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I registered here just to comment on this. As an NDSU fan I was rooting for Nebraska and Coach Miles for obvious reasons. Having watched Miles Coach for years I can tell you as you probably already know he's one of the most professional and passionate coaches in the game. Take the winning or losing out of the equation for a minute. I know the right thing to do is to "take the high road" which Coach did in the presser after the game. But those who oversee the officials for the NCAA had ought to take notice of this game. When you see a disparity as wide as it was in fouls between two teams called and as you can clearly see it's not a first for this official or a crew he's been a part you really have to raise an eyebrow. Yes those who watched the game can agree that in the end the Huskers didn't do themselves any favors by the way they played yet its beyond unfortunate that for all the years of hard work for these players, coaches and the grand stage they get to play on if they are talented and lucky enough it shouldn't be hijacked by an unprofessional ref or crew. Let the teams decide the game not the refs. So unfortunate it went down the way it did but I have no doubt Tim will have you guys back in the tournament and get that first "W" in the coming years. He's a winner as you already know. "Go Bison"

I recall that some people had wondered if the "US ALWAYS" warm-up shirts were available anywhere... well, I found 'em at "Best of the Big Red" along with a lot of other Husker Hoops gear. Check it out ----> http://www.bestofbigred.com/allsports/basketball?ps=40

There has to be accountability. I hope the administration pursues every avenue to have the officials held accountable

I'll take 50 NCAA losses over all the NIT wins we could ever rack up. This was a magical season. No one can take that away from us. Go Big Red. #UsAlways

Best way i've heard it put- Officiating didn't lose this game for Nebraska but it decided it for Baylor.

Concerned? No. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he did so. I'm not sold he will ever be a Big Ten type player we need. This year, he was absolute disappointing. It's hard to look at his game logs. Over hyped is putting it lightly. So no, not concerned. But I have heard rumors he wouldn't make it past this year. I wish the mods would tag your post to the top for the next 3 years so we can all look back at it in 2-3 years. You have had an unhealthy obsession with bashing Tai all year, so I guess you may as well go out with a bang. As I said in another thread, I have heard the coaches changed Tai's shooting form after he arrived on campus. They knew it would throw him off this year but are hoping it will give him a headstart on the future years. Maybe he never will pan out. But if he is hopeless, then I fear for the future of Hawkins and Fuller who couldn't even crack the lineup all year. I guess we should just throw them out as well. I guess I am just not ready to give up on any of them, and definitely not Tai.

All I can say is: "Poor Luke. What were his parents thinking?" Well...that doesn't make up for the numerous other missed calls.

There has to be accountability. I hope the administration pursues every avenue to have the officials held accountable Miles first 2 technicals all season, and the FTAs were 48 to 16... bunch of B.S.

I have to disagree. They are an upper seed in the NCAA tournament. They are one of the top thirty-two teams in the country. One of the top ten percent teams in the country. They are good, but for the fouls and terrible start, we can play with them. That tells me that our foundation is built. We need to build consistancey and bring in a couple more players...we are right there.

Hey, I wanted to check in this morning and this seemed like the right thread. I haven't posted a lot the last couple years, but I read almost every post. I have loved watching this team and I am so fired up for this game. I hope the players seize this opportunity. The list of young players and teams that thought they would always have more opportunities only to see fate intervene is long and distinguished. I hope they forget about expectations and being ahead of schedule and go seize this opportunity right now. I also probably don't have to mention this to the fans that have experienced the last 15 years, but enjoy every second of this game. They don't happen every day. I hope this is the day teenage me always dreamed about. Enjoy the hell out of this game and for the love of everything Holy, by the ghost of Danny Nee and Moe Iba, for the honor of Mikki Moore, GO BIG RED!!

Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-11) vs Baylor Bears (24-11) Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX Date: Friday, March 20, 2014 Time: 11:40 am, CST TV: TruTV Announcers: Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Craig Sager ** Baylor Scouting Thread ** Radio: Across the state on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN (1400 AM/94.5 FM) in Lincoln, KFAB (1110 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington. Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka; Color: Matt Davison Kent Pavelka Tailgate Pump up MixBaylor Info Head Coach: Scott Drew Location: Waco, Texax Conference: B1G 12 Nickname: Bears Mascot: Judge Last time out: Lost to Iowa St Typical Rotation Depth: 8 players Tempo: Slow Roll Style: Love the three, like the FT line, and at least 5 alley-oop attempts Line: Baylor by 4 Shirt not to wear: Green, Gold, 90s neon gear, especially Hypercolor or Zubaz, Possible Starters Huskers 0 Tai Webster 6-4 194 Fr 2 David Rivers 6-7 198 Jr 5 Terran Petteway 6-6 209 So 31 Shavon Shields 6-7 219 So 35 Walter Pitchford 6-10 234 So Hoosiers 1 Kenny Chery 5-11 180 Jr 5 Brady Heslip 6-2 180 Sr 0 Royce O'Neale 6-6 220 Jr 21 Isaiah Austin 7-1 225 So 34 Cory Jefferson 6-9 220 Sr The Skinny Has it really been since 1998? We all had a feeling that Tim Miles was going to be the answer but only the eternally optimistic believed it would be this soon. The Huskers bowed out early in the B1G tournament, blowing a large 18 point lead to Ohio St. Perhaps lessons learned and fresh legs can be applied towards Baylor. Scott Drew and Baylor run various zone defenses that works well with the length they typically recruit. They don't turn you over...they simply want to make you work and settle for 3s, which isn't Nebraska's game. Look for Shavon Shields to establish himself in the high post and for Terran to not be afraid to drive against the length of Baylor. The corner will be open against this zone...who will be out there to knock down shots when we need them? Baylor's zone and desire to fast break will give opportunities for offensive rebounds. The Huskers will bail to start the game but may crash the offensive boards if desperate. Baylor has a lot of weapons on offensive including future NBA players Cory Jefferson, and Isaiah Austin, 3pt machine Brady Heslip, and microwave Royce O'Neale. However, the key to the Baylor half court offense is Kenny Chery. The Huskers are going to treat him much like Yogi Ferrell of Indiana and attempt to slow him from driving to set up the big men. Also look for the Huskers to put some height on Heslip starting with David Rivers. If the Huskers can limit Baylor's transition buckets it wouldn't be shocking if they could hold the Bears under 60 points. The key for the offense will be no unforced turnovers plus patience against a zone that will have holes. The book on Drew is that he can bring in players but isn't a great in-game coach. Let's see if Miles and Co. can pull the strings at the end of what should be a close game. Prediction: Nebraska 68 - Baylor 63 Click here to view the article

I ended last season with the same topic and the same title (or close to it). Yeah, it absolutely stinks that the season ended the way it did in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, but we all agree that there is so much for us to be proud of and excited about for the future. This is just the beginning. Most of us would have been thrilled with an NIT berth. Many of us gave up on the Huskers early in the Big Ten season, and a few more after our loss at Illinois. It says a lot about Miles, his staff and this team that they were able to band together to make this run to the tournament. Yeah, the season has ended, but again, this is only the beginning. Go. Big. Red.

Good Luck to the Huskers & GO BIG RED SIC EM HUSKERS This post has been promoted to an article

If the NCAA championship game was officiated like our game was, it would damage the "product." Nothing we can do about our game, but for the love of the game, this crew should never be allowed to work a NCAA tournament game again.

