Football Expectations Going Forward

[Jhollenbeck41]

Hey everybody, have a couple questions for everyone who wants to respond to this, all wrapped up into one question. Just looking for opinions is all....

1. Why does it feel like, based on previous threads, that this being year 2 almost feels like a make or break year for a lot of scrollers as to what this program is going to be like in the years to come?

2. Why are we so worried about recruiting rankings this early on? I understand we all want the program to be "back" as fast as possible but man let's all try to keep in mind where the program is at and where it's been the last couple years, this is a pretty big rebuild.

And 3. If we're all being real with ourselves, we all want the program back to where it was, and that's 90's dominance. Everyone can say what they want when talking to their buddies. But let's be real, we all want it back there, or at least as close as we can get to that. That being said, it took T.O. basically 20 years to get to the beginning of that 90's dynasty.

I understand what Frost did at UCF, and I hope like hell he can do that same thing here, this year. But if it's not that fast, why can't we all just have the patience to let the process play out? The turnaround is going to happen, it may just take a while is all, which should be okay as long as we get to that common goal. And just in case it isn't clear, I am 1000% behind this staff and what's happening up there in Lincoln. I hope Frost is our leader until I'm an old man, and I'm 26. Worst comes to worst, we could go 0-12 this year and my faith wouldn't waver, and that's being honest. I'm just looking for some opinions is all.


Fire away!

 

[o_Hit]

Tl;dr

 

[9and4_rivals188421]

My expectations:

1. Kick ***; AND
2. Take Names

 

[BleedHuskerRed]

As Long as we go 0-12 and are competitive in every game then it would be fine. Sick

Actually, Win them all is the only realistic expectation anyone can have. It's year two and anything less is failure!

 

[DudznSudz]

Hey everybody, have a couple questions for everyone who wants to respond to this, all wrapped up into one question. Just looking for opinions is all....

1. Why does it feel like, based on previous threads, that this being year 2 almost feels like a make or break year for a lot of scrollers as to what this program is going to be like in the years to come?

2. Why are we so worried about recruiting rankings this early on? I understand we all want the program to be "back" as fast as possible but man let's all try to keep in mind where the program is at and where it's been the last couple years, this is a pretty big rebuild.

And 3. If we're all being real with ourselves, we all want the program back to where it was, and that's 90's dominance. Everyone can say what they want when talking to their buddies. But let's be real, we all want it back there, or at least as close as we can get to that. That being said, it took T.O. basically 20 years to get to the beginning of that 90's dynasty.

I understand what Frost did at UCF, and I hope like hell he can do that same thing here, this year. But if it's not that fast, why can't we all just have the patience to let the process play out? The turnaround is going to happen, it may just take a while is all, which should be okay as long as we get to that common goal. And just in case it isn't clear, I am 1000% behind this staff and what's happening up there in Lincoln. I hope Frost is our leader until I'm an old man, and I'm 26. Worst comes to worst, we could go 0-12 this year and my faith wouldn't waver, and that's being honest. I'm just looking for some opinions is all.


Fire away!

1. I think that is just people being impatient for success because it's been gone for so long, coupled with Frost having turned UCF around by year 2, and also how a major impact coaching hire should probably start yielding positive results by years 2 and 3. I agree with your implication that we might want to tone that down a little; it could take 5 years to really regain national prominence, and that is completely ok as long as we are always improving.

2. I think recruiting rankings should REALLY be taken with a gigantic grain of salt this year. This is going to be a small (16-20 player) class, and they are clearly taking their time trying to be selective on who they want in the program.

And 3. Yes. And remember too that for literally like, 20 years of building success, Nebraska was always thought of as a great team that choked in the final game, either against Oklahoma or later against the Florida teams. And that was its OWN kind of frustrating.

