Watching Big Ten Basketball will make you crazy, regardless of wins, losses or what team you’re rooting for. And Go Vikes! (for once)

Basketball is maddening. I watched the Nebraska – Illinois game last night and our beloved Huskers played is about as poorly as they could, but still managed to pull out a win. Nebraska was down with 8.1 seconds left, and I was sure that this would be another gut-wrenching, stupid loss, but James Palmer pulled a shot out of nowhere to keep me from going completely insane. I have nothing against Illinois, but I like the fact that we crushed their hopes of getting their first conference win at the last second, which led to them having terrible thoughts. Better them than us.

Husker fans still tend to drag their football mentality into basketball season. I’m not sure why Nebraska basketball fans think big games like Penn State or Northwestern should be gimme’s or anyone else in the Big Ten, especially when you are playing on the road. The Penn State loss was frustrating but understandable. Had Nebraska won that game they’d be sitting at 5 – 2 and tied with Michigan at third in the conference. Instead, they are at 4 – 3 and sixth. Michigan comes to town Thursday night as a ranked team – that would be a nice win. After that, they have a road game against Ohio State who is still unbeaten in the conference.

I see comments from Husker fans after every loss about firing Tim Miles. It might not be here at CornNation, but there are comments on twitter or Facebook. I find them frustrating. Miles has recruited a decent group of players; they just need to come together and get to a postseason tournament. I don’t want to hit the reset button again, because I don’t think there’s any point to it. I’d have to guess about 80% of Husker fans have grossly estimated how much influence or status our basketball program has in the big scheme of things. We still need to climb up that ladder. We are closer than we’ve been in a long time.

Basketball is full of games you’re gonna lose, and it’s always going to be that way. If you doubt that, take a look around the Big Ten on any given basketball night. Check out our other SP nation websites. Check out their Twitter feeds. You can bet all the Michigan State fans went utterly crazy because of their recent loss to Michigan.

The Olympics are coming soon. I have always liked the Winter Olympics, but I admit I haven’t paid much attention this time. Maybe it’s because all of the past negative coverage of the Olympics regarding facilities and hosting cities has turned me off on it quite a bit. The sports are still fantastic. What other time do you watch figure skating?

I’ve been a Green Bay Packers fan my entire life. Years ago one of my best friends declared that we all had to pick an NFL team to root for. We were in first grade. I had no idea about anything in the NFL, but my brothers had Green Bay Packers stuff all over our house, so I picked them. They were horrible for 30 years. This year, they are not in the playoff for the first time in nine years. The Minnesota Vikings look very good, especially on defense. That isn’t very NFL like of me, but I hope that Minnesota wins the Super Bowl. I don’t have such animosity toward them as most NFL fans would. I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who are Vikings fans; maybe it’s time something good happened to them.

That’s only part of the story. When we flew out to LA on this last trip, there was a guy who sat right behind me and talked throughout the entire flight. He said he was part of the people who put on Super Bowl live parties or organize events. He made it clear they didn’t want the Vikings to make the Super Bowl because it would screw up their plans. He said, “imagine planning a wedding for an entire year, but then finding out in the last week that you have to change everything.” I have no idea why he felt that way, but he irritated me on a flight that wasn’t very comfortable, to begin with. I hope the Vikings make the Super Bowl.

News

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he kind of hope that makes us look at next years schedule and say, “You know, none of these games are guaranteed losses. We could sneak into the playoffs and with a little luck be national champs.” We all know it’s unlikely but we let it slither into our brains like a fumblerooski that no one saw coming.

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“Scott Frost will bring our older fans and our younger fans back to all of our football games,” Rozier told me. “He’s a young head coach who’s proved himself at the highest level.

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Gov. Pete Ricketts wants to cut the university system's state appropriation by 2 percent — a total of $11.4 million — for the remainder of this fiscal year. He also proposed cutting $23.2 million for the 2018-19 budget year.

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“New year, new me.” Isn’t that what everyone promises themselves on January 1? There are the typical goals: go to the gym, eat healthier, take control of your career. And then there are loftier goals: travel more, check off bucket list items, get your insta game up. I’m no different, however most of my goals are centered around what I want to accomplish with my volleyball career, and what I steps i need to take to achieve that goal. Different country, different team, different league, every year it’s a different task, but end result is for a better me.

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The Heisman runner-up will be back for 2018.

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The sport’s greatest voice passed away at the age of 89.

Then There’s This