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Breaking down Nebraska basketball's NCAA tournament chances | Analyzing Big Ten title odds & more
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Feb 24, 2025
We discuss the Nebraska basketball four-game winning streak and what the #huskers need to do to make the NCAA tournament. We also weigh in on the Super Bowl, the 2025 Big Ten title odds, the Nebraska football coaching staff, and where Matt Rhule ranks among CFB head coaches. #GBR 0:00 Super Bowl Talk 6:48 Nebraska basketball analysis 24:24 Nebraska football coaching staff finalized 26:43 Big Ten title odds 36:15 Is Matt Rhule a top-25 coach?
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0:00
hey Husker fans welcome back to the Husker big red YouTube channel I'm Chris Peterson and joining me as always is Danny Jet and we're back here for
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another episode of the podcast the day after the Super Bowl the Philadelphia Eagles whipping the Kansas City Chiefs
0:12
last night to uh take the Super Bowl title cam Jurgens the Nebraska Corin Husker played a big role in that up
0:18
front playing the center position so we'll talk a little bit about that Nebraska basketball with another big win
0:23
over Ohio State um the coaching staff going to get finalized this week and Nebraska with the six best odds to win
0:29
the big so we're going to kind of weigh in on that as well before we get into that please make sure that you guys hit the like button hit the Subscribe button
0:36
get into the comment section and Danny how are you doing on H Super Bowl Monday I'm doing good I ate a lot of
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food so that was good I ate a lot of really good food and I was hoping to see a little bit more of a competitive game
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but um you know it was great to see the Eagles win and uh in a game that you
0:53
know they kind of despite some crucial calls early they were able to take
0:59
control of yeah I mean they just they dominated especially up front I saw a stat where
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they didn't Blitz one time they were one of like four teams in the Superbowl aaon not Blitz and you know that's the thing
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if you can get pressure you know people always say it but if you can get pressure with the front four and just play coverage that's how you beat a
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great quarterback and that's what they did against the Chiefs it wasn't um there wasn't anything fancy about it they just physically dominated their
1:22
offensive line and the Eagles on the other side of it they were able to pick up the Chiefs Blitz I mean that was the
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thing is you know spagnolo blitzed and blitzed and Blitz and never got basically never got to Jaylen Herz and
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he was able to find all of his receivers and uh you know he played a spectacular game saquin Barkley you know didn't
1:38
really have that big of an impact he did run the ball decently well they were able to you know kind of control the
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clock but um yeah it was a a great win for the Eagles so congrats to them and maybe let's slow the role of uh Patrick
1:51
Mahomes being the greatest NFL player ever because he's still has a long way to go to uh catch one Tom Brady in the
1:57
old quarterback department and Travis Kelsey has a long way to catch Rob gronowski and to be fair even Kelsey has
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admitted that gronowski is the best tight end of all time so you know I'm happy for for jayen herdz and I'm happy
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for the Eagles I think they played a complete game and and like you said sayquan Barkley didn't have you know a a
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you know gamechanging performance but you know The Supporting Cast around Herz
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uh really did their job and it also shows that if you have talented receivers and a solid Supporting Cast on
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your quarterback you can win football games and so there were a lot of lessons to learn or reaffirmed at least last
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night and um it made me think about Nebraska football a little bit well I
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think one thing that's interesting is if you look at the Eagles you know their draft classes almost all their draft
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picks I know they picked Cooper Dee this year you know later but a lot of their draft picks have been offensive and defensive linemen you know pass rushers
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big dudes you know um Jaylen Carter Jordan Davis all those guys so I mean those those picks and invest in the
3:00
trenches it it matter it matters it pays off you see it almost every year the teams you know it's been an underrated
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part of Kansas City's run is you know their offensive line has been spectacular and so is their defensive line you know Mike Jones and all those
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or Chris Jones excuse me and all those guys so you know winning in the trenches I mean having a quarterback is great but
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the second best thing the thing you need I think you know outside of you know great receivers great cornerbacks
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whatever you need to win in the trenches on both sides of the ball so and I think that is something that we're seeing
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reflected in recruiting you know and I think we we've seen that you know with Nebraska you know just looking at this transfer portal class you know look at
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where they invested you know left tackle um or you know at least right tackle with Elijah Pritchett I mean offensive
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line with Roco Spindler you know Williams Noy they invest you know deson McCulla they invested in guys that can
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protect the quarterback and get after the quarterback and that's what you need to do really you need to have a great
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quarterback you need to have great o line and D line play and they invested in a good secondary and you know that's
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something that Eagles had as well and you mentioned you know they're good defensive picks I think the secondary
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obviously de Kelsey Ringo for the Eagles and you know Nebraska did that with
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Andrew Marshall and and you know uh jir Khan even and those guys so you know
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building your defense from the defensive line outward is a smart strategy and
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Nebraska has certainly done that in the transfer portal much like the eagles did in the draft and so forth so you know it
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was uh it was um a lot of similarities to you know building an NFL team you
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know Nebraska has made those same strides this off season and that includes the coaching staff too they built an NFL style coaching staff so
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we'll see if it pays off and it was good uh you know we should mention before we we move on and get into more Nebraska
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stuff it was great to see cam Jurgens um you know be part of that he um you know was the starting center last night