Throw anything related in here. Here is a transcript from a press conference today with Miles, Petteway, and Shields March 20, 2014 Tim Miles Terran Petteway Shavon Shields SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS THE MODERATOR: We're joined by University of Nebraska student‑athletes, Shavon Shields, Terran Petteway. We'll take questions from the floor. Q. Terran, did you expect the culture to change at Nebraska as quickly as it did when you decided to transfer from Texas Tech? TERRAN PETTEWAY: I did, but it wasn't all because of me. It was because of the coaching staff we've got. Those guys, the things they do day‑in and day‑out, even though they have families, they still dedicate a lot of time to us and to the program and to our players too. So I did expect it. Q. What made you think that things would change as fast as they did? TERRAN PETTEWAY: When I first got there, it was like everybody was willing to work. There was nobody that did not like working or did not like having workouts. We would always call coaches for extra workouts, extra practices, extra shooting, anything we could do to get better. Once I seen that, I knew it was going to be good. It was just a matter of when. Q. Terran, what's it like for you to come home? Is it a pretty cool experience for you? TERRAN PETTEWAY: I've got family coming Friday, so it's going to be fun, real fun. Q. Shavon, I wonder if you could talk about the challenge of Baylor's zone defense and how you're going to have to try to shoot them out of it tomorrow? SHAVON SHIELDS: Yeah, they're super long and sitting back in that zone. They've got a bunch of long athletes who are really talented. So we've got to get it inside. Can't settle for jumpers and just kind of work it inside and be aggressive. Q. Terran, I wonder if you can go through how you ended up at Nebraska. What happened at Texas Tech that made you decide you wanted to leave, and who recruited you up there that kind of stuff? TERRAN PETTEWAY: Things didn't go well for me at Tech. I don't want to get too much into it. I moved on from it. The reason I went to Nebraska is because Coach Miles and Coach Smith were one of the first coaches that recruited me out of high school at Colorado State. So once I put in my request to transfer, they were the first people I called. I asked, did they still want me to play for them. They said yeah, and there was no more talking after that. I went to Nebraska, signed my letter of intent, and that's how it got done. Q. Now that you guys are here, what do you guys do to handle the moment of an event like this and just keep guys focused in your role as team captains? SHAVON SHIELDS: I just think enjoy the moment and stay in the moment because you don't know if it's going to come again. So just stay relaxed and don't blow it up more than it has to be blown up. At the end of the day, it's just another game that we need to prepare for and execute in order to win. TERRAN PETTEWAY: I think like what he said, we ought to treat it like another game. It's the NCAA Tournament and our first time being here. But we've still got to treat it like another game. Because if you get overhyped and think about it too much, that's when you start messing up on game planning and your overall play. So we've got to be calm and do what we do every day. Q. Wanted to ask real quick, what are you guys doing‑‑ because I know you're in the tournament and it's really serious. What are you doing to stay relaxed and stay chilled out? TERRAN PETTEWAY: Really we've got a lot of jokesters on the team, so we've been cracking jokes a lot. So we're trying to do what we do every away game. Not trying to take it too serious. Everybody's not all serious on the plane and all serious on the bus; we're still having fun. SHAVON SHIELDS: He pretty much hit it. We haven't really changed anything from our normal road routine. So it hasn't really hit me yet that we're at the NCAA Tournament. Q. Obviously it's well‑chronicled that Nebraska has never won an NCAA Tournament game before. I wonder if you could just talk about what it would mean to the program if you were able to be successful while you're here? TERRAN PETTEWAY: It's another step forward to where we want to be. We've already made the tournament. Now getting wins in the tournament, like making a deep run, that's pushing forward where we want to be for the program. SHAVON SHIELDS: Yeah, it's really big. I don't think a lot of people thought we were going to be in this position this fast. So for us, I just kind of think we're learning as we go on. We just need to execute in order to win. I don't think we're really putting pressure on ourselves to win, because we weren't a part of the program for the first hundred years or so. This is just our time in the program, and we want to put a mark on it. Q. For Shavon, Baylor had to win 10 of 12 to make sure