Just some random notes on Nebraska

[Pogo27]

Re: Just some random notes on Nebraska

*Nebraska's team ratings are way off in my opinion. B+ across the board. I'd say it should be B at best on offense, and A at worst on defense.

*Nebraska is ranked 16th with B+ across the board. Penn State is unranked with A- across the board. Hmmm. I know rankings have more indicators than just team ratings, but its a little weird.

*On the Nebraska/Penn State subject, we aren't listed as a rivalry game, despite the fact that we are designated yearly cross-division rivals with Penn State. We are listed as rivals with Iowa, Oklahoma and Colorado though. I don't know if we can be rivals with teams we'll never play.

*Nebraska/Missouri is still listed as playing for the Nebraska-Missouri Bell (at least in exhibition). We won't be playing them in the forseeable future, I think this can be removed.


These aren't huge issues, just a few things I quickly noticed when I first turned on the game. Team ratings are dynamic so its not like that is a huge deal to start off with.

1. I'll chalk this up to homerism. Most everyone who bought the game thinks EA underrated at least some aspect of their favorite team.

2. Rankings and ratings are totally unrelated. Eight of the twelve SEC teams are a 90 overall or better, but they're not all in the top 25.

3. Rivalries require history. Nebraska-Penn State has no history that I'm aware of. Neb-Col and Neb-OU have a ton of history. I'm not overwhelmingly familiar with any of these 3 teams, but I do know that if Nebraska had OU or Colorado as a non-conference game, that game would be more important than any of their 8 conference games.

More on this point... the former version of the Big 12 worked differently than the two other 12-team BCS conferences. In the Big 12, you had no opponent from the other division you played every season. In the SEC, however, you do. And it's been this way since Arkansas and South Carolina joined to make the conference 12 teams.

The cross-division every-season games are:
Alabama-Tennessee = rivalry
Arkansas-South Carolina = not a rivalry
Auburn-Georgia = rivalry
LSU-Florida = rivalry
Mississippi State-Vanderbilt = not a rivalry
Ole Miss-Kentucky = not a rivalry

Now, for those 3 games that aren't rivalry games, that's not to say they're not important. But Arkansas plays South Carolina every season just like they play the 5 other teams in the Western Division every season. If South Carolina is to be considered a rivalry game for Arkansas just because they play every season, then you have to also consider Arkansas to be rivals with every team in the Western Division.

And by this logic... teams in conferences like the Big 12, Big East, etc., where everyone plays everyone every year, they're rivals with their entire conference? Now you're watering down rivalries and in the game, the REAL rivalries lose their meaning because you're listing so many teams as rivalries.

Arkansas plays South Carolina every season, but the game is rarely going to be one of the top 5 most important games of Arkansas' season (and essentially never one of the top 3).

The same should be said about Nebraska. The only thing that makes Penn State a significant game is that it's a conference game (and not in your division, and division record is important for tie-breakers). The only thing that makes it more important and moves its important higher than the 5 opponents within your division are year in which Penn State is good and defeating them will mean a lot for your own Top 25 rankings.

The fact that Nebraska and Penn State are guaranteed to play every season could help build this game into a rivalry. The fact that in any given season they could easily play each other twice (any year they both win their division, they'll meet in conference championship game). The potential for rivalry is there... but after nearly 2 decades of playing South Carolina every year and no feeling of rivalry between them and Arkansas, I think it's pretty good evidence that playing someone every season doesn't necessarily set up a rivalry game.


4. As long as the trophy exists and is played for occasionally, the game will pretty much be kept as a rivalry game by EA.



Here's the thing, Nebraska fan who is complaining about who is and isn't their rivals in the game... you've been playing in the Big 12 for quite some time now. All your rivals from the Big 12. Leaving your conference doesn't make those rivalries disappear and new ones suddenly, magically appear.

Arkansas played in the Southwest Conference all the way up until 1993. Arkansas-LSU wasn't a rivalry game before then. They rarely played. But the Golden Boot trophy was created as a way to force the rivalry to help assimilate Arkansas into the SEC.

A lot of Arkansas fans still consider Texas and our other former SWC opponents our biggest rivals. That feeling is slowly starting to fade as the generations move on and more and more generations grow up that don't remember the SWC days.

We've been in the SEC for nearly 20 years and some of these games are just now starting to get to the point of feeling like legitimate rivalry games (because now we've got a nearly 20 year history of play against these teams).