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obviously was drafted to you know replace Jason Kelce and Jason Kelce even talked on the preu show or I not wasn't
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the first time but he talked about um you know kind of scouting cam Jurgens and now he thought he was such a a perfect fit kind of the closest thing to
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himself and cam Jurgens had a had a hell of a game last night was a Pro Bowl selection this year so he has a very
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bright future and it was good to see good to see to see him always good to see farmer Huskers uh get a Super Bowl
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ring Nick Gates and Ohan matthysse do as well I believe and so that's right y
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that's right and so um I I mean I know I'll I'll I'll let
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you be the proper one but it's amazing what you could do when you don't have shitty coaching I mean I hated Greg
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Austin and I didn't think Greg Austin was good at all and now cam drin goes to Philly and learns under Jason Kelce and
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a very Stout Philadelphia Eagles offensive line for many many years they they cried in the trenches and uh it was
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really great to see him U you know Play and play well and I think one of the things that's really impressed me in
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watching him play over the last couple weeks and not just the last couple weeks but overall is his physicality and his
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run blocking and the way he can drive defensive lineman back basically into the ground and he's really really done a
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nice job you know there's been a sentiment that some n that that some players play better you know away from
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their college programs and develop in the NFL rather than developing college and cam jerkens is definitely that guy
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I'll be the first to say I was completely wrong about him entering the draft and you know thinking at the time
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he would be a bust I'll e Crow on that one and I'm so happy to see him do so well I really
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am um yeah it's great to see him develop really well um so good luck to him uh next season as the Eagles Try to defend
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their title um but to switch over now to um the other big thing that happened in
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the world of Nebraska on Sunday the Ohio State Buckey came into the Vault and they had an eight-point lead on Nebraska
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in the second half things were getting a little dicey but um Jan Gary you know kind of brought it back Bryce Williams
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took over scored 24 points um berky bonsel had 15 of course sprained his
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ankle which wasn't great um I'm not sure what that's looking like but another miss a couple games another quad one
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victory for the Huskers their fourth in a row their fourth win in a row their third quad one win in four games and uh
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this team is training up what are your thoughts on another big win for this team for Nebraska basketball I feel like
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this team is very deep and I think again the playup Andrew Morgan uh you know really shown yesterday I thought Braxton
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me did pretty well with his extended minutes and I think berky is gonna miss
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gonna miss some time so we'll see who steps up there um but you know Bryce Williams is just that guy I I wouldn't
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be surprised if he wins another conference award for player of the week this week or something so uh yeah no he
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is you know you talk about good transfer portal fins in football uh he has been one of Fred holberg's best finds the
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transfer portal I'd put him up up there with casy tominaga as far as most impactful transfer portal finds and um
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he's a stud he's a stud the way he can shoot the mid-range jumper the way he can draw contact and get to the line you
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know the way he kind of stabilizes the offense and he did that again on on
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Sunday and what was a very good Ohio State team I know their record is similar to ours and you know they're not
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undefeated or whatever but they're a very solid team so that was a really really good win and uh Bruce Thorton how
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many more years does he have left is this his last year because I don't want to see him ever again he's so good and so
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scary yeah I'm not sure I think he might have another year I can't quite remember though he might be this year
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well but yeah it was a really big you know victory for this team and yeah Bryce Williams has been a spectacular
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player I mean how will he not be first team all big 10 this year and when's the last time Nebraska had a guy like that I
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mean k toaga didn't get that so I mean is you know in terms of impact like
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there's no question to me that Bryce Williams has had a bigger impact this year than Kay tomaga did you know I mean
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tomaga had had more of like um I would say like he was more of a cultural phenomenon like I think he he was more
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exciting and he you know made he I don't there was just like he was like a phenomenon I guess in some ways you know
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in the way he hit shots and stuff but you know Bryce Williams I mean the dude's what 68 69ine I mean like he can
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he can do a lot of things he's going to he's going to get drafted in the NBA I would be shocked if he's not um but yeah
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I mean he was spectacular I thought berky really maybe had his best game as a as a Husker um you know three3 he hit
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two in the second half got the shooters bounce on the one but three assists I thought he did a good job on the boards
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and so I really think that that um I'm really worried about losing him because I felt like that lineup which was the
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seventh different starting lineup that Fred hyberg has used but you had Berke at the five Gary at the four Williams
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Sam hyberg and Worster and I thought that that just fit really well not that you can there's some teams that it's
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going to be tough to play Gary at the four but I just like him there because you can see it's very difficult to keep
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him from away from the basket you know those when he's when he's getting being guarded by those fours he can get to the