they get in the tournament. I think you guys finished strong winning 8 of the last 10. What have you taken from having to play kind of play off postseason basketball for the last several weeks? SHAVON SHIELDS: I think we just focused on what we needed to do and what we can control. That's really allowed us to go on this run. I don't think we put a ton of pressure on ourselves like we have to win this game. We have to win this game. It was more if we play hard, play together, play for each other and play unselfish, I think we'll be all right. That's kind of what led us to go on the run. Q. You've played against Brady Heslip a couple years ago. What do you remember about him and how dangerous is he? TERRAN PETTEWAY: Really, he's one of the best shooters in the country. He's shooting over 47% and he shot over 200 threes. I don't know anybody else that's doing that. He's a pretty good shooter. I remember playing him as a freshman. He was a good shooter then, and he still is now. We've just got to get to him and try to contain him on those three‑point shots. Q. You made an interesting comment there about people maybe not expecting you to be this far along in the transformation. Does that give you a little bit of relaxation? Maybe doesn't make the pressure as much that you guys were in here playing with house money? SHAVON SHIELDS: Not really. I don't think we look at it like that. We just kind of look at it as we're a team trying to play together and win games. I don't think it should be like blown out of proportion like that. We're just trying to execute and win. THE MODERATOR: We're joined by University of Nebraska head coach Tim Miles. We'll ask Coach to make an opening statement. COACH MILES: We're excited to be here. I know it's been a long drought for Nebraska. Our first trip in 16 years, I guess. Lee, you're the historian. Is it 16 or 15? 16. Our fan base is really energized, and we're just really pleased to put Nebraska back in the national tournament and go out and compete well and see if we can find a way to beat the Baylor Bears. Q. It's only taken you a couple years to do this. Did this come as a surprise at all that it came this fast? COACH MILES: When we were 1‑5 in the league I wouldn't bet you any of my money that we were going to make it. I just think that our guys really bought in. Once we started establishing ourselves, we had this little two‑game run at home where we beat Minnesota. We had already beaten Ohio State, and then we beat Indiana. I think just beating the blue bloods, you know, like Ohio State and Indiana, now you start thinking our guys, hey, we can do this. I thought what was really interesting was that early in the year we looked like a bunch of guys trying to outscore the other team. By the end of the year, we were one of the better defenses in the Big Ten. We were number two in conference‑only games behind Ohio State. If you would have told our guys that in November, November 22nd when we were getting our butts kicked in Charleston, South Carolina, they would have said, you're nuts. What sport are you talking about? So I think it's great that we've established an identity. We understand we have to win with defense. They're a hard‑working group. They hustle, and we've just found enough offense to be successful. Q. Are you handling things exactly the same way that you did two years ago when you were here? What did you learn from that experience that can be beneficial for your guys this time? COACH MILES: Well, I've been in the Division II national tournament. I've been in the NAIA days, they were great. You went to one site, 32 teams, five games in six days to get to the National Championship game. Those were‑‑ now you had to get ready all differently. This is a piece of cake compared to that stuff. So, yeah, I just think I feel like we come into this with a business mentality, but I want the guys to enjoy the moment. But the idea is just not to get distracted. We practiced really well the two days before we got here. But now here comes the distractions. There's all kinds of fans. There is all this stuff, this great media stuff. And it's easy to get distracted, and it's easy to get ‑‑ start thinking about the other stuff. But when one of your players like Terran Petteway comes up and says, Coach, tonight 8:00 you're taking our phones, I think that's a pretty good mindset of one of your leaders on the team. A guy that's been voted captain by his teammates that they are locked in and they're here to win. That's what we set out to do. When Tom hired me, Coach Osborne, I said this is what we want to do. We want to exceed expectations. We want to go to the NCAA tournament and win. It's never been done. It can be done. I've won in a lot of tournaments, but not in the NCAA, so I'm looking forward to one for me too. Q. The more Baylor film you watch, do you feel better or