 

[huskerssalts]

Myself, I’m pretty wide open. I said it from the beginning when we first hired Frost, I’d be patient and give him time and I didn’t suddenly change my mind. I remember how bad Mike Riley did with our team and how badly he was progressing with player development and S&C. Knowing this and knowing Mike Riley was here for 3-4 years...means Frost has a big battle a head of him. Just as long as Frost keeps progressing like he has been, ill keep believing. Frost is definitely ranked in the top 15 or better as a Head Coach and he’s well known with all the recruits. He will get talent here and he’s great with player development...which is key. This season...I think 7-6 to 9-3 is realistic....with the very best being 10-2 season. But if we hit 7-6...I’m still excited for the future and what Frost, Duvall and co are putting together.

 

[RedCap_rivals330392]

First, today's life is much faster paced for all things so patience won't be had like it might have been in the past.

Second, Osborne was a winner from the beginning (of course he inherited a program that already was winning) so he was given a lot of time. But even then he was being threatened with firing if the program ever slipped below 9 wins.

Third, expectations for Frost are hyped up for two reasons - Nebraskans are tired of losing/not winning championships and because Frost had such a spectacular turn around at Central Florida in his second year.

Fourth, I think the realistic expectation is that Frost's team will show measurable improvement in the second year over the first. That doesn't mean winning the B1G in the second year but rather being very competitive. We'll see how much but the expectation is a noticeably improving trend reflected in the W-L record.

And that W-L record would be the opposite trend of what Riley experienced.

 

[Husker Hambone]

I’d say they started to turn the program around mid-season last year. Probably after that NW game it seemed like players began to believe they could start winning games. Lord the 10 game losing streak was awful! I hope I never live to see that happen again.

 

[huskerssalts]

I’ll bet my house, while Frost is Head Coach, we won’t ever see that happen again

And I completely agree, it seemed like we kind of started turning that corner against Purdue but the NW game is when we really turned the corner. Ever since then, we kept getting better and better. This season should be a nice jump forward.

 

[Jhollenbeck41]

I'll be honest, I'm not an analytics guy. I've re-watched the quick versions of all the games from last year and there were a few things I've noticed from each of those games. Excluding Michigan, and maybe Purdue, willing to argue on that one, we were 1 or 2 plays from winning every other game in my opinion. I argue with my non-husker fan friends about this quite often but I'm very positive we'll be in INDY come December, I've made plenty of bets on it.

 

[TruHusker]

Say what you want, this program has a long ways to go to be spoken of in the “elite” category.

I don’t get worried about recruiting because I can’t do a thing about it. However, all teams should be concerned if they are not filling their spots early. The more players that commit and are taken off the board shrink your available talent. You did say we want elite talent right? There are only so many of them to go around.

We could discuss the journey Tom took to finally get to his NC’s all day long. To me it demonstrates that you simply cannot have ANY weaknesses on a championship team. The great teams will expose every single one. Tom’s teams always seem to be missing that one or two players to get the, over the top. For a while it was the DB’s who would get exposed, then LB’s, and pick a position.

Unfortunately, I think we are very much in that mode right now.

 

[Bigredhunter]

Reasons why year two feels like its make or break?

#1. Frost knows what he's doing. We have confidence in him and his staff's ability.

#2. Major reason for a lot of early losses last season were countless boneheaded penalties. The 100 yard plus penalty games stopped toward the end of the season and so did our losing streak.

#3. Preseason Heisman candidate. Decent depth behind him at QB.

#4. Our players are very familiar with their schemes and our schemes are proven.

#5. Our schedule!! We could be 4-0 when Ohio St comes to town. We were 2-7 when we almost beat them last year.

IMO, year 2 is NOT make or break but there is a lot to be excited about. There is a reason the national media is showing the Huskers love!

 

[JohnRossEwing]

My expectations:

1. Kick ***; AND
2. Take Names

If I was at Top Gun...that would be mine and my co-pilots call signs.

 

[Sinomatic]

1. Because we're tired of not watching some kind of championship won.

2. I personally don't worry too much about it because it looks like they are doing well and making progress.

3. Tom Osborne took 20 years to win one, not 20 years to have fantastic seasons. He made the big dance 2 times in the 80s and remember all he had to do was tie Miami to win. Instead of kicking an easy field goal he went for 2. Notwithstanding the NC games, he had records that would have pit him in the playoffs plenty of times between title tries.

