I woke up this morning fired up to write about crazy Big Ten athletic directors. How they’re still prioritizing a conference championship over a national championship. How the Rose Bowl was threatening college football reform — again.
Then I read Dan Wetzel’s column. And I decided I would be wasting my time trying to say it better. A few excerpts from the Yahoo columnist (who also appeared on the Schick and Nick show this morning):
For us it’s critical to keep the Rose Bowl in the equation,” Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis told reporters Tuesday after Big Ten meetings hashed out the conference’s likely preferred plan.
How critical? Well, so critical that they’re willing to make business decisions based on emotion, willing …
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The 2012 College Football Hall of Fame class was announced Thursday, and no Huskers made the cut despite having former quarterbacks Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch — as well as outside linebacker Trev Alberts — on the ballot.
Needless to say, the omission of any Huskers was a surprise to some (mostly due to a rule barring back-to-back selections from the same school — Will Shields was selected in 2011), and some people aren’t happy. The World-Herald’s Tom Shatel wrote that he predicted Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch would be inducted, and that Tommie Frazier was deserving. Here’s a breakdown of what some local, national and regional media members have to say about the 2012 ballot:
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Nebraska had former quarterbacks Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch on the 2012 ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame, as well as outside linebacker Trev Alberts. All three were passed over Tuesday as the 2012 class was revealed in New York.
Surprising? Yes, especially with Frazier, who led Nebraska to two national championships in the 1990s and was a Heisman Trophy runner-up. This was his second time on the ballot, which included 75 others this year.
However, according to Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com, a Hall of Fame rule exists against the players being selected from the same school in consecutive years. And former NU offensive lineman Will Shields was inducted with the 2011 class.
Will look to verify that rule and how closely …
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Here’s the kind of zero Husker fans will never turn down.
The Nebraska athletic department balanced its books in 2011 without a dime of university money — it’s been that way for awhile, but continues despite major facility upgrades and lost revenue for the exit from the Big 12 — making $83,679,756 while spending $81,916,484, according to USA Today’s database. Previous to 2011, NU had never come close to the $80-million mark in expenditures.
Three other Big Ten programs — Penn State, Purdue and Ohio State — took no “subsidy,” as USA Today calls it, either. LSU, Oklahoma and Texas were the other athletic departments listed as taking $0. Among the schools that must report revenue and expenses — Northwestern is exempt as a …
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Sometimes the media reads into a quote more than it should. Sometimes our appetite for conflict leads to overreaction. I’m wary of that.
But this Florida State-to-the-Big 12 chatter seems to be gaining steam. One day after the FSU athletic director pledged allegiance to the ACC, the board of trustees chairman ripped the ACC for its new TV deal.
This is about money, and the ACC doesn’t supply enough to make the Seminoles happy.
It’s possible Florida State is just scaring the ACC in a political move. But I would love to see the ’Noles (and Miami) jump — partly because conference realignment is my favorite daytime soap opera.
Yes, it would be weird having FSU travel to Ames for a conference game. But the …
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Former Nebraska running back Aaron Green — who transferred from NU after one year — has chosen a new school: TCU.
“I will be finishing my Football career at Texas Christian University AKA TCU!! In Dallas/Ft.Worth Texas. Go TCU !!! Go #Frogs” read Green’s Twitter account, which still has a Husker photo attached to it.
The Horned Frogs, who finished 11-2 last season, start their first year in the Big 12. TCU’s three top runners — Waymon James, Ed Wesley and Matthew Tucker — are all upperclassmen, and all got more than 100 carries last year. It would appear Green chose wisely.
Of course, the Big 12 won’t be the romp that the Mountain West used to be.…
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Nebraska will be without its closer for the second straight series. Junior Travis Huber’s sore shoulder is keeping him sidelined.
Tough blow for the NU pitching staff, which will face a significant challenge in matching the effort of Minnesota’s talented hurlers at Haymarket Park this weekend.
The hope is that Huber — whose fastball-changeup combo has been effective against opponents all year — will be healthy enough to return in time for the Huskers’ final league series against Michigan in a week. Coach Darin Erstad’s not sure, though.
“We’re shooting for hopefully getting him back by Michigan,” Erstad said. “We’re playing without him and we’ve got to make do.”
Huber hasn’t pitched since April 24 against Creighton.
Pitching is certainly the key for NU this …
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Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne said Friday that it was unique but necessary to give Tim Miles a seven-year contract as Miles starts out as Husker basketball coach.
Osborne told The World-Herald that “conversations out there” about the Huskers’ lack of commitment to basketball concerned several candidates as NU looked to replace Doc Sadler. The ongoing improvements with facilities and the deal signed by Miles, he said, should show that Nebraska is making a “major commitment to the sport.”
Miles will start at $1.4 million annually — $500,000 more than Sadler made in his final season — and that base pay would reach $2.15 million by the 2018-19 season.
Another major reason for the length of the contract, Osborne said, was pulling Miles away from …
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Did some digging after getting Tim Miles’ first finalized contract as Nebraska basketball coach and found that his salary will match that of first-year coach John Groce at Illinois and tie for No. 8 among Big Ten coaches.
Miles is set to make $1.4 million next season, his first after leaving Colorado State for NU. Escalators in the seven-year deal could carry his pay to $2.15 million for the 2018-19 season.
Miles was set to make $750,000 with CSU for the 2012-13 season, a bump from the $585,000 he was paid in 2011-12 when he took the Rams to the NCAA tournament.
According to various reports, Tom Izzo of Michigan State leads all Big Ten coaches in annual salary at $3.49 million. Thad Matta of Ohio State, …
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It’s Friday! That means 10 big stories in 10 little bites. We’re loaded with football. Bo Pelini and the USFL, the Rose Bowl and the Vikings’ new stadium, Bill O’Brien and bowl budgets. Not gonna lie, the chatter is a little madder than usual today. But let’s start with something positive. A little basketball…
Tim Miles spoke at the B’nai B’rith banquet Wednesday night in Omaha. Before he walked off the stage, he said this:
“I don’t know how the hell we’re gonna do it, but we’re gonna win.”
I love that quote. That’s the slogan I’d imagine Don Draper dreaming up as he lays on his office couch.
Why?
To get people to really buy in to the program again, you need to persuade …
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