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bucket and you could see that a little bit yesterday um he I just you know and
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that's the other thing too is Bryce Williams gets a lot of credit and he deserves it I mean he he's been carrying
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this team offensively but like to me Jawan Gary is is still the engine that makes this team go like if he's on his
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game if he's getting steals if he's you know just doing like just being that junkyard dog and and hit shots but I
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mean yes yesterday was a prime example of it the RAS was down by eight points you know Ohio State comes out hits that
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three and you know who is the guy that answers the Bell danan Gary right back
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on the other end hits a three then gets it within two then berky tied it but you know like when Gary you when he went out
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with foul trouble and I know Bryce Williams sat for a little bit too but like when Gary went out this team's completely different so yeah I mean as
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good as Bryce Williams is if Joan Gary had played more than 26 minutes this game would not have been close so um
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those two guy I mean I think those two guys I can't really separate the two of them they have been incredible during
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this stretch I mean on both ends of the floor Joan Gary's just got to be one of the most annoying defenders in the Big
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10 when he's when he's playing like that like this team is just so different when he's going up and getting rebounds and
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just doing all those little things that that that get missed in the Box Score that's who Jaan Gary is and when he's
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scoring and doing all the other stuff like this team really is playing at their best um yeah I don't know what
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what um Fred Hy's gonna do without berky I would say you know Andrew Morgan and
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man it's really you know you look at yesterday they had seven guys that played double digit minutes so they only
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you know they had um five dudes play on the bench but braxy me played seven minutes Aaron UL played two kale
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Jacobson played one you know so if you take berki out of that mix you know you're really you know your rotation is
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getting pretty thin there so hopefully um they can do some work on that ankle and get him ready but uh but yeah I mean
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they're in a great spot and I saw you know John rosin was talking about like Nebraska needs to win all their if they
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win all their home games they'll be in a good spot I don't even think they need to do that I think at this team I think
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they need to win 10 games 10 big 10 games nine regular season one in the
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tournament if they get to if they win their last four home games they're definitely in but um but yeah I think I
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think 9 and 11 based I mean right now you look at the big 10 I don't think there's I think Nebraska's like tied for
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sixth right now and we're six and seven or six or seven so there's there's only a handful of teams with a winning record
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even in the Big 10 so I I'm I feel like Nebraska has a very strong resume there's not very many teams in college
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basketball right now that have five quad one wins in Nebraska's one of them so and you know you mentioned Brax and me
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and I was encouraged by his performance on Sunday because we've seen his minutes go down over the past couple games and
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he struggled offensively but I thought he did a much better job on Sunday uh getting to the basket kind of you know
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not not even necessarily getting the rebounds but providing that you know size inside the paint and you know we
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saw him we saw an uptick in his minutes yesterday so that's good to see like I
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said I know Nebraska basketball fans have been frustrated with him at times but you know his level of activity on
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Sunday and you know his contributions were definitely noticed and I'm I'm willing to bet that we're going to see
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an uptake in his minutes over the next couple games um due to depth and injury and also you know the positive
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performance from Sunday yeah it'll be um it'll be interesting to see where you know where
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Fred goes I think that you know Andrew Morgan's played well um and it might just depend on uh on on different
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matchups too um so looking at the Big 10 standings right
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now Maryland's coming up on Thursday and so you've got
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so yeah Nebraska tied for seventh so I mean they were at one point tied for 16th and right now they're tied for
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seventh place um with Ohio State USC's right there at five and seven so I mean they're really not in a
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bad spot this uh you know they've got another game against Maryland basically if you look at their schedule I think
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like their next three or four games are all quad one opportunities um so
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Maryland at home um at Northwestern at Penn State and then home against Michigan so those are all quad ones I
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believe let me look at the I got to check on Penn State and [Music] um Northwestern so the ne Nebraska's
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moved up to 49 in the N rankings which still seems a little bit low to me I mean that still seems like I don't know
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Ohio State's up in Ohio State's up in the top 30 which is good that's where Nebraska needs him to be but seems like
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Nebraska should be a little higher with all the quality wins that they've got up to this point I think when you look at
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the know the November part of their schedule with some of the easier games maybe that's what's dragging them down a little bit but you're right about the
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quality wins um so um yeah so Penn State's 65th in
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the ne rankings Northwestern is 56th um so that's those both of those Road games
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will count as quad ones Michigan is 18th Maryland is 16th so two top 20 teams
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coming into the into the vault in the next couple of weeks and then two basically top 75 teams on the road so