 

[Husker.Wed._rivals]

1. Year 2 is just another year. After so many disappointments, my excitement is no more or less than any other year.

2. I'm not worried, and many other people aren't since we have seen where the trend is going.

3. I'm not sure how to respond, your point was lost over the course of two paragraphs.

Bonus observation: "Everyone can say what they want"..........

 

[John_J_Rambo]

If I was at Top Gun...that would be mine and my co-pilots call signs.

highway to the danger zone indeed

 

[mgbreeze]

Maybe I missed it. I don't see a lot (any) of people thinking or expecting that we get back to the 90's dominance. We could be wildly successful and not approach what we saw then. I'm okay with winning a conference title for starters.

 

[Jhollenbeck41]

Maybe I missed it. I don't see a lot (any) of people thinking or expecting that we get back to the 90's dominance. We could be wildly successful and not approach what we saw then. I'm okay with winning a conference title for starters.

I would assume that if people were being brutally honest, then 90's dominance is what we all want back. Whether they admit it in public or not or whatever. I'll gladly admit that's what I'd like to sometime get back to under Frost. I'm not sure if it can happen under anyone else besides Frost to be honest.

 

[Jhollenbeck41]

I'll put a reply out to everybody. Love the opinions and honestly didn't get as many argumentative responses as I was expecting. I'll be real in saying I wasn't born in the 80s so I don't know too much about the national championship runs in the 80s so I'll play the game in saying, okay then we'll say it took Tom 10 years to really really get it going strong. My point in all this, and my opinion, is that we should all just trust in the process and not go haywire if this season doesn't turn out to be what UCF was in 2017. That'd be incredible, and hope like hell it happens, but I'm not going to lose faith if it doesn't. And this is kind of a bold statement but I also don't think we should put a boat load of stock in recruiting rankings because I firmly believe the right players will come at the right time. Somewhat quoting Field of Dreams here: "Win and they will come." Simple as that in my mind. Husker Power will work, the schemes will work, we just all have to trust in the process and development is all.

 

[Jhollenbeck41]

Let my clarify, recruiting rankings based on what happens this year's record. Again, win and they will come. The right kids will be here at the right time.

 

[Ewooc]

1. Why does it feel like, based on previous threads, that this being year 2 almost feels like a make or break year for a lot of scrollers as to what this program is going to be like in the years to come?

2. Why are we so worried about recruiting rankings this early on? I understand we all want the program to be "back" as fast as possible but man let's all try to keep in mind where the program is at and where it's been the last couple years, this is a pretty big rebuild.

And 3. If we're all being real with ourselves, we all want the program back to where it was, and that's 90's dominance. Everyone can say what they want when talking to their buddies. But let's be real, we all want it back there, or at least as close as we can get to that. That being said, it took T.O. basically 20 years to get to the beginning of that 90's dynasty.

#1. It is FAR from a make or break year. Frost is going to have a very long leash. However year 2 will be a good indicator of the trajectory of things. Maybe how fast we are going to get there. We are now year 2 into his system, We are 2 years into S&C, 2 years of routine for players, 4 years for the coaches. Frost and Co now now what to expect out of the BIG10. Frost is getting more of his type of players. All of the "bad apples" have be thrown out. Finally the schedule this year is very favorable. So all that said, we are in a good spot to take a pretty good jump forward. If things are really heading in the right direction, there is no reason we can't take a good jump forward. Anything less than 8 wins should be considered a disappointment

#2. Recruiting doesn't really matter at this point. As history shows, yes you need to have top 10 classes to compete for NC, but as long as we can get top 25 right now, we will be fine. So I wouldn't worry about recruiting just yet.
I don't really understand the "this is a rebuild" so it is just insinuated that this should take a very long time to get up an going. I understand the program was down for 20 years. I understand Riley destroyed the S&C program. I get it, how long should it take to rebuild? 10 years 15 years? Why so long? When looking back at other schools, good coaches don't take long to turn a program around. Dabo got things rolling by year 3, Saban by year 2, Frost at UCF year 2, Herman seems to have things going at Texas going into year 3. Basically 2-3 years of their recruits and their system and things should be clicking right along.