Nebraska's main rivals are going to be its former Big 12 opponents for a while. Hopefully, Nebraska will schedule some of these guys as non-conference opponents on a regular basis, as Arkansas tries doing with its former SWC opponents (a friend and Nebraska fan told me Neb has plans of keeping a series with Colorado going). And in time, you'll start to develop some rivalries with some Big Ten teams.

But of the opponents in the opposite division, I have a feeling Wisconsin is the most likely to become a legitimate rival for Nebraska, despite the fact they won't be playing every season (much like the fact that a lot of Arkansas fans consider Tennessee a bit of a rivalry game despite not playing them every season).

[bpd115]

Re: Just some random notes on Nebraska

I played the game realistically, Nebraska just couldn't move the ball on me at all. Perhaps it's time to move up to Heisman. I've always played at AA due to the cheese on the Heisman level.

And to answer another question, yes they ran that stupid hurry up offense.

[saunders45]

Re: Just some random notes on Nebraska

1. I'll chalk this up to homerism. Most everyone who bought the game thinks EA underrated at least some aspect of their favorite team.

If you actually read what he said, and knew anything about NU's team makeup, you'd agree. He's saying the offense is rated too high, and the defense too low. NU has had an amazing defense the last 2 years, and this year has an AA candidate at each level of the D. Few teams in CFB boast that. IMO, that warrants an A rated Defense.

They've also had major issues with offensive consistency, which is why he said to drop the offense overall. A "B" or "B-" would be more realistic.

Fix those two issues, and give Taylor Martinez the speed he actually has (Low 90's) and it's a decent job on the team. Only D-Rob at Michigan is faster at the QB position.

Also, the fact that they have teams that we will never play again listed as our rivals is kind of dumb. If people can post 500 threads about a logo on a uniform being in the wrong place, or freaking dreads, then we can post about EA's hatched job on our team.

[Redacted01]

Re: Just some random notes on Nebraska

Arkansas played in the Southwest Conference all the way up until 1991. Arkansas-LSU wasn't a rivalry game before then. They rarely played. But the Golden Boot trophy was created as a way to force the rivalry to help assimilate Arkansas into the SEC.

A lot of Arkansas fans still consider Texas and our other former SWC opponents our biggest rivals. That feeling is slowly starting to fade as the generations move on and more and more generations grow up that don't remember the SWC days.

We've been in the SEC for nearly 20 years and some of these games are just now starting to get to the point of feeling like legitimate rivalry games (because now we've got a nearly 20 year history of play against these teams).

Arkansas has been in the SEC for 20 years as of this season.

[vatopa09]

Re: Just some random notes on Nebraska

My 2 favorite teams are Penn State and Nebraska. and as a PSU student I can say with supreme confidence they completely overrated us this year. I mean we won 7 games last year and mcgloin at 85 is a disgrace to every other qb rated around that number. PSU is the 2nd highest rated team in the Big 10 and they shouldnt be.

Obviously there are a few individual ratings for for some players that are inaccurate, buts thats always the case with with every team and thats what editing is for. But I watched NU play a lot of games last year and I fully expect them to beat us at home this year.

[Spooky]

Re: Just some random notes on Nebraska

1. I'll chalk this up to homerism. Most everyone who bought the game thinks EA underrated at least some aspect of their favorite team.

2. Rankings and ratings are totally unrelated. Eight of the twelve SEC teams are a 90 overall or better, but they're not all in the top 25.

3. Rivalries require history. Nebraska-Penn State has no history that I'm aware of. Neb-Col and Neb-OU have a ton of history. I'm not overwhelmingly familiar with any of these 3 teams, but I do know that if Nebraska had OU or Colorado as a non-conference game, that game would be more important than any of their 8 conference games.

More on this point... the former version of the Big 12 worked differently than the two other 12-team BCS conferences. In the Big 12, you had no opponent from the other division you played every season. In the SEC, however, you do. And it's been this way since Arkansas and South Carolina joined to make the conference 12 teams.

The cross-division every-season games are:
Alabama-Tennessee = rivalry
Arkansas-South Carolina = not a rivalry
Auburn-Georgia = rivalry
LSU-Florida = rivalry
Mississippi State-Vanderbilt = not a rivalry
Ole Miss-Kentucky = not a rivalry

Now, for those 3 games that aren't rivalry games, that's not to say they're not important. But Arkansas plays South Carolina every season just like they play the 5 other teams in the Western Division every season. If South Carolina is to be considered a rivalry game for Arkansas just because they play every season, then you have to also consider Arkansas to be rivals with every team in the Western Division.

