Husker basketball coach Doc Sadler announced today that Christopher Niemann, a 6'10" transfer from Germany, retore his ACL last week.  Niemann originally injured his knee in March and was cleared to resume playing when the knee failed again.  An erie parallel with the case of quarterback Kody Spano, who tore his ACL in spring practice and then reinjured it early in preseason practice.

Coincidence?  Maybe.  But just the same, that should raise eyebrows in the Nebraska athletic department to look into this situation further.  In both of these cases, I was surprised to hear that both players were already cleared to return to action four to five months after ACL surgery.  All ACL injuries are not the same, but the general rule seems to be six to nine months.  And in actuality, it may take up to a year to fully recover the balance and agility in the knee; a condition known as proprioception. 

In the cases of Spano and Niemann, it's only natural to raise questions about what went wrong.  Was there something wrong with the original surgeries?  Was there something wrong with the rehabilitation plan?  Was it simply bad luck?  Or were these athletes prematurely cleared to resume competitive play?  Only medical experts are qualified to answer those questions, not armchair quarterbacks and bloggers (even if they've stayed at a Holiday Inn Express).  But the question is valid.

And hopefully it's being asked in the Husker athletic program, as it's only inevitable that another athlete will suffer an ACL injury.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-12, 8-8 Big XII) at New Mexico Lobos (21-11, 12-4 MWC)

9 PM, The Pit, Albequerque, NM

TV: ESPNU; Radio: Husker Sports Network

Winner Plays: Notre Dame/UAB winner

This is an exciting bracket within the NIT -- Kentucky, New Mexico, and Notre Dame all have good hoops traditions, and two arch rivals -- Creighton and Nebraska -- could theoretically meet for a trip to New York.  It's quite a fun time.

Of course, none of that matters to Husker fans if New Mexico holds the home court tonight.  Nebraska will likely not play a game in the State of Nebraska before the regional finals, barring two upsets tonight.  We've struggled on the road at times, so let's hope that tonight is not one of those nights.

Ade is hobbled a bit, and was limited in practice tonight, but I don't expect it to slow him down.  If the Huskers lose, it's his last game anyway, so I expect him to give every little bit he has.  Same goes for everyone else -- one thing you can say about Doc Sadler's players is that they always give their all.

Join us tonight for what may be the final game of the season.  Hopefully, we can keep playing this weekend, maybe even in Lincoln.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-12, 8th, Big XII) at New Mexico Lobos (21-11, T1st MWC)

After shocking the surprisingly strong Mountain West Conference and finishing tied for 1st, the Lobos probably hoped they could make the NCAA Tournament.  Nebraska, on the other hand, after some close losses at home and a few bad losses saw its season vary narrowly between an NCAA tournament run and a CBI appearance, ending up disappointingly with an NIT road game, and a very tough region.

The Lobos have a lot going for them.  The Pit, New Mexico's famous home court, is a big home-court advantage (81% of home wins in 40+ years), and have first-team All-MWC Guard Tony Danridge, who has averaged 22.4 points over his last 6 games.  Expect Ade Dagunduro -- NU's best defender -- to match up all night with Danridge.

Nebraska and New Mexico had three common opponents: The Huskers went 3-0 against Creighton, TCU, and Texas Tech (with road wins at TCU and Tech), while the Lobos went 2-2 (sweeping TCU, but losing at Creighton and Texas Tech).

It will be a difficult endeavour for the Huskers to pull out a win, but they can do it.  Win, and they likely head to South Bend to play Notre Dame.  Lose, and the season's over.

ESPNU Regional Television, on behalf of the Big 12 Conference, will be engaging fans on Twitter during the entire Big 12 tournament. Their twitter name is @Big12Network, and they will be accompanied by one of their on-air personalities, Doug Bell.

Doug Bell's Twitter name is @DougBellESPN. They will be sending out messages throughout the tournament. Bell is a sportcaster from Birmingham, Alabama. Doug has been the host of Studio 66 for 12 years and also does play-by-play for ESPNU college football and basketball.

I asked Mike Moore, Executive Producer of ESPN Regional TV, about the network use of twitter as a communication medium. Moore has worked for ESPN for 17 years and have coordinated ESPN Regional TV Big 12 coverage since 1994.