#3 I don't think we are ever going to see 90s level dominance from Nebraska again. That was insane and Alabama is the only school to top it. I do think we put together a long bowl streak, win a bunch of BIG10 titles. Dominate the West. See lots of 10-12 wins seasons. Get into the playoffs a few times and get a NC while Frost is here. If 90s dominance happens, fantastic. Im just not going to be disappointed if we don't see it.
TO was very successful his whole time here. He never had less than 9 losses. Never missed a bowl game. Never ended a season unranked. Won 7 conf championship all before the 90s run. So yes it took him 20 years to get a NC. He was still one of the most successful coaches leading up to it. Granted I hope it doesn't take Frost 20 years to get his NC.

 

[Jhollenbeck41]

#1. It is FAR from a make or break year. Frost is going to have a very long leash. However year 2 will be a good indicator of the trajectory of things. Maybe how fast we are going to get there. We are now year 2 into his system, We are 2 years into S&C, 2 years of routine for players, 4 years for the coaches. Frost and Co now now what to expect out of the BIG10. Frost is getting more of his type of players. All of the "bad apples" have be thrown out. Finally the schedule this year is very favorable. So all that said, we are in a good spot to take a pretty good jump forward. If things are really heading in the right direction, there is no reason we can't take a good jump forward. Anything less than 8 wins should be considered a disappointment

#2. Recruiting doesn't really matter at this point. As history shows, yes you need to have top 10 classes to compete for NC, but as long as we can get top 25 right now, we will be fine. So I wouldn't worry about recruiting just yet.
I don't really understand the "this is a rebuild" so it is just insinuated that this should take a very long time to get up an going. I understand the program was down for 20 years. I understand Riley destroyed the S&C program. I get it, how long should it take to rebuild? 10 years 15 years? Why so long? When looking back at other schools, good coaches don't take long to turn a program around. Dabo got things rolling by year 3, Saban by year 2, Frost at UCF year 2, Herman seems to have things going at Texas going into year 3. Basically 2-3 years of their recruits and their system and things should be clicking right along.

#3 I don't think we are ever going to see 90s level dominance from Nebraska again. That was insane and Alabama is the only school to top it. I do think we put together a long bowl streak, win a bunch of BIG10 titles. Dominate the West. See lots of 10-12 wins seasons. Get into the playoffs a few times and get a NC while Frost is here. If 90s dominance happens, fantastic. Im just not going to be disappointed if we don't see it.
TO was very successful his whole time here. He never had less than 9 losses. Never missed a bowl game. Never ended a season unranked. Won 7 conf championship all before the 90s run. So yes it took him 20 years to get a NC. He was still one of the most successful coaches leading up to it. Granted I hope it doesn't take Frost 20 years to get his NC.

So this will be an indirect answer and I don't know how much sense this will make but I'll try my best. I think you're right in a way. I think we can get back to that kind of lower level winning: Big 10 West titles, 9-10 win seasons, mid-major bowl games, things like that, pretty quickly. Yes, 3-4 years I think we can get to that. But, I also think we can get back to 90s dominance. And I guess I didn't explain it well enough earlier but that's what I was tying to the long term process. We can get back there, but it will take quite a while to do it, only because of where we're starting and everything that is continuing to be fixed. These schemes, which have proven to be able to get to the national stage, combined with Husker Power, historically has been nationally dominant, I firmly believe is the right formula. Just takes time to develop everybody, and get the right pieces in, to get back to the kind of stage, which is understandable.