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you know know I definitely could see Nebraska winning you know the games at home I think it's you know if you find a
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way to basically find a way to split those those four games I think that should be the goal but um you know who's
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to say this team can can't go three and one during that stretch I think Michigan's going to be tough Maryland's obviously playing really well right now
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Michigan's gonna be tough because theyve got the two seven-footers and if you don't have berky that's going to make it
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that's going to make it a little tougher to um match up with him but at the same time you know you could always you could
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try you could always tried Jawan Gary out there at the four and you know because then one of their seven-footers
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is going to have to guard him and I'm not sure if he can guard Danny wolf you know the kind of the seven foot
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playmaker for Michigan the power forward but I don't know who else you're going to put on him because I mean Andrew
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Morgan potentially but the thing about Danny wolf is he plays like a point guard even though he's 611 or seven foot
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so Joan Gary might be the best match up for him anyways I'm not really sure how that's going I mean berky would be I
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would I would definitely give berky a try on him if he's available but if he's not available that's going to be a real tough match up for
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Nebraska yeah for sure and it's interesting because you know I was saying about this the other day I know
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we get frustrated with Fred hyberg at times and I know there are some things that you know aggravate Nebraska fans
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but I'm not sure that there's a better coach at making adjustments for this program than Fred hyber I mean he does
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when he figures it out he he does figure it out it's not just a quick one game fix something clicks and this time
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around I think it was you know less help defense and you know more inside play
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from Jan Gary and stuff like that so as much as people get annoyed with you know
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some of the lapses that Fred hyberg has he is still finding a way and I think
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you know the playing his son playing Sam hyberg putting him in the starting lineup that's been one of the biggest adjustments and because you know the way
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this this team kind of plays defense like you you need guys to kind of hustle out there and they were they were overh
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helping a little bit but I feel like him as a defensive kind of stalwart has really helped um they went back with
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Raleigh and Ry I thought Raley wster played pretty decently yesterday I mean I think you know he's he should be the
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point guard of this team right now um you know just it's it's tough to put I mean Bryce is going to do that a lot
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Bryce is going to bring the ball up a lot but you just need somebody else to to kind of take that load off him a
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little bit um because he's already got to carry the load offensively and and really I mean that's the thing is like like Gary and Bryce Williams almost have
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to combine for 40 points like every game because there's just you know there's
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just not enough consistent uh scoring elsewhere I was thinking last night man what if what if rank Mass was on this
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team how good would this team I just think of that right now actually great think Alik um that's gonna be scary next
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year I think scary in a good way and um you know obviously they'll Miss Bryce
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and Gary but having ring back will be huge next year and I think there's a
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enough of a enough of a core roster to where Nebraska basketball could still be
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good and at this point we've seen Fred's work at the transfer portal so I trust that he can get some immediate impact
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contributors uh next season yeah man the one thing Fred hyber you know he's great
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at evaluating players he knows ball and yeah you know he go look go back and look at his comments about Bryce
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Williams when they got him from Charlotte I mean he basically said what he he told you what Bryce Williams was
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back then and he was right about it so I mean landed Gary in the portal they landed rink mass in the portal they
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landed Toman naga in the portal so he's found a knack of gel even uh D Walker
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dating back to those guys I mean yeah and berky will be berky should be back next year so you've got him and him and
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rink um in the front Court which I think is a nice starting point um You're Gonna
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Lose yeah you're going to L you'll have a SE and you're going to lose what hyberg um Bryce and Gary um those be
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yeah and and Raleigh and then Ulus I believe will be gone too um I think I'm
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not quite sure though based on that whole NCA thing but I think he lost the year of Eligibility I'd have to double check on that at any rate though they're
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gonna so they're essentially they're going to need a point guard um and then they're going to need a lot of scoring they do have some talented guys though I
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mean they have Gavin Griffith hasn't done much this year but you know he was a highly recruited guy so maybe he can step in next year and then Nick Janowski
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from um the kid from Wisconsin you know he obviously is going to have a chance to step in next year and then I'm sure
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they will be finding a couple guys in the portal but at least they've got um
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you know an all an all big 10 piece to build around and rank mass and I think another pretty pretty impressive uh big
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guy in bery so th those are two nice pieces and um you know Freddy transfer portals figured it out so I'm confident
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he'll get some pieces in place oh yeah for sure and so do you think that Conor moves to a starting role uh next season
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because you know I love his contributions Off the Bench but sometimes it drives me crazy that he's not starting and I get he's maybe not
