Corn Flakes: Mike Riley's Journey To Nebraska, Big Ten Tourney

Nebraska football coach Mike Riley's Oregon trail - Omaha.com - Omaha World-Herald

They reminisce over Riley’s remarkable run. They analyze his decline. They wonder if he’ll win enough at Nebraska. But there’s a bigger mystery they can’t solve: why he left.

Really nice piece by Dirk Chatelain in the Omaha World Herald about why Mike Riley left Oregon State for Nebraska.

A bit gooey, but it's all about the selling of Mike Riley and the new era at this time of year. To put that in relative terms, can you imagine had Bo Pelini been retained what the excitement level and the willingness to purchase newspapers and read articles on Nebraska sites might be heading into spring practice?

That's not as much a shot at Bo as it is human nature. We like new, shiny things, and Riley and his entire staff certainly qualify in that regard.

If I have one big complaint about the Omaha spread, it's that they interviewed SBNation's Oregon State Andy Wooldridge and didn't bother even mentioning his site's name (Building The Dam) or providing a link. Kind of a dick move on their part, but I guess that's what you do when you're old media. (Here's the Q&A we did with Wooldridge after the hire.)

As for his part, Wooldridge points out that Riley was basically wearing out his schtick at OSU:

"A lot of people's expectations had reached the point where, ‘OK, we want to see something substantially different because a little bit different isn't making a big difference.'"

Given that perspective, it's not hard to see why Riley left. He could have stayed at OSU another few years, maybe, then retired, or have another chance at making a go at it. He chose to make a go at it. Good for him. Hopefully, good for Nebraska, too.

Here's my position for the record.

I am pretty skeptical of Riley as Nebraska's head coach while at the same time I am excited about the level of experience of his coaching staff. If there's an area I believe in which Pelini failed miserably, it's that his assistants didn't have a whole lot of experience and neither did he.

There is way more experience all around. I am especially excited to see what the offensive line can do under Mike Cavanaugh. Get a good offensive line, and I could give a poop what kind of offense Nebraska runs.

If nothing else, the Riley era should be very interesting.

Nebraska Will Face Penn State in the opening round of the Big Ten Basketball tournament.

Maybe that will make it all the more amazing when Nebrasketball runs the table, wins the Big Ten tourney, then gets their first-ever win in the NCAA tournament.

2015 Big Ten Basketball Tournament

Second Annual Team Jack Gala Held at Cornhusker Hotel
"it's the entire Hoffman family and what they represent," Former Husker Kenny Bell said. "They represent everything you love out of a family. They're hard working, they're tenacious, they're perseverant."

NFL Draft 2015: Scouting the Big Ten - Melvin Gordon, Ameer Abdullah, Kenny Bell, Devin Funchess, and Stefon Diggs - Field Gulls
The Big Ten is full of interesting prospects that could fit in with Seattle. So let's hear about them from the guys that know them best.

Nebraska Falls at Wichita State - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
Wichita State used nine straight runs to defeat the Nebraska softball team, 10-4, on Sunday in the final game of the Shocker Invitational.

Kokesh Wins Second Straight Big Ten Title - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
Senior Robert Kokesh captured the 174-pound Big Ten title after a 7-3 decision over No. 2 seed Matt Brown of Penn State at St. John Arena on Sunday.

Death of UAB football: Will new consultant's study lead to revival? - CBSSports.com
A University of Alabama at Birmingham task force reevaluating the decision to kill football announced Saturday night it has selected California-based consulting firm OSKR to perform a new study. Still stupidity.

Police: Macgarrett Kings kicked a parking enforcement truck - CBSSports.com

Earlier this week, we learned that Michigan State wide receiver Macgarrett Kings was arrested and charged with drunken and disorderly conduct and obstructing, resisting, hindering or assaulting a police officer. What we didn't know was what Kings had allegedly done to warrant the arrest.

