along towards Indianapolis, and possibly Pasadena, we stop today to take note that for our Seniors, tomorrows game against Minnesota will be their last home game.</p> <p>They have been through a lot during their 4-5 years in Lincoln. They got to see a lot of things and visit a lot of places. Some were here for Bo Pelini's first year in 2008. That year the team struggled against the good teams in the Big XII and lost to Oklahoma and Missouri. But they had a great win against Clemson in the Gator Bowl. Most were here for the 2009 team that rode the defense to a one point loss to Texas in the Big XII title game. That year also featured the 9-7 loss to Iowa State at home and the 33-0 drubbing of Arizona in the Holiday Bowl. Definitely some highs and some lows for the players, coaches and fans. The 2010 season saw some interesting times for our seniors. Nebraska was a lame duck Big XII team and was going through one last season against teams they had played against for 100 years. Everyone was against them. That team finished 10-4 with a Big XII title game loss to Oklahoma and a heartbreaking loss to Washington in the Holiday Bowl. Our seniors also got to be apart of Nebraska's first Big Ten team that finished 9-4 and this year they are now on the verge of a Big Ten title.</p>
<p>Every year we say goodbye to our seniors and every first week of February we say hello to our incoming freshmen. It's a cycle that has been going on for years and will continue to go on for as long as we will be around. This Saturday evening, the senior class will walk off that field for the last time. Hopefully, they will relish that moment and remember it forever. In a year from now, some of them maybe playing professionally; some may be in grad school and others will be in the workforce. They will become fans like you and I. The years will pass and they may visit from time to time to see their old stomping grounds or to take in a game. They will chat with friends and with strangers. They will tell war stories about what happened on the field. About that "one time". They will live their lives a proud Husker.</p>
<p>So here's to you seniors. You did well in school. You stayed out of trouble and you've brought us a lot of good memories. There is no Nebraska Football without you. You make us very proud just by playing hard and doing things the right way.</p>
<p>Remember to soak it all in on Saturday. When you wake up that morning, take a minute to remember all the good times you had at Memorial Stadium. Enjoy the smell of the food and watching the fans when you are doing your stretches and pregame warmups. Remember the last pregame trot onto the field while the crowd is roaring in approval. Take a moment at some point while you are on the field to look to your left and to your right. Remember the guys that have fought with you and bled with you. They are your brothers and they will be your brothers forever. Finally, get that first touchdown so that you can watch those red balloons fly just for you that one last time. Those balloons signify all that you have worked for and are one of the last steps you need to take to get that conference title you crave so bad.</p>
<p>And as far as the rest of the school year? Enjoy it. That spring semester will go VERY fast. Then you'll have to get a job. There's no time like the present. Remember it well.</p>
<p>Kenny Anderson - Omaha, NE<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/76910/justin-blatchford">Justin Blatchford</a> - Ponca, NE<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/76903/rex-burkhead"><br>Rex Burkhead</a> - Plano, TX<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/132017/joseph-carter"><br>Joseph Carter</a> - Jackson, SC<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/76928/seung-hoon-choi"><br>Seung Hoon Choi</a> - Lincoln, NE<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37053/will-compton"><br>Will Compton</a> - Bonne Terre, MO<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37071/ben-cotton"><br>Ben Cotton</a> - Ames, IA<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/132038/jase-dean"><br>Jase Dean</a> - Bridgeport, NE<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37047/taylor-dixon"><br>Taylor Dixon</a> - Wauneta, NE<br>Sean Fisher - Omaha, NE<br>KC Hyland - Omaha, NE<br>Justin Jackson - Roca NE<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37045/micah-kreikemeier">Micah Kreikemeier</a> - West Point, NE<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37078/brett-maher">Brett Maher</a> - Kearney, NE<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/76933/p-j-mangieri">P.J. Mangieri</a> - Peoria, IL<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37059/matt-manninger">Matt Manninger</a> - Omaha, NE<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37025/tim-marlowe">Tim Marlowe</a> - Youngstown, OH<br>Eric Martin - Moreno Valley, CA<br>Connor McDermott - Omaha, NE<br>Cameron Meredith - Huntington Beach, CA<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37017/courtney-osborne">Courtney Osborne</a> - Garland, TX<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37031/steven-osborne">Steven Osborne</a> - Garland, TX<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37029/kyler-reed">Kyler Reed</a> - Shawnee, KS<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37018/p-j-smith">P.J. Smith</a> - River Ridge, LA<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/132035/daimion-stafford">Daimion Stafford</a> - Norco, CA<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37055/baker-steinkuhler">Baker Steinkuhler</a> - Lincoln, NE<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37066/graham-stoddard">Graham Stoddard</a> - Lincoln, NE<br>Brandon Thompson - The Woodlands, TX<br><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/37046/alonzo-whaley">Alonzo Whaley</a> - Madisonville, TX</p>
<p><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/804882/2011meredithiowa.jpg" target="_blank"></a> <br id="1353024278729"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="2011meredithiowa_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/804882/2011meredithiowa_medium.jpg"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Cameron Meredith</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/427660/burkhead16001200.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Burkhead16001200_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/427660/burkhead16001200_medium.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Rex Burkhead</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/805039/2011willcomptoniowa.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="2011willcomptoniowa_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/805039/2011willcomptoniowa_medium.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Will Compton</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/707310/2011mahermocs.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="2011mahermocs_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/707310/2011mahermocs_medium.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Brett Maher</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/494587/2010cutimmarlowe.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="2010cutimmarlowe_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/494587/2010cutimmarlowe_medium.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Tim Marlowe</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/476134/2010muosborne2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="2010muosborne2_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/476134/2010muosborne2_medium.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Courtney Osborne</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/170565/HUB_KylerReed_400.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Hub_kylerreed_400_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/170565/HUB_KylerReed_400_medium.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Kyler Reed</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/771726/2011staffordspartans.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="2011staffordspartans_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/771726/2011staffordspartans_medium.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Damion Stafford</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/466490/2010nutxsteinkuhler.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="2010nutxsteinkuhler_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/466490/2010nutxsteinkuhler_medium.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Baker Steinkuhler</p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="left">*Please note that I couldn't get a picture up for everyone.</p>
https://www.cornnation.com/2012/11/16/3651114/nebraska-senior-day-2012Aaron Musfeldt