• Nebraska will face a tough first two years in the Big10
• Pelini still not ready to name starting quarterback
• Huskers #8 in the AP Poll
• Sean Fisher out with a broken leg?
• Nebraska picked #9 in coaches poll
• Ndamukong Suh signs with the Lions
• Nebraska Big12 Media Day
• Nebraska and Oklahoma picked to win Big 12 divisions
• Kicker Niklas Sade commits to Nebraska
• Bubba Starling chooses Nebraska
• Nebraska heading to the Big10
• Nebraska to the Big10 looks like reality
• Nebraska gets 4 star cornerback commit Tevin Mitchel
• Niles Paul cited by Lincoln police
• Nebraska to add more seats at Memorial Stadium?

Last night on the Big10 Network, the league announced how the divisions would be split up starting with the 2011 season when Nebraska joins the league. The Huskers were placed in the same division as: Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan State, Michigan and Northwestern. The other division will consist of Ohio State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Penn State.

I like this division for the Huskers as the travel will be easy for fans as well as the team. The only trip that won’t be liked to much is traveling to Happy Valley to face Penn State every other year as they were chosen as Nebraska’s rivalry game. I kind of expect the end of the year game against Iowa to become the actual rivalry however as long as both teams continue to play good.

Speaking of playing Iowa. Check out the schedule that was also released last night.

2011

10/1 @Wisconsin
10/8 Ohio State
10/15 bye
10/22 @Minnesota
10/29 Michigan St.
11/5 Northwestern
11/12 @ Penn State
11/19 @Michigan
11/26 Iowa

2012

9/29 Wisconsin
10/6 @Ohio State
10/13 bye
10/20 @Northwestern
10/27 Michigan
11/3 @MSU
11/10 Penn State
11/17 Minnesota
11/24 @Iowa

Wow, that is one hard schedule for the first two years of conference play. “Welcome to the Big10″ I think the conference is saying. Two tough games to start conference play and then three tough ones to close out the 2011 season.

It’s time to buckle up and play some Big10 football in 2011!

So the Tuesday press conference came and gone and Coach Pelini still has not named a starting quarterback or released a depth chart. In other words, don’t plan on seeing anything official until right before kickoff or even the first series of the game against Western Kentucky on Saturday night.

Pelini says “I want the competition to continue and I also don’t want it to become a circus.”

Hmm would that cirus be the media and fans being all over redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez who is being rumored to be the front runner in the qb competition?

If T-Mart does in fact get the start expect some growing pains but also some flashes of brilliance. Martinez is the most mobile qb that the Huskers have so I would expect to see a lot of qb draws, some options and formations where he is not setup at quarterback (some sort of wildcat).

If I had to wager on who gets the start it would be on Martinez. He would have three games under his belt before the Huskers traveled out to Seattle to face off against Washington. At that point, Pelini would know if he can handle the starting job or if he needs to look at sophomore Cody Green or senior Zac Lee. Whichever way Bo decides to go, I like the Huskers chances to have a great season.

The first Associated Press poll for the 2010 season has been released and the Huskers find themselves and number eight. This if the first time in eight years that Nebraska football has been rated that high by the AP. It goes to show you what the media is thinking about the Huskers chances this year and what Bo Pelini is doing with the team.

Texas and Oklahoma are ahead of the Huskers in the pool as they sit at number five and number seven.

1. Alabama
2. Ohio St
3. Boise St
4. Florida
5. Texas
6. TCU
7. Oklahoma
8. Nebraska
9. Iowa
10. Virginia Tech
11. Oregon
12. Wisconsin
13. Miami
14. Southern Cal
15. Pittsburgh
16. Georgia Tech
17. Arkansas
18. North Carolina
19. Penn St
20. Florida St
21. LSU
22. Auburn
23. Georgia
24. Oregon St
25. West Virginia

Another week of practice and another broken leg for a Nebraska football player. It was Mike Smith going down for the year last week and in practice on Tuesday, linebacker Sean Fisher broke his leg and will also be out for the 2010 season. This is a blow to the linebackers and the overall defense as Sean was slotted to be a starter and was really expected to do well for the blackshirts.

Nothing official has been announced as of early Wednesday morning but expect for Coach Pelini to address the situation during his next media appearance.

Look for Lavonte David and Eric Martin to get more reps with Fisher being out. I sure hope that David and Martin got the playbook down and can fill in nicely.

Nebraska football is back in the top 10. At least that is what the coaches think as their first poll of the upcoming season was released on Friday. The Huskers came in at number nine. Their first top 10 ranking in eight years. Are the Huskers back? The coaches are telling us that they are.

NU is one of three Big 12 teams in this year’s preseason coaches’ poll, all of which are in the top 10. Texas is fourth. Oklahoma ranks eighth.

I think Texas is overrated at 4th. With no running game and replacing Colt McCoy and his go to receiver Jordan Shipley, I think the Longhorns will have an uphill battle in 2010.

As far as Oklahoma, i think they should be ranked a touch higher. They are really a dark horse this season in my opinion. I look for the Sooners to possibly be undefeated when they will hopefully be meeting up with the Huskers in Dallas for the Big12 championship. What a showdown that would be!

