[Husker] Keepin' it real in the 307

[Patrick Gaule]

Mark Landin wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 3:16 PM, Patrick Gaule <pgaule at cox.net> wrote:
> 
> 
>>I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  Tom Osborne has done an
>>excellent job of filling Nebraska's schedule for the upcoming years,
>>especially compared to the former AD.  The 2009 and 2010 schedules are
>>pretty pathetic
>>
>>2009: (Florida Atlantic, Arkansas State, @Virginia Tech,
>>Louisiana-Lafayette)
>>
>>2010: Western Kentucky, Idaho, Washington, South Dakota St.
>>
>>But after that, Nebraska plays much more respectable OOC competition:
>>
>>2011: Fresno State, Washington, Wyoming
>>2012 Southern Miss, UCLA
>>2013: Wyoming, Southern Miss, UCLA
>>2014: Fresno State, Miami
>>2015: Southern Miss, Miami
>>2016: Fresno State, Tennessee, Wyoming
> 
> 
> Assuming Wyoming, Fresno, So Miss, and even UCLA aren't doormats by
> then. It's really hard to predict who might be good (or even
> respectable) that far into the future (although I take your point that
> Ark State and Western KY were never in any danger of becoming BCS
> busters!)
> 
> Think about this: when the 09 and 10 schedules were largely made (in
> the 02-07 timeframe?) NU was still considered a football power.
> Perhaps the Fresnos and Miamis of the world were not eager to get us
> on their schedule. The 11-16 schedules, on the other hand, were
> beginning to form when NU was perceived to be well on it's way down
> the slippery slope of mediocrity. Perhaps WE had become the doormats
> those larger programs were going to feed on. Remember, it takes more
> than the AD wanting to schedule someone ... that other someone has to
> want to play too. People's willingness to play us OOC has likely been
> a bit higher the last few years than we are used to.


The more likely reason is that the former AD wanted to pad his coaching 
hire's resume with as many "automatic wins" as possible in a futile 
attempt to save face.  Of course, other ADs may also have been unwilling 
to negotiate schedules with our former AD after the Houston debacle in 
2005.  Either way, Osborne is doing a much better job in this regard (as 
well as pretty much every other regard).