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the best defender but um you know at times but you know he's still got that
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scoring spark when he's on his game yeah sometimes I do wonder about him starting too but I feel like the way
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they've got it staggered now is they're just you know kind of trying to say you know have something off you know some
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type of scoring threat when Bryson and Gary need a rest but yeah I do think Connor will start next year um you know
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we'll have to see I guess it's possible that they bring bring in you know another another Wing type player like a Bryce Williams or Gary who could start
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over him but they would have to be pretty high level players I think just you know he's I think that Connor has
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shot the ball pretty well this year for the most part I mean he's he's been up and down a little bit but that's those are kind of just Shooters you know I
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mean whole team has been quite frankly so so yeah like you look at he had four or five against Washington so yeah you
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know like he's averaging 11 11 points per game this year off the bench um
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and he's hit 58 threes so you know he hit 69 as a freshman only 20 last year
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but he hit 58 threes this year and he's shooting 40% so like you really can't um
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you know you can't say a bad thing about what Connor aan has done for the he's been exactly who the Huskers you know wanted and needed him to be I don't
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really count last year because the Badgers were so loaded at the you know the guard position and uh he kind of got
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buried but um I am surprised overall at how well Bryce Williams has played this
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season like I knew he was going to be a good player I mean he had the stats and stuff but just how well he's able to shoot and how well he's able to finish
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has really really surprised me I didn't think you know I knew he was a high level player but I didn't think he would
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be this good and that's not a knock on Bryce at all it's just speaks to how much he's been able to carry this
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Nebraska offense yeah it's been impressive and you know 47% from overall field goal
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percentage 35% from three 53% on twos um shooting 90% % from the line so like and
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he's also dishing out 2.8 assists per game a career high there I'm getting a steal per game 4.2 rebounds so you know
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he's really um you know just you know like at Charlotte he was averaging one assist per game at Nebraska you know
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last year was two and a half this year almost three so like just this is an impressive player it'll be exciting to
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see what he can do at the next level and I'm excited to see the next you know Bracketology projection because Nebraska
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was listed among the next four buys and wondering if they're going to be just off the bubble completely now I'm not
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saying that they're in the NCA tournament like but in terms of like where the bracket is right now they
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would be you know not one of the bubble teams so as long as they kept winning they would be you know comfortably in
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the tournament so which one do you trust the most because I see a lot of different projections and you know a lot
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of different brackets put out which one do you give the most Credence to um I still I still um defer to lonardi from
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ESPN I think he's pretty accurate but um I I just I like to look at that one and then I check out bracket Matrix because
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it does with it goes through all the brackets so I think it kind of gives you a good picture like I think there's like
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86 brackets right now in Nebraska I think projected to make like 81 of them or something so I think that can kind of
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give you a good overview but I generally go with the ESPN one just I don't know the the Fox Sports One seems kind of off
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you know to Cory his is his is all right Jerry pal from CBS is pretty solid too but I just think lonardi I mean he's the
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guy who started it and and I feel like he just I don't know I still feel like he does the best work I saw one bracket
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I think it was a week ago where we were matched up with Louis vill I'm like I don't want Louisville please I don't want Louisville let's let's let's slow
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down a little bit there but I'm hoping we can move out of the Louisville range so to speak and uh because last last
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year with Texas A&M that was so tough that was a tough tough matchup so I'm not hoping we get an easy game because
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you know it's that it's s a tournament anything can happen you know I I would like a nice challenge but just please no
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Louisville h yeah Louisville Louisville would be tough but it be interesting just uh it' be great just to get into
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the tournament for this squad so and WI a game I mean we've been in the tournament let's win a game yeah that
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would be it's time um so a couple football things here before we uh wrap up the show um so looks like the
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coaching staff will finally be completely finalized this week um Terry Braden obviously coming over from the
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Chiefs after their loss in the Super Bowl yesterday and Mike Eckler is expected to be announced as special
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teams coach this week um it should be mentioned Ed Foley actually still is on the coaching staff um he's been moved
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into like a recruiting um like a recruiting role I think I wanted to say um shoot they there was a name for it
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and I'm I'm blanking on it but essentially he's going to be kind of like an ambassador for the program and and uh focus more on recruiting which I
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think will be a great um a great job for him and you know frankly you know I'm happy that he was uh you know able to
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find you know something on the on the staff he's he's still a good coach you know I don't think Ed Foley is a
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terrible coach it's just you know there there's circumstance there's players and that situation didn't work out but I