 

[redfanusa]

 

[Ewooc]

So this will be an indirect answer and I don't know how much sense this will make but I'll try my best. I think you're right in a way. I think we can get back to that kind of lower level winning: Big 10 West titles, 9-10 win seasons, mid-major bowl games, things like that, pretty quickly. Yes, 3-4 years I think we can get to that. But, I also think we can get back to 90s dominance. And I guess I didn't explain it well enough earlier but that's what I was tying to the long term process. We can get back there, but it will take quite a while to do it, only because of where we're starting and everything that is continuing to be fixed. These schemes, which have proven to be able to get to the national stage, combined with Husker Power, historically has been nationally dominant, I firmly believe is the right formula. Just takes time to develop everybody, and get the right pieces in, to get back to the kind of stage, which is understandable.

I see what you are saying, I think. The thing with the type of dominance we saw in the 90s is we don't really know it is dominance until we are 10 years in or so. So it that regard yes, it will take time. I doubt in 1993 everyone thought man this team is dominant. It was the start of it for sure. Before that we were just good. So basically what Im trying to say is and I think you are too. I don't think it is going to take more than 2 or 3 years for us to get consistent at winning 9, 10, 11 games year in and year out. We should be able to start dominating the West in that 2-3 mark.We should be getting to and winning the BIG10 in that 2-4 year range. If we get to 90s level of going undefeated and winning NCs. Yes that could take a decade or so to get to that level.

 

[Jhollenbeck41]

I see what you are saying, I think. The thing with the type of dominance we saw in the 90s is we don't really know it is dominance until we are 10 years in or so. So it that regard yes, it will take time. I doubt in 1993 everyone thought man this team is dominant. It was the start of it for sure. Before that we were just good. So basically what Im trying to say is and I think you are too. I don't think it is going to take more than 2 or 3 years for us to get consistent at winning 9, 10, 11 games year in and year out. We should be able to start dominating the West in that 2-3 mark.We should be getting to and winning the BIG10 in that 2-4 year range. If we get to 90s level of going undefeated and winning NCs. Yes that could take a decade or so to get to that level.

100% agree, couldn't have said it better myself. That being said, I also firmly believe we are on the correct path!

 

[Redscarlet]

We’re defiantly going to change things around but some people are goofy if they think Nebraska going to rattle of 3-4 B1G championships in a row like 80’s and 90’s..

At the worst I’m fine having 9-3 seasons, but winning the North should be the first and foremost goal every year after that the Conference Championships will take care of them selves along with making it into the playoffs...

 

[inWV]

We really don't know what will happen. Frost's offense is very potent with the right personnel, and those pieces are coming together. If Chin can make things happen on the defensive side, NU will have a B1G title team in the next four years I think and thus contend for a playoff spot.

 

[Ewooc]

We’re defiantly going to change things around but some people are goofy if they think Nebraska going to rattle of 3-4 B1G championships in a row like 80’s and 90’s..

At the worst I’m fine having 9-3 seasons, but winning the North should be the first and foremost goal every year after that the Conference Championships will take care of them selves along with making it into the playoffs...

It is tougher now days. I think the BIG10 is a better conf than the BIG12 as. Plus the gap between teams is much more narrow now days. So I don't see us dominating like we did. However, I think it is more than possible for us to win 3 or 4 conf championships over a 10 year period. Ohio St has won 4 and Wisc 3 over the last 10 years. Wisc and Ohio St are not at 90s Neb level, but they are still good football teams. I would be very happy if we win 4 conf championships over the next 10 years.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan_rivals19671]

Anyone else wonder how much different last season would have played out if we didn't get rained out on our first game? I'm gonna assume we'd have won that, and with that first game under our belts we'd have been sharper and beaten Colorado...now we're 2-0 and it's a whole new and different season...sigh, what might have been.

Wait..what were we talking about again?

 

[Ewooc]

Anyone else wonder how much different last season would have played out if we didn't get rained out on our first game? I'm gonna assume we'd have won that, and with that first game under our belts we'd have been sharper and beaten Colorado...now we're 2-0 and it's a whole new and different season...sigh, what might have been.

