There won’t be any more chats this week, or until closer to the start of the fall sports seasons.

Rest assured, you’ll be able to have “Lunch with Tom” again in the future. When news breaks, The World-Herald will still have you covered. You can always keep up with our writers on Twitter and join the discussions on our various Facebook pages.…

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It took a while for the disappointment to fade after Nebraska’s 19-9 loss to Michigan in its season finale. But then the Big Ten tournament bracket was released.

The Wolverines spoiled the Huskers’ senior day, won a critical three-game series and ruined NU’s shot at a first-round bye. And they weren’t polite about it.

So that’s why the third-seeded Huskers have a little extra motivation — beyond the obvious — when they take the field against No. 6 seed Michigan at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday.

Said senior Chad Christensen: “It’s a good chance to redeem ourselves from the weekend.”

NU coach Darin Erstad’s looking forward to seeing how his team responds.

“It’s fresh in their minds, the butt-whooping they gave us,” Erstad said. “Our guys took …

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Nebraska coach Darin Erstad spoke to the media Tuesday as the Huskers prepare to take on Michigan at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the Big Ten baseball tournament:

…

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Chad Christensen and Pat Kelly were each named first-team All-Big Ten performers by league coaches, leading seven Huskers honored by the conference Tuesday. NU’s Michael Pritchard was a second-team selection, while Kash Kalkowski, Rich Sanguinetti and Blake Headley were third-team selections. Senior Bryan Peters rounded out the group as Nebraska’s Sportsmanship Award honoree.

A first-team pick for the second-straight season, Christensen was one of three first-team outfielders named Tuesday after being the first-team shortstop a year ago. Entering the Big Ten Tournament, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native leads or is tied for the team lead in average (.362), hits (75), runs (39), triples (3) and home runs (2). During conference play, Christensen led the league in batting average (.431), hits (44) and runs scored (26). …

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Nebraska senior Cole Pensick is one of 44 players named to the spring watch list for the 2013 Rimington Trophy, presented annually to the top center in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The award is named in honor of two-time Husker Outland Trophy winner Dave Rimington, who starred for Nebraska from 1980-82.

Pensick, a 6-foot-2, 275-pound Lincoln Northeast product, is one of five senior offensive linemen with extensive playing experience for the Huskers, having played in all 14 games in 2012, including starting the final two games of the year at center.

Pensick is one of four centers from the Big Ten among those on the list, joined by Michigan State’s Travis Jackson, Ohio State’s Corey Linsley and Northwestern’s Brandon Vitabile.

Pensick played mostly as a …

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Tom Osborne felt like he never had a better grasp on what was happening around college football than when he had a vote in the Legends Poll for one season in between his stint as a U.S. Congressman and his return to Nebraska as athletic director.

So while participating in a recent forum in New York City, Osborne wasn’t afraid to mention that he thought the Legends Poll might be the “best method” to help with a selection process when football goes to a four-team playoff in 2014.

Osborne was on with Don James, John Robinson, Terry Donahue, Gene Stallings and the like. Even Bill Snyder before he returned to Kansas State.

“These were all football people,” Osborne said.

They had Saturdays free to watch …

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Nebraska landed a key commit for its 2014 recruiting class last week when Wamego (Kan.) star Kaylee Page committed to the Huskers. Page confirmed the commit over the phone Monday.

At 6-foot-2, Page started at point guard, averaged 21 points and eight rebounds and led Wamego — 15 minutes from Manhattan, Kan — to the 4-A Kansas state title. She’s slated to play small forward, she said, in college. She picked NU over Oklahoma State, Stanford and Kansas, but had many more offers.

“I loved the coaches there,” said Page, who called NU assistant Dayna Finch May 15 and head coach Connie Yori shortly after that. “And I really liked the academic part, too. They care a lot about you transitioning to real life after …

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Being a Husker fan can mean coming to Memorial Stadium on a nice, clear Saturday afternoon in the fall. It also can mean scorching-hot September games. And frigid days in November. But through it all, Nebraska fans still come out to watch the Big Red.

The World-Herald’s Focus on Nebraska photography contest gives fans a chance to share their shots from the 50-year sellout streak and show what Husker football means to them. We’re looking for your best photos showing some of the weather you’ve had to endure to cheer on the team. You also can enter photos from other parts of the Lincoln game-day experience: the tailgating, the pageantry, the players, the coaches and most of all, YOU. The World-Herald this fall will publish …

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Kansas State did something remarkable over the weekend.

By winning its first conference championship in baseball since 1933, the Wildcats became just the fourth major-conference athletic department in the BCS era to earn at least a share of the conference title in football, basketball and baseball.

“Cat town is title town,” K-State athletic director John Currie said as he presented the Big 12 trophy.

The other triple crown winners: Stanford in 1998-99, Texas in 2005-06 and Louisville this year. That’s all according to the Kansas City Star’s Blair Kerkhoff.

Surprisingly, the triple crown hasn’t happened in the Big Ten since Illinois in 1951-52 — I thought for sure Ohio State or Michigan would’ve pulled it off. It hasn’t happened in the SEC since Alabama …

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A Detroit Free Press story Sunday found that Nebraska’s assistant coaching salary pool of $2,648,500 is third in the Big Ten behind Michigan and Ohio State, while offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s salary of $700,000 is second only to Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, who makes $750,000. Ohio State’s Luke Fickell made $750,000 last year, but apparently $150,000 of that salary was tied to compensation left over from Fickell’s one, doomed year as interim coach.

Ohio State has by far the largest assistant coaching salary pool at $3.416 million. Michigan is just ahead of NU at $2.805 million.

But other Big Ten schools, presumably flush with Big Ten Network money, aren’t far behind the Huskers. All but Indiana has a salary pool of $2 million or …

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