- What do you hope to accomplish by using twitter during the Big 12 tournament? Why twitter instead of, say, live blogging?

We want to use Twitter to engage Big 12 fans at home, at work and in the arena. Unlike blogs and Facebook which tell us "what happened," twitter enable to find out "what's happening."  We hope to get the pulse of the fans during the games and then react on-air to their questions and comments.  It also give the fans a chance to interact directly with people connectly to the Big 12 Network.

- Doesn't the use of twitter violate NCAA blogging restrictions?

The rules only apply to NCAA sanctioned Championships.  Not regular season or conference tournaments.

- There are a lot of fans (like myself) who don't really understand how the "Big 12 Network" works. What areas does the Big 12 Network cover?

The Big 12 Network is the name of the conference's regional syndication package and airs on 40 stations in the Big 12 territory.  ESPN Regional and the conference work closely on the distribution and content.

I would have liked to ask more questions, but we were working within a very short time frame.

Big 12 fans might find twitter a useful alternative, as it can be used to send updates to mobile devices, for comments, or score updates. Remember that all SB Nation sites can be accessed by mobile device, using the address http://mobile.domainname.com. for Corn Nation ---> http://mobile.cornnation.com.

You can follow our twitter feed @Cornnation.

Big XII Tournament, Opening Round

Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK

Nebraska vs. Baylor, and other games

11:30 AM

TV: Big 12 Network (all games); Radio: Husker Sports Network (NU only)

Today is the day when some Big XII teams will fight to maintain what good karma they've accumulated and others will try for their last push for the Big Dance, the Little Dance, or even one of the side events.  For some teams, this will be the last day of the season.  Others will get to play on at least one more day.  It's Conference Tournament time, and only 4 shopping days remain before Selection Sunday.

Nebraska plays Baylor to tip it off at 11:30, followed by Texas-Colorado at 2.  The second session features OSU-ISU at 6, followed by A&M-Texas Tech at 8:30.  This thread will be open for all 4 games, though we care more about the first one (for obvious reasons).

News: In a side note, the Hendricks family, native to Lincoln, has pledged $10M to a new basketball practice facility (which would pay for more than half the project).  This is not only a huge donation, but it's also huge for a basketball-specific project.

It all comes down to 4 days in Oklahoma City for the Cornhusker's last chance at an NCAA Tournament appearance.  It's somewhat painful to think that the Huskers let slip away enough games that just winning two (say, the two ended by horrendous calls against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M) and they would have a first-round bye in league play and be a virtual lock in a weak tournament field that may yet include Northwestern, the only BCS-league school never to make an NCAA Tournament.

The Huskers probably need to win the automatic bid to get in, but might have an outside shot at an at-large berth should they reach the finals.  The bad news is that the Huskers have to play Kansas in the second round should they advance; the good news, though, is that NU is on what appears to be the weaker side of the bracket.  Both Oklahoma teams (who will enjoy a massive home court advantage) are on the far side, as are white-hot Texas A&M, flavor-of-the-month Missouri, and the league's best player on a bad team, Craig Brackins of Iowa State.  Texas Tech, the worst team on that side, just blew out regular season champ Kansas on Wednesday.

The Husker's bracket is actually a lot easier, despite the presence of the Huskers' personal mongoose in the second round.  Baylor is a shell of what it was expected to be, Kansas State and Texas haven't exactly been show-stoppers, Kansas is consistent, but not even half the juggernaut they were last year when they wanted to be, and Colorado is Colorado.  Better still, the Huskers are 5-3 against teams on their side of the bracket, whereas they are 3-5 against teams on the far side.

I expect the Huskers to make it to the 2nd round and that's about it.  But, as tight as the top 8 teams in the league really are (and Baylor, at #9, isn't far behind, if they put it together), don't be too surprised if the Huskers reach the title game.  After all, stranger things have happened.

The First Round:

(8) Nebraska vs. (9) Baylor -- Didn't we just play this game?  Nebraska just went to Baylor's home court, on senior day, and beat the Bears.  This is on a neutral site, and Nebraska has a little more to play for.  Nebraska still plays smothering defense, and Baylor still doesn't play defense.  I like the Huskers, by a similar score to Saturday.