Wait..what were we talking about again?

I have thought about that a lot over the last 9 months. There is no denying this team was mentally very very weak going into last year. They had little to no confidence after the meltdown of 2017. They had a new coach, who was trying to get them to be confident and telling them they can win. Everyones energy and emotions were high for that first game. Im sure there was a bit of let down by all, not getting to play. Getting that first W would have made all the difference for confidence not only in themselves, but in Frost and what he was selling them.
Instead, Colorado comes in and pulls out a win. Im sure all that self doubt starts creeping in. It all started spiraling down. I believe we play that 1st game and get that W, we beat CU, we beat Troy. We go into Mich 3-0. I don't think we were ready to beat Mich, but I guarantee we keep it much closer. I think we then beat Purdue. Probably still lose to Wisc, but again keep it close. Go on to beat NW, MN, 5-2 heading into Ohio St. Im going with a lost still, but really think we could have beat them. To close out the year we go on to beat Illinios, Mich St and I think had the year started with that win we beat Iowa. That puts us at 9-3 on the year. I said at the beginning of last year that I thought we had the talent and capability to go 8-4 or 9-3. That it would depend if the teams mentality was fixed enough from the damage Riley did. It obviously wasn't and we know the result of that.

 

[Jhollenbeck41]

I have thought about that a lot over the last 9 months. There is no denying this team was mentally very very weak going into last year. They had little to no confidence after the meltdown of 2017. They had a new coach, who was trying to get them to be confident and telling them they can win. Everyones energy and emotions were high for that first game. Im sure there was a bit of let down by all, not getting to play. Getting that first W would have made all the difference for confidence not only in themselves, but in Frost and what he was selling them.
Instead, Colorado comes in and pulls out a win. Im sure all that self doubt starts creeping in. It all started spiraling down. I believe we play that 1st game and get that W, we beat CU, we beat Troy. We go into Mich 3-0. I don't think we were ready to beat Mich, but I guarantee we keep it much closer. I think we then beat Purdue. Probably still lose to Wisc, but again keep it close. Go on to beat NW, MN, 5-2 heading into Ohio St. Im going with a lost still, but really think we could have beat them. To close out the year we go on to beat Illinios, Mich St and I think had the year started with that win we beat Iowa. That puts us at 9-3 on the year. I said at the beginning of last year that I thought we had the talent and capability to go 8-4 or 9-3. That it would depend if the teams mentality was fixed enough from the damage Riley did. It obviously wasn't and we know the result of that.

I stated this above but excluding Michigan, obviously Akron, and maybe Purdue, re-watching the 40 minute version of each game, we were literally one or two plays away from winning each game we lost. I could go into each play(s) of those games but that would be a long paragraph. Those key plays are pretty obvious if anyone watches them.

 

[John_J_Rambo]

The only real expectation I have concerning things we can directly control is a vast improvement in special teams play.

That's all about effort and coaching, and I was a little disappointed in that phase last year to be honest. Making field goals is one thing, but kickoff and punt coverage were a disaster and we seemingly lost the field position battle every single week.

Those are things we can directly control and I expect Frost & Co to pay a little more attention to detail in that phase this year.

 

[Ewooc]

The only real expectation I have concerning things we can directly control is a vast improvement in special teams play.

That's all about effort and coaching, and I was a little disappointed in that phase last year to be honest. Making field goals is one thing, but kickoff and punt coverage were a disaster and we seemingly lost the field position battle every single week.

Those are things we can directly control and I expect Frost & Co to pay a little more attention to detail in that phase this year.

Agree. This is just my assumption, but I wonder if Frost had Co had so much other crap to try and fix and clean up, that they felt the pile sitting in the corner would have to be dealt with at a later time. I hope it gets addressed this year. The fair catch every single kickoff/ punt was horrible. Be interesting to know how many times we fair caught it and what our average return yardage was.