And by this logic... teams in conferences like the Big 12, Big East, etc., where everyone plays everyone every year, they're rivals with their entire conference? Now you're watering down rivalries and in the game, the REAL rivalries lose their meaning because you're listing so many teams as rivalries.

Arkansas plays South Carolina every season, but the game is rarely going to be one of the top 5 most important games of Arkansas' season (and essentially never one of the top 3).

The same should be said about Nebraska. The only thing that makes Penn State a significant game is that it's a conference game (and not in your division, and division record is important for tie-breakers). The only thing that makes it more important and moves its important higher than the 5 opponents within your division are year in which Penn State is good and defeating them will mean a lot for your own Top 25 rankings.

The fact that Nebraska and Penn State are guaranteed to play every season could help build this game into a rivalry. The fact that in any given season they could easily play each other twice (any year they both win their division, they'll meet in conference championship game). The potential for rivalry is there... but after nearly 2 decades of playing South Carolina every year and no feeling of rivalry between them and Arkansas, I think it's pretty good evidence that playing someone every season doesn't necessarily set up a rivalry game.


4. As long as the trophy exists and is played for occasionally, the game will pretty much be kept as a rivalry game by EA.



Here's the thing, Nebraska fan who is complaining about who is and isn't their rivals in the game... you've been playing in the Big 12 for quite some time now. All your rivals from the Big 12. Leaving your conference doesn't make those rivalries disappear and new ones suddenly, magically appear.

Arkansas played in the Southwest Conference all the way up until 1993. Arkansas-LSU wasn't a rivalry game before then. They rarely played. But the Golden Boot trophy was created as a way to force the rivalry to help assimilate Arkansas into the SEC.

A lot of Arkansas fans still consider Texas and our other former SWC opponents our biggest rivals. That feeling is slowly starting to fade as the generations move on and more and more generations grow up that don't remember the SWC days.

We've been in the SEC for nearly 20 years and some of these games are just now starting to get to the point of feeling like legitimate rivalry games (because now we've got a nearly 20 year history of play against these teams).

Nebraska's main rivals are going to be its former Big 12 opponents for a while. Hopefully, Nebraska will schedule some of these guys as non-conference opponents on a regular basis, as Arkansas tries doing with its former SWC opponents (a friend and Nebraska fan told me Neb has plans of keeping a series with Colorado going). And in time, you'll start to develop some rivalries with some Big Ten teams.

But of the opponents in the opposite division, I have a feeling Wisconsin is the most likely to become a legitimate rival for Nebraska, despite the fact they won't be playing every season (much like the fact that a lot of Arkansas fans consider Tennessee a bit of a rivalry game despite not playing them every season).

1. As you can see, I also dropped one of their ratings. So if moving one up makes me a homer, does dropping one make me a H-A-T-E-R? But I can see you ignored that part of my post, so I guess I will too.

2. I agree with this, and whats more I said exactly what you've just said here in my original post.

3. If rivalries require history, why is Iowa listed as a rival? My point is, their naming of rivalries isn't consistent. Penn State isn't a rival, but Iowa is? Why?

4. You kind of overseize on a couple of points that just aren't true. I'm not "complaining" about anything. This was just a thread of random things I noticed upon popping in the game. Your whole post would make a lot more sense if I had come in here stark raving mad about these oversights.

Your entire post is basically a summation of all of the random arguments across the internet for the last year about Nebraska's move to the Big Ten, and injecting it into this thread where it has no bearing.

And what do you mean our main rivals for a while are going to be old Big 12 schools? Our schedule is pretty much locked up through 2019, and none of them are on the schedule. How does that cultivate a rivalry, going at least 8 years without playing them? Claiming an old rivalry is still going when no one is scheduled to play each other is as asinine as claiming a rivalry on a team you haven't played in 10 years.

I mean, you have a good argument, but the argument is to the wrong topic and doesn't really apply here.

[Yeti_2009]

Re: Just some random notes on Nebraska

good news is that rivalries can be edited? CO should definitely be removed because I dont think there is any talk of them playing them in the future and OU was rumored in 2020.

I wouldnt mind them having OU and CO has a rival if PSU was listed as one as well. Its not a big issues as it can fixed but I bet in 2013 NU wont have CO and OU as rivals.