Shatel: Meat was served first in '81
So the guy in the elevator says, “What no-name school is Nebraska playing this week?’’
Answer: Arkansas State. You got a problem with that?
The wise guys say Nebraska is trying to win the Sun Belt championship this year. I say go for it. Why?
Because it’s not 1981 anymore.
For years, whenever I heard people accuse Nebraska of ducking the big boys, I would politely direct them to their nearest media guide and give them four numbers: 1-9-8-1.
That was the year that Nebraska’s warm-up acts looked like a kamikaze mission: Iowa, Penn State, Florida State and Auburn.
That’s Iowa, as in Hayden Fry’s first Rose Bowl team. Penn State, as in the Nittany bunch that would go 10-2 and to the Fiesta Bowl and deliver Joe Paterno’s first national title a year later. FSU and Auburn were “merely” good teams.
NU would go back for seconds in 1982, playing Iowa, Auburn and Penn State again. It was not a news story. Back then, major conference (now known as BCS) teams usually played other major conference teams or a vanishing breed known as independents (Florida State’s status at the time). You played quality competition because it was the right thing to do.
Imagine that.
Well, those days are long gone.
These days, one home game is worth millions ($4 million at NU), and football programs that bring home the bacon for the athletic department insist on having seven home games a year.
Because of that fiscal responsibility, the majority (not all) of Bowl Championship Series teams play only one game against a fellow BCS team.
The solution used to be to go after Brigham Young, Colorado State or Utah or a Boise State or Nevada. But somewhere along the line, BYU, Utah and Boise developed an attitude. Now they won’t play unless you come to their place next year.
After the results of last week, I don’t think BCS schools will be lining up to play BYU, Utah or Boise State on the moon.
So dear ol’ NU turned to three Sun Belt teams to round out a trip to Virginia Tech. A footnote: This schedule (along with next year’s menu of Western Kentucky, Idaho and I-AA South Dakota State) was put together by former Athletic Director Steve Pederson. This certainly smells like an attempt by Pederson to keep his coach, Bill Callahan, afloat with victories.
NU’s schedule could be better, but it makes sense because of what comes after Louisiana-Lafayette: Missouri, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kansas State and Colorado.
You see a lot of gimme putts on that list?
The situation has completely flipped from 1981. In those Big Eight days, NU basically planned on one big game a year: OU. Back in the ’70s and ’80s, the fluff came during the conference season.
Now you’d better take your breathers when you can — and the money, too — if you want to compete in the Big 12.
This is hard to compute for traditionalists. We want great matchups. But now these mega-leagues are so competitive that the good stuff happens most every week after Oct. 1.
Let’s be honest, too. A lot of fans want to take on the world because it’s the honorable thing to do. But then they want to get rid of their coach if he loses too many games. These days there are a lot more games to lose.
For better or worse, Nebraska fans have a coach who is part daredevil. In the next several years, Bo Pelini has NU making trips to Fresno State, Wyoming and Southern Miss while also playing Washington, UCLA and Tennessee.
“It’s harder for schools to schedule,’’ NU Athletic Director Tom Osborne said. “There has been some discussion in the Big 12 about playing more Big 12 games. We’re trying to upgrade our schedule. Bo’s been good about that. I think we owe that to our fans.’’
So enjoy Arkansas State while you can. By the way, the Red Wolves won at Texas A&M last year.