 

[John_J_Rambo]

Agree. This is just my assumption, but I wonder if Frost had Co had so much other crap to try and fix and clean up, that they felt the pile sitting in the corner would have to be dealt with at a later time. I hope it gets addressed this year. The fair catch every single kickoff/ punt was horrible. Be interesting to know how many times we fair caught it and what our average return yardage was.

fair catch on punts >> letting it bounce 25+ yards behind us

JD back there would be awesome, just hope whoever it is isn't afraid to field those either with fair catch if they're short or on the bounce. Way too many hit the turf last year and more often than not bounced the opponent's way.

 

[Rcnut223]

Say what you want, this program has a long ways to go to be spoken of in the “elite” category.

I don’t get worried about recruiting because I can’t do a thing about it. However, all teams should be concerned if they are not filling their spots early. The more players that commit and are taken off the board shrink your available talent. You did say we want elite talent right? There are only so many of them to go around.

We could discuss the journey Tom took to finally get to his NC’s all day long. To me it demonstrates that you simply cannot have ANY weaknesses on a championship team. The great teams will expose every single one. Tom’s teams always seem to be missing that one or two players to get the, over the top. For a while it was the DB’s who would get exposed, then LB’s, and pick a position.

Unfortunately, I think we are very much in that mode right now.

for Tom the Kicking game, specifically a place kicker cost him .

 

[Rcnut223]

The only real expectation I have concerning things we can directly control is a vast improvement in special teams play.

That's all about effort and coaching, and I was a little disappointed in that phase last year to be honest. Making field goals is one thing, but kickoff and punt coverage were a disaster and we seemingly lost the field position battle every single week.

Those are things we can directly control and I expect Frost & Co to pay a little more attention to detail in that phase this year.

and when addressed the punter issue things got alot better

 

[9and4_rivals188421]

It is tougher now days. I think the BIG10 is a better conf than the BIG12 as. Plus the gap between teams is much more narrow now days. So I don't see us dominating like we did. However, I think it is more than possible for us to win 3 or 4 conf championships over a 10 year period. Ohio St has won 4 and Wisc 3 over the last 10 years. Wisc and Ohio St are not at 90s Neb level, but they are still good football teams. I would be very happy if we win 4 conf championships over the next 10 years.

It seems obvious, but all things being equal, you have a 7.1 percent chance of winning a championship in a 14-team conference and a 12.5 percent chance winning in an 8-team conference. So, nobody in the Big Ten should expect to win titles at the same clip Nebraska and Oklahoma did in the 1970s and 1980s.

Further, both Nebraska and Oklahoma got to claim conference titles in years where there were ties:

• 1969: Nebraska and Missouri — Nebraska claims a title because it tied Mizzou, even though we lost the head-to-head matchup
• 1972: Nebraska wins because Oklahoma cheated (surprise!) and forfeited games
• 1975: Nebraska claims a title because it tied OU, even though we got spanked 35-10 by OU
• 1976: Oklahoma, OSU and Colorado tie
• 1978: Nebraska and OU tie and OU claims a title despite losing to Nebraska
• 1984: Nebraska and OU tie and NU claims a title despite losing to OU
• 1991: Nebraska and CU tie and NU claims a title despite tying Colorado 19-19

If that criterion (claiming a title despite a tie in the standings) stood in the division-play era of college football, Nebraska would have all these years with titles in a 6-team division and a 12- or 14-team league:

• 1996: North Division champion
• 1997: Big XII champion
• 1999: Big XII champion
• 2000: North Division co-champion
• 2001: North Division co-champion
• 2006 North Division champion
• 2008: North Division co-champion
• 2009: North Division champion
• 2010: North Division co-champion
• 2012: Legends Division champion

We claimed a lot of championships back in the Missouri Valley days (1907-1918, 1921-1927) when we were competing with between four and six other schools, and in the Big Six (1928-1947).