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still think he can bring positive things to this program as soon as he got here he was busting his tail recruiting the
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state of Nebraska and I think that really spoke to how hard Ed Foley works and you know the the circumstances were
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tough you know sometimes Beyond his control with special teams but there's no doubt that he works hard and he
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recruited hard I remember when we were talking with Tristan alvano he had nothing but good things to say about Coach Foley and so
25:58
I think a recruiting role is absolutely perfect for him I'm glad he's on staff because I really do think he's a great guy and I really do think he he's an
26:05
asset to the program and I think you know that that asset that he brings is
26:10
his ability to recruit so I'm very happy he's he's remaining on the staff um and then yeah so I think uh
26:18
overall I think Ru did a nice job of um you know putting the staff together I think it's a really really quality staff
26:25
I mean Eckler running special teams uh John Butler running the defense obviously Dana hogerson I think is
26:31
having him um you know running the offense I think is a boon for Nebraska so feeling pretty good about where this
26:37
team is at and on that note um some of the odds have been released over the past week and Nebraska actually has the
26:43
sixth best odds to win the Big 10 um behind obviously Ohio State Penn State
26:49
Oregon uh Michigan and then I think USC is the fifth place team um I might might
26:55
be wrong on that but I think that's that was what I saw I any rate it's interesting that um Nebraska checks in
27:00
at number six and I just wanted to gauge you know what do you think Nebraska's uh chances are of actually like winning the
27:06
Big 10 next year do you think you know the odds there are too high too low like
27:11
what are your estimations about um their finish next season I don't want to fall into this trap because it seems like we
27:17
do this every damn year but um I think they're pretty good honestly like when
27:22
you look at the talent when you look at the wide receiver Talent when you look at the adjustments they made on the offensive line when and this is not a
27:29
shot at all when you look at you know Dylan Rola and a little bit of the weight he's lost this offseason because
27:34
it's been noticeable and that's positive um you know I I think that can make him a better quarterback and um I think this
27:40
is a very favorable schedule this year so I would maybe honestly put them above Michigan but we'll see uh we'll see how
27:48
things go there and um you know I think this is a big year for Matt rule I I
27:54
don't think it's a if he you know doesn't do this he's fired type of year because I think bowl game bought him a
27:59
little bit of a grace period but I think this is a very favorable schedule and you know eight or nine wins is not too
28:06
too much to ask in my opinion especially when you consider you know some of the
28:12
teams that made the college football playoff this past season I think Nebraska you know I'm not going to say
28:17
they win it all or they make the championship or whatever but I think they could you know make
28:23
it yeah I mean I definitely think they could have a chance I mean they they have a favorable opportunity and they have a
28:31
Bright Young quarterback I do think if like to your point I think if this team goes like seven and five then I think
28:38
fans are going to be pretty upset like I don't think that's that's not going to be good enough with this with this I
28:43
mean just like you know Matt rule is this big-time coach I mean and he you know I mean you can say whatever you
28:49
want about him but um you know there's a there's pretty high expectations and
28:55
they've spent a lot of money um you know and they've added a lot of key players they got rayola like they've got
29:02
all I feel like they've got all the the pieces in place and I feel like you know they've made a lot of moves like you don't you don't go pay Rocco spinler
29:09
what you paid him and not to not to be in a position to win now I don't think they paid him as much as Virginia was going to pay him I think they paid him a
29:15
little bit less but still I mean they made some big Investments and I think it's because um you know they know that they
29:22
were they're close and they were close last year um I mean I mentioned that the other day on our show that you you know
29:28
if you look at if they if they able to seal the deal against Ohio State and Iowa and Illinois which isn't they
29:34
should have they LED all three of those games in the fourth quarter and should have won I mean they were a play or two away in all of those games from winning
29:40
and if they win those games like this team's probably in the college football playoff at nine and three assuming you'd
29:46
beaten Ohio State you know what I mean like maybe not because if they would have beaten Ohio State and Ohio State lost to Michigan like that win maybe
29:52
doesn't win mean as much but they at least would have been you know in the top 15 they would have been in the
29:58
conversation because Illinois was a ranked team for most of the last season so like if you if everything else played
30:03
out the same way and Nebraska just wins those games like they're at least in the conversation and I think they should be
30:09
a better team next year so I think so too because I think the defensive scheme for one thing is going
30:15
to be a little bit better um yeah I agree and I think also the offensive
30:21
line is going to be a little bit better um and you know there are still
30:27
questions at running back but I do think you want to take the training wheels off of you know Parker and Booth maybe I
30:33
don't know exactly what they're going to do there but you know I think um when
30:39
you look at how much Troy Dannon has been committed to investing in nil and
30:46
you know getting players here it's night and day from from Trev Alberts and you wrote a very good article about that
30:51
over on Husker B read uh I think it was last week and you know basically saying
30:57
you know that Troy has adapted where Trev Alberts didn't and you know I think
31:02
that should definitely be uh noted as well uh when you look at building this
31:08
roster yeah I think that that yeah that is a good point um with with Troy Danon and um yeah I do feel that you know even
31:15
though we were worried about when Chev Alberts left I do think it was a good thing for the program just because Troy Dan seems much more in Troy Dan cares
31:23
about Nebraska he cares about the results on the field he doesn't care about his own resume and accomplishments like Trev Alberts so um you know those
31:30
are the things that make me feel good about this team and and like you I do think the defense is going to be better I think maybe the run defense might not
31:37
be quite as good you know because they don't have that Nash and Ty Robinson in there but I think the pass rush is going
31:43
to be better because I think noer and I think Jason McCullen some of these guys are actually better pass rushers and so
31:49
I feel like you know the actual like affecting of the quarterback is going to be more consistent this year I don't
31:54
think their run defense was you know that great at times last season to be honest well no I mean that times it
32:00
wasn't e no but um but yeah I I still do worry about them not having you know
32:06
like a big Nash and but they really didn't replace Tai or Nash I know they've got um Riley van poppo who's kind of the replacement for Tai but that
32:13
also makes me think maybe they're not going to play um you know as much of a three a three-man front as they did last
32:19
maybe like Jaylen George I mean not that yeah I think he'll I think he'll make an impact for sure but yeah no I I I don't
32:27
think I I I think they're going to play like a different style of Defense I'm hoping it's a little bit better in terms
32:33
of of defending the because there were some games where they just could not defend the run at all and it was