feel worse? COACH MILES: It depends on the second. They are so talented and have so much length, and they can make plays you don't anticipate. You think you've got a lay‑up, and all of a sudden they're blocking it off the backboard and going down and Brady Heslip hits the three, and you're like wait, wait, wait. We just ran a great play. Now we just lost five points. So there are just some things that you have to overcome mentally and deal with, and there is no doubt that's not going to go away. I think Coach Drew has done a really good job with these guys. They've adjusted their zone and gone away from their man‑to‑man mostly. I expect to see a little bit of man. But they're playing a lot of zone. They change their zone depending on if you watch them play Iowa State, it looks one way. You watch them play Texas, it looks a completely different way. I'm curious how they'll play us. We have a couple of different plans of attack depending on what they're doing, I think we'll be ready for it. It will help us, obviously, if we threw in a few outside shots on occasion. But we're excited about the match‑up. Q. You're in this tournament like someone mentioned earlier, essentially on house money. You weren't expecting, necessarily, to be here. Does that make it easier or more difficult to plan for these games given that there wasn't a whole lot of expectation for this? And how do you parlay that into getting your team ready? COACH MILES: The one thing about expectations is perception is reality, right? So as you look at expectations, we don't expect you're going to be very good. We don't expect you're going to make it. So it just depends on how you handle that. So with our team, we always have goals. Let's forget expectations. Our goal was always to make the NCAA tournament. Though it looked like when we were 1‑5, we were going to have to win the Big Ten tournament to do it. It was an interesting moment when John Beilein came out and told me I think you have as much talent as anyone in the league. You look at your wings, and when I expound it‑‑ first of all, there are some guys that drip in your ear and tell you it's raining. They patronize you. John Beilein is not that kind of man. He comes and says you look at your wings, and you look at this, and I really like this guy, and you start looking at your team a different way sometimes, because as a coach, you only see your weaknesses. As fans when they're 1‑5 it's like here's the same old, same old. So expectations, I think really can skew you the wrong way. But your goals are what you strive for. Your attitude every day is what really matters. Our goals never changed even when we were 1‑5. We wanted to be in the NCAA tournament. So now that we're here, that hasn't changed. We know we want to win when we get here. So I really commend our guys. I don't think they've been on the happy‑to‑be‑here ride. I think they're like, let's do this, and let's show everybody we've got what it takes to win. Q. When did you first know that Terran Petteway was as competitive as he is? Do you have any specific story or remember anything about that? COACH MILES: I think last year in practice when he just drilled us every day on the scout team was a pretty good idea, muscle memory, you know, like a bad golf swing, right? That's like what I've got going that way. But I remember seeing one of my assistants, I can't imagine he won't get 16 points a game in the Big Ten. He's going to get six in transition. He just accelerates so well. He's going to get fouled and make four or five foul shots, and he shoots all the time. So he's going to make a couple shots. So right there he's at 16. I just don't know how he doesn't do it. It's just a matter of how effective he is. If he makes good decisions with ball handling or whatever it might be. You know, what's funny about him is he really hasn't gotten better at it, but he gets better at it every game. So he's terrible the first half and phenomenal the second half. Against some teams he's not very good. Against the top 50 teams, I think one of you guys wrote about how good he is. Against the top 50 RPI teams in the country, his numbers are ridiculous. So he's an interesting character that way. I haven't quite figured all that out. But I'm just glad we're playing somebody good. We've got no choice any more, so I'm figuring he's going to play really good. Q. It's well‑chronicled that you guys have never won an NCAA tournament game. You're 0‑6 in your previous visits. What would it mean for the program and for you to be able to crack that streak tomorrow? COACH MILES: I think it's more because I'm late to the party. I just got here. So I look at it like a great opportunity to‑‑ we just moved to the Big Ten three years ago. We built a state‑of‑the‑art practice facility that several NBA teams have come in to look at and model their own after. We look