A little late today with today's countdown, but as a suggestion from Husker Mike, nine represents the minimum number of wins per season that Husker fans tolerate before they're ready to fire their coach.
Wait! What's that?
Shades of Frank Solich? He had a bad season, winning only seven and losing seven. He broke the streak!
He deserved to be fired.
No, he didn't!
Yes, he did.
And on and on it goes.
You can find this same thread on message boards across Huskerdom, going on even today. (Please don't start one here, I'd like us to focus on the future.)
Bob Devaney started the Big Red machine runnin', and Tom Osborne used it to create a monster as Dr. Tom never won less than nine games in a season during his head coaching career at Nebraska, a span covering from 1973-1997 - covering 25 years. Osborne set the standard by which other Nebraska coaches must be measured.
The key question is - does anyone believe that nine wins a season for 25 years is a feat that can be duplicated? If not, then how many years in a row do you think a coach has to do it before they're fully accepted as Osborne's heir apparent?
No polls on this one. That's too easy. I want to know what Husker fans are thinking.