32:38
frustrating and so um I think you're going to see a little bit more pressure off the edge and things like that too
32:45
which is going to be exciting I know Tony white tried to disguise coverages and stuff like that but I think this
32:51
defense is going to benefit guys like Mahi and Shavers I mean you saw the boom that Shavers was laying on the BC
32:57
offensive players during the bow game and I think you know he's going to be in a position to have a really big year
33:03
yeah I like I just I like yeah I like Shavers I think Shavers is going to be the best linebacker um the Huskers have
33:09
had since Levante David and then you've got mcei I think a good a good pass rusher um mullu is a good pass rusher
33:16
Noy George I like all those guys who still got Cameron Leonard and um you know van Popple um I do think that I do
33:24
think that people are underestimating um the addition of Gab Brooks the dude from Mississippi State I think he's going to
33:29
help this team this year he's 6'4 290 pounds and um you know he was going to play for them last year I don't know
33:35
exactly I there was like an injury and then he like kind of like red shirted and and I'm not sure if he had an issue with the staff or whatever but like he
33:42
was expected to be on on they too deep for an SEC program so I really think a
33:47
guy who 6'4 probably can get up to 300 pounds who used to be an edge like that that could be a really exciting prospect
33:53
as a defensive tackle type and uh wouldn't shock me at all to see him get on the field and I think this front
33:58
seven is going to be really big and really long and really active and they
34:04
had a couple guys like that L last year with like Tai and Nash but I just feel like that length at defensive end is
34:10
going to be much more noticeable this year one of the things I'm excited about is a combination of special teams coach
34:16
Mike Eckler and the returnability of Andrew Marshall I mean one of Mike Eckler's Specialties was you know return
34:22
yards and front return yards and you know Andrew Marshall can is the tremendous returner so I'm curious to
34:29
see what Marshall can bring to the return game and what the return game looks like overall because I know all of us were screaming about them trying them
34:36
not returning kicks or anything like that and so I'm excited to see that element hopefully brought to the table
34:42
because that was that's one of Mike Eckler's calling cards yeah and like um also the ability
34:48
to like have some kicks blocked might be nice or not have kicks blocked either way so I think I prefer not have kicks
34:54
blocked at at at at this point honestly um it would be not like we used to block
34:59
some kicks so you know it just like I said teams that win are good on special teams I mean it's you know we've seen it
35:06
how many times that special teams has doomed this program I mean it hurt us twice last year I mean if if we don't
35:13
get bad snaps and Miss kicks against Iowa and Illinois they probably win eight games so like you know it's a very
35:19
I mean just right that like if we had Mike ekler on staff last year maybe they win those two games I'm not it's hard to
35:24
say it's hard to blame Ed Foley because the players too but you know that's not a fully thing I not say that you are I'm
35:30
just say in general right you know but but that does show Nebraska's like that close to winning eight games and they
35:36
were that close to beating Ohio State so this program isn't that far off and so I
35:41
do think that the expectations are going to be raised and like six and six seven and five that's not going to be good
35:47
enough next year I mean with everything that they've invested in this program like that's just not that's just not good enough they got to to me they have
35:53
to at least win you know eight games and kind of be somewhat of a contender for the play play off even eight I would
35:59
kind of be a little bit shaky I'd love nine but I'd take eight you know um but
36:04
I think with this schedule nine is not a ridiculous
36:09
ask so before we wrap up here there was one other thing we wanted to talk about so they've um on three well there's yeah
36:17
on three released a list of top 25 um head coaches college football head coaches and um I want to say there was
36:24
maybe two lists of these because I I don't know if AR Osterman and uh Andy
36:30
Staples both put out list or there was just one or if there was a at any rate doesn't really matter but Matt rule
36:36
didn't make any of the top 25 list that I have seen from uh you know coaches so um what do you think about that do you
36:42
think Matt rule is a top 25 coach in college football yeah 100% um I just
36:47
look at the guys that are on that I don't think should be on and you know you can correct me if I'm wrong but I
36:53
don't know if Shone Mo should be 17 I mean
36:58
here's my thing though with shiron Moore is that he does have two he does have two wins over top 11 teams um and he he
37:06
did land the number one quarterback in this class I mean he landed the number six recrui I think there's definitely some projection there with Shone more
37:14
but I mean even when he was the acting head coach I know Jim Harbaugh it was like Jim's team but he still won two top
37:20
10 games you know as the acting head coach so I I think that maybe they're like factoring it in that they've
37:26
already seen him win some of these big games but I see what you're saying he's only got one eight and five season and
37:31
it it really wasn't great for most of it so that is pro I think that's more of a projection but who were some of the other guys on there Jeff Braum uh Jeff
37:39
Braum at 24 and Jeff Braum is a good coach you know but you know Matt rule
37:44
Jeff Braum was eight and four last year Matt rule was seven and five so does that put does that make Jeff Braum automatically eligible for this
37:51
list I would and I'm think I mean he did get PR Goode to the Big 10 title game um I actually love Louisville and Jeff br
37:57
honestly if we being completely honest yeah that was a really good hire yeah he was he was a good hire I mean I could B
38:04
I could probably buy Jeff Braum you know but again I don't know that his resume
38:09
is that much better because rule got got Baylor to a big 12 championship game so like I I do think that you're they're
38:15
probably the same like I mean if if if Jeff Brams claim to fame is getting Purdue to that one big 10 title game
38:23
like his his resume is not that much better than rules honestly although he might have he might have more um like I
38:30
I think they did beat an undefeated Michigan State team a couple years ago so like he might have more like higher ranked wins than rule but it's pretty
38:37
close I would say Brian Kelly at eight I'm not saying rule should be eight or anything but Brian Kelly at eight seems
38:42
a little bit too high he should not he should not be number eight that is way too high I would put you know J Josh
38:50
hipple and um you know even even Kaylin dbor is nine I'd almost put dbor over
38:57
Kelly maybe I don't know but I'd definitely take K deor over him yeah I'd
39:03
definitely take kayin deor over Kelly if I had my choice um I would take hyp over him too so take Lincoln riy over Kelly
39:11
to be honest with you and Lincoln Riley is 18 so I mean I me that's my bias I just hate Ryan Kelly I'm not gonna even
39:18
be shy about it I don't I think he's extremely overrated Dion what the one that I think
39:23
is terrible though there why is Dion Sanders number seven that is ridiculous I'm looking at the one on Andy Staples
39:29
and Sanders is 21 okay so okay I I looked up this one okay this is so this is from Ari werman
39:36
so they each haveck list okay okay we canare list yeah so here's the uh so the the Ari werman one has smart number one
39:44
day two Landing three uh dab Freeman is five Dabo six
39:50
Dion Sanders is seven which is insane okay so Andy Staples has smart at one
39:55
day at two Sweeney at three stabo Sweeney Steve sarkeesian four Marcus
40:00
Freeman five Dan Lanning six James Franklin seven Brian Kelly eight kayin
40:05
