Flakes: Is 2016 Nebraska 2015 Iowa?

You knew they were coming. The Comparisons.

A team that eeks out seemingly lucky wins, never convincingly stomping on inferior opponents. Said team has a fairly weak schedule...."They ain’t played nobody!".

Pundits everywhere have decided the fashionable thing to do right now is dismiss 2016 Nebraska as the same fluky team as 2015 Iowa. Sigh.

I get it. The resemblance is sort of there. But only if you don’t dig very deep.

The 2015 Iowa squad had the best season in program history. What the 2015 Iowa team accomplished is pretty remarkable. An undefeated season, even against a light schedule is not easy or common. Most teams have a slip-up or bad luck somewhere along the way.

However, the bluster from across the Missouri River was overdone and can be summed up as "BEST TEAM IN THE HISTORY OF ANYTHING!". It was apparently worthy of a coaching contract that gave Kirk Ferentz ~6.3% ownership in the moon. That may be a biased view, but I’m pretty sure you could ask other Big Ten fans and they would have a similar assessment.

This 2016 Nebraska team is full of grit, heart, and never gives up. We love them because they are ours. I’m also pretty sure no Nebraska fan has this team anywhere near the top 10 in program history. I also don’t expect Nebraska to finish this season undefeated, although it is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

The vibe in the Land of Nice seems to be "We are a bit surprised to be ranked this high too. We’ve won all our games, but this team is going to be tested soon enough. If we win those, we’ll talk again."

I expect Mike Riley will get a contract extension, barring some unforeseen disaster, at the end of the season, but it will be the run-of-the-mill one or two year kind. The one that lets coaches tell ‘croots that they are committed to the school for at least five years and keep a straight face while doing it.

National pundits have the entire college football landscape to study and analyze. I get it. They can be forgiven for seeing two teams wearing the same color lipstick and think they are the same pig. Those comparisons should mercifully end in a week and a half. Either Nebraska passes a much bigger test than any 2015 Iowa faced in their regular season. Or they don’t.

This 2016 Nebraska team has a level of determination and heart that, so far, has made up for talent deficiencies, injuries, and suspect coaching in the third phase of the game. I will take heart over bluster any day.

Corn Flakes

Only three women’s teams have held the #1 spot for D1 this season. You get to see all three in Lincoln this weekend!

2016 NCAA volleyball -- Nebraska Cornhuskers return to No. 1, brace for double trouble
Guess who's coming to Big Red country this weekend? No. 4 Wisconsin (15-2) is in Lincoln on Friday night and No. 3 Minnesota (14-3) is there on Sunday afternoon. That's all three teams that have been ranked No. 1 this season.

Kuhlkin Sets National Record with 890 Series - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
Lizabeth Kuhlkin, a member of the Nebraska bowling team from 2011 to 2015, set a United States women's national record for a three-game series with a score of 890 in the Reis Group Kim Brown Memorial League at Towne Bowling Academy in Schenectady, N.Y. on Monday evening.

Huskers, Wildcats Play to Scoreless Draw | KTIC Radio
The Nebraska soccer team (10-5-2, 4-3-2 Big Ten) and No. 22 Northwestern (13-1-2, 6-1-2 Big Ten) tied 0-0 in front of 973 fans at Barbara Hibner Stadium on Sunday afternoon.\

Hit with O-line injury troubles, Huskers know they must keep getting better | Football | journalstar.com
A year ago, after a loss to Purdue that dropped Nebraska's record to 3-6, Mike Riley began his Monday news conference with a joke, "Who wants to talk about the

How did we  get this far into the season without someone asking Tom Osborne what he thought?!?

TBL: Tom Osborne feels Huskers have quality wins, but toughest stretch lies ahead | Big Red Today | omaha.com
Legendary Nebraska coach Tom Osborne disagrees with some national pundits that feel the Huskers haven't played any quality opponents during their 6-0 start.

Schedule Rundown

I gave up on posting stuff from the past teams on the football schedule. It was too depressing. Here are the next three opponents.

Purdue's SBNation site, Hammer and Rails has mostly gone into basketball and coaching-search mode. But I did find this.

Gerad Parker Presser- 1st Ever! - Hammer and Rails
Before we get started with the quotes let’s just acknowledge how hard this must be for Parker. His boss was fired and he was elevated to take his place and then just two days later has to be in...

Wisconsin football: Paul Chryst previews Iowa matchup - Bucky's 5th Quarter
Highlights from Monday’s press conference.

Ohio State vs. Penn State 2016: Game preview, prediction, and 5 things to know - Land-Grant Holy Land
After a tense overtime win, the Buckeyes head to Happy Valley.

Elsewhere In Sports

'Big 2' collision course dominates discourse, but B1G is more than that
Yes, Ohio State and Michigan are good. Really good. But with Nebraska and Wisconsin also sitting in the top 10, the Big Ten is flexing its muscles.

Forde-Yard Dash: Can somebody dethrone Alabama? Can anybody?
We have to stop it. Call in the National Guard. Do something.

Nebraska makes Spencer's rankings.

Ranking college football’s 11 remaining undefeated teams - SBNation.com
The Top Whatever is Spencer Hall’s weekly ranking of only the teams that demand to be ranked at this time.

This and That

First Click: Where’s the Facebook fact checker America so desperately needs? | The Verge
I have a Facebook friend, let’s call him Mike, who’s a rabid supporter of Donald Trump and God, in that order. You probably have someone similar in your own timeline expressing an equally dogged...

Have a great Wednesday everyone!