• We claim a MVC title for 1907 despite having played just one conference game.
• Between 1910 and 1917, that's eight seasons, we played a total of only 23 conference games — fewer than 3 per year on average — and claimed all eight conference titles.
• Between 1928 and 1940, we won 9 of the 13 possible titles in a six-team conference.
• Devaney won four straight again from 1963-1966, and then four more from 1969-1972 in an eight-team conference.

TLDR version: Unless we start counting titles as I noted above for division and co-championships, we'll unlikely ever reach the heights that we did in the Big 8 or any of its predecessor conferences.

 

[cubsker_rivals142943]

To start, we should be winning the division 2 out of every 3 years at a minimum. With the talent adv we get, there's just no reason we shouldn't be kicking northwestern, Iowa, and Purdue's asses the vast majority of the time. Wisky will probably get us on occasion, but we should have the edge overall. We shouldn't lose to Minnesota or Illinois basically ever.

 

[TravisWalker]

I just want consistent improvement thought out the year! Def. Especially!!

 

[DudznSudz]

#1. It is FAR from a make or break year. Frost is going to have a very long leash. However year 2 will be a good indicator of the trajectory of things. Maybe how fast we are going to get there. We are now year 2 into his system, We are 2 years into S&C, 2 years of routine for players, 4 years for the coaches. Frost and Co now now what to expect out of the BIG10. Frost is getting more of his type of players. All of the "bad apples" have be thrown out. Finally the schedule this year is very favorable. So all that said, we are in a good spot to take a pretty good jump forward. If things are really heading in the right direction, there is no reason we can't take a good jump forward. Anything less than 8 wins should be considered a disappointment

#2. Recruiting doesn't really matter at this point. As history shows, yes you need to have top 10 classes to compete for NC, but as long as we can get top 25 right now, we will be fine. So I wouldn't worry about recruiting just yet.
I don't really understand the "this is a rebuild" so it is just insinuated that this should take a very long time to get up an going. I understand the program was down for 20 years. I understand Riley destroyed the S&C program. I get it, how long should it take to rebuild? 10 years 15 years? Why so long? When looking back at other schools, good coaches don't take long to turn a program around. Dabo got things rolling by year 3, Saban by year 2, Frost at UCF year 2, Herman seems to have things going at Texas going into year 3. Basically 2-3 years of their recruits and their system and things should be clicking right along.

#3 I don't think we are ever going to see 90s level dominance from Nebraska again. That was insane and Alabama is the only school to top it. I do think we put together a long bowl streak, win a bunch of BIG10 titles. Dominate the West. See lots of 10-12 wins seasons. Get into the playoffs a few times and get a NC while Frost is here. If 90s dominance happens, fantastic. Im just not going to be disappointed if we don't see it.
TO was very successful his whole time here. He never had less than 9 losses. Never missed a bowl game. Never ended a season unranked. Won 7 conf championship all before the 90s run. So yes it took him 20 years to get a NC. He was still one of the most successful coaches leading up to it. Granted I hope it doesn't take Frost 20 years to get his NC.

Honestly, I think this is 100% what I think as well, and here's why:

A good coach with good resources and good players should have a program clicking along nicely in fairly short order. Year 1's are always a "Who knows?" but after that, it should start trending the right way if things are going well.

Second, with strength and conditioning, good coaching, etc, you are absolutely right; I will feel fine about recruiting as long as we are consistently in the top 25 in class rankings. That means you have all of the talent you need to get preeeeetty far. In fact, you might even win an NC with it. You never really know, you just have to know you need to be in the top 10-15% of college football recruiting classes as often as possible.

As for the dominance, that COULD happen again, but it is highly unlikely. I think the Big Ten is a very, very strong conference, so going undefeated in it is very tough. I've said that since we joined. I think winning the Big Ten title and going to the Rose Bowl 2-3 times every 5 years is a great goal, and I think once every 5-7 years being in contention for the NC is ideal. Most programs, and boy I mean most outside of Alabama, shoot for this and call it highly successful, and they're right to do so. That would mean we would be "back" to being an elite, tough football program, and that's all I want for the Huskers.

GBR!