(5) Texas vs. (12) Colorado -- I would just dismiss this right now as a Texas win, but Colorado always seems to take their first-round opponent to the wire when they're in the 11 or 12 spot, not to mention the Buffs took Texas to OT earlier this year.  Texas should win, but they may have to sweat a lot.

(7) Oklahoma State vs. (10) Iowa State -- This could be Craig Brackins' last game in a Cyclone uniform.  OSU has been white-hot, and will have the crowd on its side.  An upset here would destroy all the good karma the Cowboys have built.  I like the favorite, but it will be closer than it should be.

(6) Texas A&M vs. (11) Texas Tech -- A&M looked like it was headed for the scrap heap before exploding for 6 straight wins to end the year.  Tech has been awful when not playing Kansas.  Aggies can't afford to lose this game, especially if Kansas State wins its game against the Colorado/Texas winner.  A&M should run away with it.

The game thread will be up tomorrow morning (tip is at 11:30), although many of you will be at work, and will be for all day's action.  First round games are on Big 12 Network; Thurday's Kansas vs. NU/Baylor winner will be on ESPN2.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (17-11, 7-8) at Baylor Bears (16-12, 5-10)

3 PM, Ferrell Center, Waco, TX

TV: Big 12 Network, ESPN FullCourt/ESPN 360; Radio: Husker Sports Network

The regular season ends today in a bit of an anticlimax.  The Big XII's most disappointing team hosts its scrappiest in a preview of the rematch Wednesday morning.  The Huskers are playing for one thing, and one thing only: finishing the season with a non-losing conference record for the first time in a decade.  The Bears are playing for pride and senior day; the hopes of a 2nd straight NCAA appearance after being ranked most of the non-conference season evaporated when they lost 9 of their last 11 games.

This is a matchup of teams that are equal and opposite in many ways.  Both teams are guard-heavy, but use them differently.  The Huskers try for efficient offense and smothering defense, whereas Baylor tries for high-fire offense and occasional defense (part of the reason they have struggled).

On paper, Baylor is the better team, but their lack of defense -- and struggles with the efficient defenses of teams like Missouri, Texas, and Kansas -- casts doubt on their ability to handle the Huskers.  On the flip side, Baylor's defense has been absolutely atrocious, but so has Nebraska's offense.  The bright side: the Husker's O has been clicking the last two games.

This isn't the big game, though.  These teams meet again in 4 days for the right to play Kansas in the Big XII Quarterfinals.  That's the game both teams want to win; today is the warmup.  The Huskers want to get to 8-8, but it's the last game for a couple Baylor seniors who've had to endure a roller coaster.

Iowa State Cyclones (14-15, 3-11) at Nebraska Cornhuskers (16-11, 6-8)

6:30 PM, Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, NE

TV: FSN Midwest, ESPN Full Court/ESPN360; Radio: Husker Sports Network

Opponent's Blog: Clone Chronicles

With the NCAA Tournament effectively out of reach, the Huskers need to recoup and focus on getting to .500 in conference and getting a first-round home game in the NIT during the final week of Big XII play.  The Huskers are all but locked into the 8-9 game in the Big XII Tournament, which would likely be an immediate rematch against Saturday's opponent, Baylor, unless Texas A&M loses to Colorado tonight and Missouri on Saturday.  The Cyclones, however, can move into the #9 slot by winning tonight and Saturday, and Nebraska beats Baylor on Saturday.

Not counting a potential NIT home game, tonight will be the final home game for four Husker seniors: Steve Harley, Paul Velander, Nick Krenk, and Ade Dagunduro.  Harley, Velander, and Dagunduro have all been major on-the-court contributors in their time at NU, and Ade has a shot at 2nd- or 3rd-team All-Big XII honors this year.   Nick Krenk was a former student manager who tried out for and made the team during Doc's first year, and has contributed with minutes in clean-up time over the last 3 years.

In other news, it appears that Ade may not be the last Dagunduro in the pipeline: He and Ola have a younger brother, Olayinka, who is a freshman high school quarterback in California.   He is talking now about wanting to play for USC (who doesn't these days?), but with two older brothers who played at Nebraska, maybe he'll keep the tradition alive.