at our new Pinnacle Bank Arena where we go 15‑1 this year, and if you watch that thing at all at the end, it's as good an atmosphere as anywhere in the country. I mean, it is rocking. It's such a neat time. Now to take that next step, get to the NCAA and win there, I think we just set ourselves apart from those old ghosts. Save those for the Chicago Cubs. Right? We're our own people, and we're going to do it the right way. So when I look at things, I think it's just a great opportunity for us to re brand our program, reinvent Husker basketball and let our guys know that all of these guys bought into our program when we had what? Nothing. Just a cool gym, right? The other stuff was all iron and stuff like that. A coach that talked a lot, was a little bit jumpy, good assistant coaches. But really, they had an excellent school, but no real basketball tradition, and they didn't really care about the spring football game. They wanted to be basketball players, and they wanted to build it. So I commend our guys for loving that opportunity to be trailblazers and be those guys that are going to put Nebraska basketball back on the map and keep it on the map because that's what we intend to do. Q. What made you think you could get it done in Nebraska? How much has that first recruiting class helped you kind of get it going? COACH MILES: Well, I graduated number 7 in my high school class. There were 13 of us. So I'm just not very bright. So I just feel like I can get it done anywhere I'm going to go. It's this blissful ignorance that I'm just sticking with. That's mostly true. Although I'm not below average the way I thought I was. My accountant told me that there are actually six that graduated in front of me and six that graduated after me, which makes me actually average, which I still don't believe that. So I'm going with the mean or the median or whatever the heck it is that I'm below average. The point is when you look at‑‑ it's been done with Danny Nee, it's been done with Joe Cipriano, and I think I have a won 20‑something in there too, Doc was close, Barry was close, it can be done. When you have the resources at a place like Nebraska, or if you've got a strong fan base, administrative support, and coaches that know what they're doing that can identify, evaluate and develop players, you can get it done. Our administration gave me everything at our disposal to be able to go out and hire a good staff to recruit those kind of players. Then when you look at bricks and mortar, the training table, nutrition, strength and conditioning, Tim Wilson, our guys, 14 years in the NBA is phenomenal. We've just put together and had this great staff too. But you can't always do that. Sometimes they don't give you the wherewithal to do those things. When I met with Tom, and Mark, and we talked about the challenges, the thing I talked about was you just can never say no to us recruiting, please. That requires building a strong staff and us being able to go anywhere at a moment's notice. If you'll do that, we'll be successful. They've been great about it. Shawn Eichorst is a phenomenal AD that says get it done. Find a way. Don't be frivolous with your stuff, be reasonable and prudent because he's a reasonable and prudent dude. Then we're going to be. But at the same time, when it comes to recruiting and travel, that gets expensive. We're going to go where we have to and do it right. Q. You were talking about trailblazers. Did you anticipate Benny Parker and David Rivers being part of that core group of trailblazers back in November and December? COACH MILES: I think they've been a pleasant surprise. I think Benny has been such a spark. He's equally as important as any of those guys scoring 15 or 16 a night. What he does for us defensively, what he does to insight an energy level, and he does, it's just ridiculous the energy level that our guys get from him on the floor making plays, then when he can create transition for us, it's amazing. You know, Dave got benched because he wasn't rebounding, and wasn't a disruptive force in practice, didn't hang his head. He just kept practicing, kept playing hard. Finally, I just put him back in the lineup, and he really hadn't made great plays in practice. He comes in and he missed his first shot, and his second one just barely crawled over the rim. I forget it was like against Ohio State or somebody. And then he blocks a shot on Aaron Craft early in the second half. And I remember after the game saying, Coach, if Dave would have missed that shot that just barely crawled over the rim, were you going to pull him? I said, yes. And they're like, that would have been the biggest mistake of all time, right? And I'm like, yes. So I'm glad there was a bigger force than any of us that made that ball go in, and thank goodness for it. Thank God for it, because Dave's been a real blessing.

