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Did the window close on Big Ten expansion to 16 teams? It looks that way after ACC schools reportedly agreed to relinquish their TV rights to the conference. It’s big news in college athletics.
“ACC presidents are in the process of clearing this with their departments. The agreement will go to 2026-27, the duration of the league’s contract with ESPN. The deal is not official just yet but, barring an unforseen snag, will be completed.
“Unless a league member decides to go to litigation to escape this down the road, the ACC believes a Grant of Rights will protect it from conference realignment poachers.”
According to reports, if North Carolina or Georgia Tech leaves the ACC, for instance, its media rights — including …
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When we think of local sports history in this neck of the woods, we think of Husker football. Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne, blustery November dates with Oklahoma. We think of Bob Gibson and Rosenblatt Stadium. We don’t think much of basketball.
Yet decades from now, when people look back on the 2010s, what stands out may be a basketball boom:
Doug McDermott, the best player in Creighton history. The Jays’ promotion to the Big East. UNO’s jump to Division I. A dynasty at Omaha Central. And, of course, the new arena and new coach in Lincoln.
Tim Miles hasn’t proven much yet, but we’re seven months from the 2013-14 season opener and a program that hasn’t made the NCAA tournament in 15 years has …
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Of course I want ‘em fired.
Few things stir my anger like bullies. Abuse of power. Mike Rice deserves to spend a few years on the unemployment line. And he should take Rutgers A.D. Tim Pernetti with him.
But just for a moment, let’s stop demanding pink slips and look at a larger issue. Let’s examine why one of Rice’s 6-foot-9, 250-pound power forwards didn’t tell him, “You throw a ball at me one more time and I’ll kick your…”
The answer has a lot to do with power in college athletics — who has it and who doesn’t.
This is a culture in which coaches can walk out the door hours after signing a 10-year contract, but athletes who transfer must forfeit 20 …
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On Halloween night, in a roadhouse bar north of Topeka, two old college buddies met for beers. They started talking basketball, as they always do. One is a die-hard Creighton fan, the other a die-hard Wichita State fan.
They argued Xavier McDaniel vs. Paul Silas, Greg McDermott vs. Gregg Marshall, CenturyLink Center vs. Koch Arena. Then the conversation took an interesting turn.
The bartender walked over and said he’d been eavesdropping. You sound like basketball fans, he said. Years ago, former Kansas coach James Naismith visited this same bar and left his drink half-full on the bar. Now, 100 years later, it still has special power.
“It works kind of like the Showcase on The Price is Right,” he said. “I know that sounds weird, …
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We’ll get to March Madness in a moment, but first, some quick thoughts on Creighton to the Big East:
>> You couldn’t miss the irony. Here was Dana Altman coaching on ESPN in the Pac-12 tournament Friday night at the precise time the World-Herald reported Creighton to the Big East. Altman and Bruce Rasmussen built the Bluejay program from nothing in the mid-90s. But Dana always had an itch. He wanted to know what he could do with high-major resources.
So he left and — just as he finally completes the rebuilding process at Oregon — the Catholic 7 splits from the Big East and his old school gets an invitation, based in no small measure on the building he did. The timing for Altman …
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It’s Friday. That means (a slightly abbreviated version of) Ten Big stories in 10 little bites. We hit Kobe Bryant and Rafa Nadal, the Nebraska Phillies and Big Ten quarterbacks, NFL rule changes and college basketball scoring (again). But first, Husker basketball does it again.
Joe Lunardi is going to be scrambling Sunday afternoon when — an hour before the selection show — Nebraska clinches an automatic bid with a Big Ten tournament title. OK, maybe not. But Tim Miles did something last night nobody expected — he won a conference tournament game.
We’ve already gushed about how impressive 15 wins is with this roster. But you know what I like about nights like last? It demonstrates to all those coming back next year …
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We’ll get to regularly scheduled programming in a moment, but first I’d like to report a Eureka moment.
I watched about 20 hours of basketball this weekend. Mostly at the state tournament, but also Sunday afternoon on the couch. What I saw at the Devaney Center felt like tapping on my shoulder. What I saw at Arch Madness felt like a sledge hammer to the head.
In order to save basketball, officials have to take control again. Blow the dang whistles. Stop allowing a finesse sport to devolve into rugby on hardwood. Call fouls!
What I saw between Creighton-Wichita State blew me away. At least 10 obvious fouls in the first half that weren’t called. (No wonder it was 6-3 after the second media timeout.)…
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Are we watching the best bad season in Nebraska basketball history?
After digging a little last spring, I believed Tim Miles to be an excellent hire. He had personality. He had Midwestern roots. And most important, he had a ton of experience rebuilding programs (Doc and Barry did not).
But I also looked at his returning roster and cringed. It was the island of misfit toys. No point guard. No big man (at least none healthy and fit). A general deficiency in offensive skill. Doc Sadler didn’t just leave the cupboard bare, he took all the silverware.
Add in the Big Ten’s remarkable strength and the inevitable conflicts between a first-year coach and players he didn’t recruit and I figured the Huskers were staring …
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It’s Friday! That means Ten Big stories in 10 little bites. We hit Connie Yori and LeBron James, Bob Stoops and Hayden Fry, Derrin Hansen and Rory McIlroy. But first, Creighton hoops.
As if the Jays weren’t having a big enough week, another Catholic 7 bombshell dropped Thursday night.
Eleven days after the Washington Post’s John Feinstein reported Creighton was “too far west” for Georgetown and Co., the Jays are apparently back in. And not just in, but potentially in for 2013-14. (Or not, depending on which report you read.)
Thus, it’s possible Creighton has already played its last Valley road game. And its last home date could come Saturday against Wichita State.
Wow.
The actual game was already big enough. …
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Good thing Wisconsin doesn’t play baseball.
In Monday’s Chatter, I had a little fun with Iowa fans in regard to Nebraska’s domination of the Hawkeyes. But in terms of sheer embarrassment, the Badgers’ recent Husker whippings stand alone.
Not only did Wisconsin football rudely welcome Nebraska to the Big Ten a year ago, 48-17. Not only did the Badgers embarrass Big Red in December’s Big Ten title game. (If not for the third quarter in September, the football rivalry would really look ugly). But in four UW/NU basketball games over the past 14 months, the Huskers have scored 40, 45, 41 and 44 points.
Even Moe Iba thinks that’s bad.
In last night’s game, Nebraska went on an 8-0 run. And later, a 7-0 …
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