Tangled Case of a Baylor Football Player Poses a Test for the Rules of Eligibility - NYTimes.com
An apparently homeless Baylor football player was recently declared ineligible because of N.C.A.A. violations, resulting in a spasm of outrage followed by bewilderment.

Wisconsin women's hockey: Badgers are WCHA Tournament Champions - Bucky's 5th Quarter

Sophomore Sarah Nurse scored four goals and added two assists in the weekend tournament

The Pros and Cons of Keeping Crean - Off Tackle Empire
Is he capable of bringing a national championship to Indiana? Is that even a fair standard to judge him on?HOUSTON

Austin Darby and Ben Miller named to the Houston Classic All-Tournament Team

Announcement is below. Nebraska went 1-2 in the tournament, losing to Texas A&M and LSU, both top-ranked teams. Both losses were hard fought, close games in which Nebraska played well, but made just enough mistakes to lose both games.

COLLEGE CLASSIC NAMES 2015 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM, 2016 TOURNAMENT FIELD

Texas A&M crowned tournament champions; New attendance record set at Minute Maid Park

HOUSTON, TX - The 2015 Houston College Classic concluded tonight at Minute Maid Park with Texas A&M being named the Tournament Champions with a perfect 3-0 record. The Aggies were matched by LSU, which also went 3-0, but earned the tiebreaker with a plus-eight run differential, as opposed to the Tigers plus-six mark. Hawaii, the University of Houston and Nebraska each went 1-2, while Baylor finished 0-3.

The Houston College Classic had a total weekend attendance of 37,793, with strong crowds on Friday (10,651), Saturday (16,276) and Sunday (10,866). This marks the highest total tournament attendance since 2007. Minute Maid Park hosted the Houston College Classic and Astros FanFest on the same weekend from 2001-07, making 2015 the highest total tournament attendance since the two events split.

Each team placed at least one player on the 2015 Houston College Classic All-Tournament Team, which was highlighted by the Classic's Most Outstanding Player RHP Grayson Long from Texas A&M. He tossed 7.0 scoreless frames, recording 10 strikeouts, in the Aggie's Saturday night victory over Houston.

The remaining 2015 All-Tournament Team filled out as listed below:

C Michael Barash, Texas A&M .333 (2x6), 2 R, 2B, HR, RBI, BB

1B Chris Iriart, Houston .222 (2x9), R, 2 2B, RBI, 2 BB

2B Josh Vidales, Houston .500 (5x10), 3 R, RBI, BB

3B Conner Hale, LSU .400 (4x10), 2 R, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, BB

SS Alex Bregman, LSU .385 (5x13), 3 R, 2B, 3 SB

OF Kaeo Aliviado, Hawaii .273 (3x11), R, 2 RBI, 3 BB

OF Austin Darby, Nebraska .333 (3x9), 2B, RBI, SB, BB

OF J.B. Moss, Texas A&M .300 (3x10), 2 R, HR, 3 RBI

DH Ben Miller, Nebraska .400 (4x10), 2 RBI, HBP

P Daniel Castano, Baylor 0-1, 1.12 ERA (1ER/8IP), 8 H, 2 BB, 2 SO

P Matt Kent, Texas A&M 1-0, 2.45 ERA (2ER/7.1IP), 6 H, 1 BB, 9 SO

P Alex Lange, LSU 1-0, 0.00 ERA (0ER/7IP), 7 H, 2 BB, 4 SO

P Grayson Long, Texas A&M 1-0, 0.00 ERA (0ER/7IP), 3 H, 0 BB, 10 SO

Houston College Classic Most Outstanding Player: RHP Grayson Long, Texas A&M

The Astros also announced the field for the 2016 Houston College Classic, which will feature both the University of Houston and Rice, along with Arkansas, Louisiana-Lafayette, TCU and Texas Tech. The 16th annual tournament will feature nine games at Minute Maid Park from Feb. 26-28, 2016.