dor at nine and then Lane kein at 10 yeah that's that's that's kind of an
40:11
interesting Davos Sween at three is kind of crazy I mean I get what he's done previous but without Trevor law Lawrence
40:17
he's been absolutely nothing yeah I mean I can buy him being like in the top 10 but not three that seems that that see
40:24
that definitely seems crazy to me I I agree I would say let me look at AR's one real quick I agree with AR's top
40:30
three and I would say Kirby smart as one Ryan day to and I think Dan Lanning is three um although it it'd be hard it's I
40:39
think I think Sark and Lanning are really close really close and that's the other thing too what has Dan lenning
40:45
achieved he's he's gotten Oregon to a lot of like big games that they've lost they did beat Ohio State but that's like
40:52
you know they had like his first two years there they had chances to get into the four team playoff and choked it Away
40:57
by losing to Washington so you know he's lost a lot of big games that his teams
41:02
were supposed to win I mean two years ago when they had bonick they were like a big favorite and got beat by Oregon
41:09
State they lost twice to Washington last year and then this year they were a big favorite I mean against Ohio State and
41:15
they just got absolutely embarrassed I mean that was one of the most embarrassing performances a number one team has ever put to like that that Rose
41:21
Ball Game reminded me of the Miami Nebraska Rose bow game and Oregon wasn't supposed to be Nebraska in that game
41:26
like they embarrassed themselves and so I don't know if I could I don't know if I could put him above SAR to be honest
41:33
Ari wasman list is built BK at 21 which is interesting because that you're clearly going off his NFL experience at
41:40
that point but I wouldn't put him anywhere on any of these lists yet until we see how he does but um yeah some of
41:48
these list are interesting yeah the Colorado is is crazy to me though like I
41:53
mean I you know he's he's saying he's unquestioning one of the few human beings on the on planet earth that could have had Colorado on the verge to the
41:59
college football playoff in year two uh and I get that but it's also because okay how good would Deion Sanders be if
42:06
shadur Sanders wasn't his son like to be honest well next year yeah I mean I just
42:12
I really I really think like yeah I mean I guess I can give him some credit for that you know he got Travis Hunter there
42:18
but like they still played in a weak conference and they only won nine games and they got their ass kicked by Nebraska you don't hire you don't hire
42:25
Marshall faul if you think you're going to have a good passing attack next year yeah like I just what what win does in
42:33
show me the win that that like you know proves that Prime deserves to be this ranked where he is like there isn't one
42:40
I mean I don't feel like he's had a like sure he won a swack Championship but I feel like his res I feel like if
42:47
Nebraska played in the be ball last year they would have won nine or 10 games easily so and I'm not trying to diss the Big 12 but Colorado came to Nebraska and
42:54
they got their asses kicked it wasn't even a game it wasn't even competitive Nebraska flat out dominated them and
43:00
they still almost made the playoffs so you know one of Tommy Hills last great games unfortunately yeah so sad like so
43:07
I mean I get it but I mean color the Colorado fans that are like trying to talk smack on Nebraska like you're
43:13
absolute morons you got you got destroyed Nebraska emasculated you on National
43:18
Television like hoay for you for go winning nine games in a junior varsity conference but get out of here trying to
43:24
talk trash on Nebraska like we have bragging rights on your tell the next time we play and we'll probably you know
43:29
clown your ass that time too so just shut up one of the things I do like about westman's list though is Kyle
43:34
Whittingham at eight Kyle Winningham is one of the most consistent and underrated coaches in my opinion in
43:39
college football so I'm glad to see him get his flowers yeah he is really good and like honestly he was always like my
43:46
like a dream uh you know yeah coach because I think he's I agree with you he's one of the best three losing
43:52
seasons in 20 years like that is hard to do in college football yeah he followed
43:58
Urban Meyer with you know there at Utah and did a great job and then um what's really what really impressed me is they
44:04
went from you know the Mountain West to the Pack 12 and eventually you know won Pack 12 championships so you don't see a
44:11
lot of programs kind of going from one to a new conference winning championships so um and then and then
44:17
and then I do like Marcus Freeman too I I I I really do like Marcus Freeman I think a lot of my hate for Notre Dame stem from Brian Kelly but I do like
44:24
Marcus streaman so I'm glad he's in the top five and but other than that you know these list should have or at at at
44:31
least the Andy Staples list should have Matt rule on it in in my opinion I feel
44:37
like honestly both of those list should but um you know Matt rule deserves some some credit for what he's been able to
44:43
do at Nebraska because I think a lot of these National writers forget that he had to basically like restock the
44:50
program the program was Bare in terms of recruiting and he came in immediately and flipped the program around and you
44:56
know restocked the program with talent in a matter of two years and not only has he restocked the program with talent
45:02
but he's also adjusted his recruiting style to fit today's you know transfer portal kind of uh I don't know Vibe or
45:09
you know transfer portal Direction and I think he deserves some credit for that too but you know I don't know what it'll
45:15
take but Matt R definitely deserves more National recognition I think um I think if they
45:21
get an eight or nine win season next year I think people will start to give him you know give him his flowers a little bit so hopefully he delivers that
45:29
man it's been such a long time we've all been waiting for it um but he's done a great he's done a great job getting this
45:35
program to where it is and they've got the pieces are in place like I feel very confident that the pieces are in place
45:41
and uh but I mean I'm always confident and that's just how I am so you know I I I think there's reason to be confident
45:46
like like I'm excited to see a full year of a Dana hogerson offense like that's exciting to me you
45:53
know yeah and to see um you know rayola get a full offseason with hogerson and yeah it's going to be it's going to be
46:00
exciting it really is Rola and Cortez Mills because I do think there's a chance that Mills plays a lot next year
46:07
yeah I do too I I 100% agree yeah Cory Barney out there then you have nah
46:13
Hunter then you have a healthy Carter Nelson at tight end and uh you have a
46:18
rolling yeah and Hardley Gilmore don't forget about Hardy Gilmore either so yeah
46:24
it's and you know I've been playing uh I've been playing um the 2025 season in NCA football and I've been tearing it up
46:31
with Quinn Ives as my number two so I mean okay maybe that's a good omen I've
46:36
been yeah man he's been a weapon in the passing game and the running game I he's gonna be really good honestly and I
46:41
think that's why they did they haven't aggressively decided to go after a transport a running back that in the
46:47
fact that EJ probably threatens to leave if they did so that that definitely helps too but I
46:53
think all all joking aside IES is going to be really really good and you know um
47:00
I like I said I like J Maran Parker a lot and sometimes you just have to trust your evaluations you know you just have to trust your eye and so um at any rate
47:08
all right you guys well we thought it would be a short show it turned into a long show so that's how it happens sometimes so thanks for sticking with us
47:13
if you did um if you haven't please hit the like button hit subscribe get into the comment section and as always go Big
47:19
Red go Big Red
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