Do you agree with the #9 slot for the Huskers?

Four days of not practicing with his new teammates was enough for former Husker Ndamukong Suh as he agreed on a five year contract with the Detroit Lions. Suh’s rookie contract is worth more than $60 million, $40 million of which is guaranteed, team sources told ESPN. Earlier in the day former Husker and current Lions member Dominic Raiola told the media that Suh “Just needs to sign the damn contract already”. Rather then piss off some teammates it was a good idea to get into camp and receive that signing bonus.

The Lions are counting on the former Nebraska defensive tackle to bolster a defense that ranked among the league’s all-time worst in points allowed the past two seasons while the team went 2-30. Suh will be teaming up with another former Husker on the defensive line as Kyle Vandenbosh is also with the Lions.

Good luck to Suh and the other Huskers up there in Detroit. It will be fun to see if they can get that team turned around and headed in the right direction.

So the Big12 media days are wrapping up down in Dallas / Ft. Worth and I apologize for just getting this written today. I haven’t had much time to watch or listen to the meetings as I try to finish some projects up at work and also get the house ready for our first baby that is due in the next 10 days. I sure hope things calm down before the season opener against Western Kentucky!

Nebraska was the first team to meet with the media on Monday and right from the get go Coach Pelini said that he would not answer any questions about moving the Big10. Of course that didn’t stop some reporters from hinting or trying to get a little bit of information about the move. Pelini just said it’s “It’s Business As Usual”. Typical response from Bo lol.

Pelini did mention that Zac Lee is back to 100% and that was also confirmed by wide receiver Niles Paul who has been playing catch with Lee. Niles said that Lee is throwing the ball harder than every before. That sure is good news, now hopefully Zac can get the ball up over the defender and not under throw his to get picked off.

I found it pretty funny that some players on opposing teams say that Nebraska should not have went but that they also “hate” Nebraska. For “hating” a team you sure want them to still be in your conference and play you each year? Whatever Missouri!

All in all I can’t wait for the season to get underway. Nebraska is going to have teams coming at them all season long and Big12 play is going to be exciting to watch. Teams like Iowa State, Missouri, K-State etc all want to beat the Huskers and show them that the Big12 is the place to be.  We will all have to sit back and see how it pays out but I think Bo and the rest of the coaches will have the team mentally and physically prepared to take on each and every team that they face this year. Yes, even you Texas.

Big12 media days are just around the corner and today the conference released the preseason media poll. Nebraska is the unanimous choice to repeat as the North division champion while Oklahoma has been selected first in the South. That would be a great ending for the Huskers as they leave for the Big10 after the 2010 season. One more game with the Sooners and for a BCS bowl berth is what every Husker fan should be rooting for this season.

Nebraska has been selected to win the North nine times and captured the division title in seven of those seasons. The Huskers have won outright or tied for the North crown on eight occasions and went on to become Big 12 champions in 1997 and 1999.

North Division:
Nebraska (26) 156
Missouri 125
Kansas State 79
Kansas 70
Colorado 61
Iowa State 55

South Division:
Oklahoma (16) 146
Texas (10) 140
Texas A&M 97
Texas Tech 68
Oklahoma State 53
Baylor 42

(First-place votes in parentheses)

The Nebraska football recruiting class for 2011 continues to grow larger as they received a verbal commitment from North Carolina kicker Niklas Sade on Wednesday. Niklas was named the second best kicker at a Las Vegas kicking camp and also kicked for the Nebraska coaching staff after he arrived late for the kicking camp in June. Sade says he is very accurate inside of 40 yards but did kick a 57 yard field goal in front of the coaching staff in Lincoln.

Sade has a very high ceiling at the kickers position. He was given a full ride scholarship by the coaching staff so they really like his potential. It’s not very often that a kicker earns a full ride before kicking in some games at the college level. Let’s all hope the 6 foot 3 inch Sade can come into Lincoln and take over for Alex Henery next year.

Also, with Sade committing, it looks like Adi Kunalic will not be using a redshirt this season like we have talked about in the past. Look for Adi to handle kickoffs and Alex to handle the field goal and punting duties.

The Nebraska football and baseball teams received a big time verbal commitment over the weekend as highly rated quarterback and baseball player Bubba Starling committed to the university. Bubba will be a senior in Gardner, Kansas this upcoming season and is expected to be a top 5 round draft pick in the 2011 Major League draft. A lot of people think that Bubba will choose the MLB but he reported over the weekend that it would take a lot of money for him to chose baseball over Nebraska.

Starling was thought to be down to Nebraska and Notre Dame and he chose the Huskers over the Irish as Lincoln and the school felt like home. It helped out that his baseball team was playing at Haymarket Park and that will his future home while playing baseball as well. Starling also said that he is 100% done with the recruiting process and that he is not interested in any other schools.

Starling is the second 4-star dual-threat quarterback that has verbally committed to the 2011 signing class. Jamal Turner committed to Nebraska earlier on during the recruiting process. It will be fun to watch Turner and Starling battle it out and it will be interesting to see how the two do compared with other quarterbacks already on the roster. It’s safe to say however that the Huskers are set at the quarterback position for quite a while.