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re: Arkansas and the law of averages
Posted on 11/23/20 at 7:18 am to dchog
Posted on 11/23/20 at 7:18 am to dchog
quote:
I asked the question why Nebraska was so good in football but yet has a population less than two million?
Well, during the 60s-80s Arkansas was pretty much at Nebraska's level. They were a bit ahead but we were close.
Regardless, the real reason that Nebraska did as well as they did for as long as they did is that nobody was better at molesting the rules of the NCAA than Nebraska. You see back in the day you could have as many walk on players as you wanted. So Nebraska gave all their in state prospects agriculture scholarships.
They were basically offering the entire state, at least anyone with something resembling talent, and still had a ton of scholarships to use elsewhere. They could take and develop line men from in state, since they had so many they could develop them for years before they saw the field, and get skill position players from elsewhere.
Add to that, with no insult intended to our Big 8 friends, most years they had a one game season. Beat Oklahoma and there is a decent chance of going undefeated. Even if you drop that game and maybe one high profile OOC game they could sleep walk their way to an 8 or 9 win season. Year, after year, after year.
When even a mediocre Nebraska team can put up a gaudy record its not hard to attract recruits. When you add that to them being a national TV regular back in the days where there might be 3-4 college footballs games televised a week at best they had a huge recruiting advantage.
And... as rumor has it... they were fond of giving their players good ole Vitamin S injections because no one tested for that back in the day.
4
Posted on 11/23/20 at 7:23 am to Arksulli
quote:
And... as rumor has it... they were fond of giving their players good ole Vitamin S injections because no one tested for that back in the day.
Not to mention they were ahead of the curve in their body shaping-strength and conditioning programs.
Posted on 11/23/20 at 8:54 am to Arksulli
I remember reading a bout many towns in Nebraska would pitch in and help pay for the scholarships of many walk ons.
Also rumors of the past talked of Arkansas joining the Big 8 but Nebraska stepped in and ended those talks. I guess they didn't want another tough game and only needed to beat Oklahoma each year to stay in the national title picture. As I said these were only rumors.
But still the coaching went down the deep end when Tom Osborne retired and they fired Frank Solich prematurely. Look at who they hired and you can see why they are still in a big mess.
Also rumors of the past talked of Arkansas joining the Big 8 but Nebraska stepped in and ended those talks. I guess they didn't want another tough game and only needed to beat Oklahoma each year to stay in the national title picture. As I said these were only rumors.
But still the coaching went down the deep end when Tom Osborne retired and they fired Frank Solich prematurely. Look at who they hired and you can see why they are still in a big mess.
Posted on 11/23/20 at 11:18 am to Arksulli
quote:
Regardless, the real reason that Nebraska did as well as they did for as long as they did is that nobody was better at molesting the rules of the NCAA than Nebraska. You see back in the day you could have as many walk on players as you wanted. So Nebraska gave all their in state prospects agriculture scholarships.
This. When that rule changed, so did Nebraska football
Posted on 11/23/20 at 12:04 pm to Arksulli
Nebraska bent the rules. They took players that were criminals, wiped away their issues while in school (armed robbery, sexually assault, assaults with deadly weapons) used local scholarships to give rides to walk in’s and they used prop 48’tontake player that would have had to go to juco because they couldn’t qualify for admission to other schools.
Add in that there were only a handful of games on Tv each week and they were a premier program it allowed them to over come all their short comings.
Fast forward to damn near everyone on tv and 22 years since they were allowed to enroll criminals and idiots and look at where they are. They have all the same disadvantages, plus added new ones now that they moved their recruiting base north, but now have to fight everyone for juco players and lost the perk of being one the only schools you can be see on TV and we are in a play now era where player don’t sit for 3-4 years waiting for their turn. Their ship sailed and it’s not coming back.
Add in that there were only a handful of games on Tv each week and they were a premier program it allowed them to over come all their short comings.
Fast forward to damn near everyone on tv and 22 years since they were allowed to enroll criminals and idiots and look at where they are. They have all the same disadvantages, plus added new ones now that they moved their recruiting base north, but now have to fight everyone for juco players and lost the perk of being one the only schools you can be see on TV and we are in a play now era where player don’t sit for 3-4 years waiting for their turn. Their ship sailed and it’s not coming back.
This post was edited on 11/23/20 at 12:06 pm
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