By the time Sunday rolls around, it will have been seven days since the debacle in Orlando ended. That’s a long time in college basketball to wait before the next game not only for the players, but for the fans as well. In the aftermath of one of the worst stretches in recent Creighton basketball history, fans and media have rightfully spent their time and energy expressing their concern and frustration over the previous three games…and very little time getting excited for the next opponent, which just happens to be in-state rival Nebraska.
As a result, there has been relatively little outward anticipation from Creighton fans before this game, for the first time in probably 15 years. Ever since I’ve been writing about the Jays, my inbox has filled up with people asking questions the week of this game. This year, my inbox has been filled with emails wondering what the h&$# happened to the Jays last weekend. I was worried about Sunday. I was worried the team was close to the precipice of disaster. I was worried what the fan reaction would be if the Jays were to lose. And then, like clockwork, NU coach Doc Sadler did us all a favor by needling the Jays fanbase in this morning’s Omaha World-Herald. He first brought out the old chestnut that the game is only big for the fans, not for either team (and especially not for his team). Then there was this line:
“The majority of the Creighton fans are Nebraska football fans. So they know what it’s like to have a home-court advantage, and they know how to participate…I’d like to thank Coach (Tom) Osborne and all those former (Huskers) for giving them that history.”
Talk about your all-time classic backhanded compliments! I mean, this is great stuff. Jays fans know how to provide a home-court advantage because many of them root for your football team? Wow. He even sneaks in a gratuitous word of appreciation to Tom Osborne. You can’t make this stuff up. I’m shocked he didn’t bring up Tommie Frazier just for hell of it. With one series of comments, the Creighton fanbase is fired up again, excited to take on Nebraska and hungry for a win.
Here’s the thing that amuses me: like a lot of Creighton alums, I’m not from this area originally. I don’t root for Nebraska in any sport, but I also don’t really have any reason to actively root against them. I used to hope they’d improve in basketball, though, because having two good programs in the state would bring more national attention to hoops in the area, which is good for both of them. I have to be honest though, the verbal barbs from Doc every year before this game make it difficult to keep that stance. I hope for his sake these quotes play well in Lincoln and western Nebraska, because I’m not the only one in Omaha who’s completely turned off by them.
First it was that most people who attend CU games aren’t actually Jays fans, they are just there to be seen and to drink a beer. Then it was that the Jays are only the 17th most important game on their schedule. Now its that Jays fans are good at providing an atmosphere at their games because they learned how to cheer at Husker football games. Even if I don’t take these things personally, as an alum and booster of the school he takes shots at, its tough to want the man to succeed. Does that make sense? Or am I spending too much time with Mugatu taking crazy pills?
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Nebraska comes in at 5-1, with three of their wins coming against the standard buy-game fodder that fills both schools home schedules. Those wins skew their statistics somewhat, but last Sunday’s win over USC on the road offers a good indication of where this team really is — as does the road loss at St. Louis last week. Specifically, although they average 70 points a game and give up 57 on average, I think they’re closer to the team that played two decent opponents to games in the low-60s … Senior Ryan Anderson leads the team in scoring at 12 points a game, and is the only player averaging in double figures … Sek Henry leads the team in rebounding at almost 5 per game … Doc Sadler, in his fourth year, is 60-41 at Nebraska, which is eerily similar to Barry Collier’s record. Collier was notoriously frosty, while Sadler is friendly and gives great soundbites to the media. Think that has anything to do with the perception of the two, despite similar records? … Nebraska has just one player from in-state, walk-on Mike Fox from Beatrice. Creighton has three, including starter Antoine Young from Bellevue … The Jays 2-4 start is their worst since the Rick Johnson-led 1993 team started 1-5. However, the last time they started 2-4 was in 1988, a team which finished 20-11, won both the MVC regular season title and the MVC tournament title, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
The Last Time They Played: Nebraska won last November in Lincoln, 54-52, when Ade Dagunduro hit a shot with 3 seconds left. The Jays led by 13 at the half, but a 27-7 run to open the half not only erased the lead but gave Nebraska a seven-point edge of their own.
The Series: Nebraska leads 24-18 overall, with Creighton winning eight of the last ten regular-season meetings.
Gratuitous Linkage: The excellent Alan Sepinwall of the New Jersey Star-Ledger takes a crack at explaining the inexplicable: Steven Seagal Lawman. I saw a promo for this a couple of weeks ago and remember thinking, “This can’t be a real thing, can it?” Alas, it is real, and its spectacular. Steven Seagal as a lawman in Louisiana, shaking down perps and solving crimes? And he’s been doing this for 20 years as a volunteer without anyone knowing? Thank you, A&E, for bringing this into my home. The scene in a firing range where he shoots at a matchstick, claiming on a good day he can get the bullet close enough to light the match without breaking it, is just…WOW. Its awful and its embarrassing and its entertaining all at once. Kind of like his movies.
Official Gametime Snack: Sunday games are tough. How am I supposed to know what I’m going to be hungry for in two days? So I’m going to play it safe and suggest pizza. Wherever you can get it from, it will be delicious.
The Totally Random Song I’d Play Right Now if I was Still a Radio DJ: “Last Christmas” by Wham!
True story to segue you into that song: Like most places, people in my office listen to Christmas music. It absolutely, positively drives me berserk. I HATE Christmas music. Its trite, its cheesy and it has the opposite effect on me that its intended to: rather than putting me in a holiday mood, it makes me want to inflict random acts of violence on shrubbery and other festive vegetation.
With that said, there are exceptions. Wham!’s masterpiece “Last Christmas” is one such exception. I could listen to this song in June and it would be OK. I’m listening to the song right now in December and it is OK. Commence pointing and laughing at me, I wouldn’t have made this public knowledge if I couldn’t take the heat.
Prediction: Nebraska comes into Omaha having won two of three from the Jays, with both wins coming in Lincoln. In fact, the road team hasn’t won this matchup since a 2004 Creighton win. And this particular Husker team is a mirror image of this year’s Creighton team. The Jays can score points in bunches but don’t like to play defense. The Huskers have a stout defense but struggle offensively. For basketball fans, the fascinating clash of styles is enough to be excited for this game, with or without Doc poking at the Jays. Will a large, hostile crowd affect the Huskers young frontcourt? Will the Jays be able to exploit their one defensive weakness on the perimeter by making threes? Will Nebraska be able to dominate the paint? Whose tempo will prevail, the Jays run-and-gun or the Huskers halfcourt game?
This game doesn’t need coaches lobbing grenades back and forth to be interesting. Its got enough on the court to be intriguing on its own. But it sure is a heckuva lot more fun with Doc spewing out great anti-CU soundbytes, isn’t it?
Creighton 77, Huskers 64