One way to beat length (which Baylor has) is by playing physical. We were not able to play physical against Baylor. Against Wisconsin, we were allowed to play physical.

While the officiating was suspect, I posted this on Facebook and will stick by it. The game is called differently in the tournament and the B1G does their teams no favors by calling a completely different game during the season. In addition to today, Ohio State had 14 fouls to Dayton's 12 (not a big deal, but when Craft had four that completely changes things for the Buckeyes) and Iowa had 28 fouls to Tennessee's 14. Not surprised that John Behlein, Bo Ryan and Tom Izzo were the B1G coaches to advance. Understand defense without fouling. I think the league does there teams no favors by allowing play so physical that it does not translate into the tournament. Michigan, State and Wisconsin have best players to adjust. Nobody else did. Something Huskers will have to figure out.

Well most of the nation is on crack then DUDE cuz they all saying the same thing.

This is the worst officiated game I've ever seen....ever. A 48-16 disparity is criminal. Yes we played poorly but so did Baylor. The difference was Baylor getting to the FT line 3x more than Nebraska. The refs completely took the game out of the players hands. Would we have lost if lets say the difference was just 2x more? We will never know because the refs took the outcome of the game out of the players hands. I don't want to take to much away from Baylor. They came as advertised, long and athletic. They absolutely owned us in the post.

Yeah because we didn't have the inside strength of BU, we needed to be allowed to be more physical down low. Unfortunately we ended up with a crew that called the game very tight. But we also had a lot of early jitters, which caused us to lose our composure and make some poor fouls too. We looked like a young team playing in its first NCAA tournament. We actually stopped a lot of BU's key offensive threats - we kept Heslip in check & Chery didn't kill us, although the officials also had a role in taking him out of the game. Because of Heslip we weren't going to be able to double down low a whole lot, so we needed to be able to be physical one on one with their big players, and it wasn't allowed to happen. We just aren't big enough/skilled enough inside to stop their big guys with the way the game was officiated. To overcome that and win that type of game we needed to shoot 50+% in both halves. It's too bad we weren't more aggressive offensively with Austin on the bench in the first half. With the way the game was officiated so tightly in the first half, we needed to be much more aggressive driving to the basket. Great season - just sucks to end it the way we did in Indy & San Antonio. Plenty of fuel for next season though.

If you live in ACC country and you follow college basketball, chances are you have some strong opinions about a man named Karl Hess. And chances are, those opinions are negative. Hess is a referee (the same way that Napoleon was in the military), one that was always destined for the grandest stages and the brightest lights. Karl Hess is notorious. Karl Hess is infamous. Karl Hess is KING. His modus operandi is simple: stealing the spotlight in any and every game he officiates, and making blatantly awful calls in huge situations. His style is so controlling and aesthetically depressing that we’re all compelled to notice the man in black and white. Now and again, he pulls off truly spectacular stunts. There was the incident in Raleigh, for instance, when he ejected N.C. State legends Tom Gugliotta and Chris Corchiani from the premises for heckling him. In that case, even the head of ACC officials admitted Hess was wrong. This year, Hess managed to line up UConn and Marquette facing the wrong direction at the start of overtime, incorrectly disallowing a UConn basket in a game Marquette would go on to win. And then Hess (somehow) earned himself a Final Four assignment. When he took the court for Louisville–Wichita State, even I knew something amazing would happen. Cardinal fans were well aware of Hess’s legend, having watched him give Rick Pitino a technical for yelling at his own player in the Elite Eight last season. The Shockers were less familiar, but that wouldn’t last long. At first, King Karl helped the underdogs out, combining with Les Jones to call an incredibly tight game that disrupted any possibility of flow, producing a disjointed, ugly mess, and making it difficult for Louisville to play its trademark pressing defense. (I wish we could somehow find stats for things like, “How many potential college basketball fans were lost in the first hour of Saturday’s game?”) Wichita ran up a 12-point lead with great defense and solid execution on the press break. But just when things looked really bad for the Cardinals, they made their run. And that’s when Hess went from merely ruining the game to becoming its main attraction. It began when he called a bizarre double foul on Louisville’s Stephan Van Treese and Wichita’s Ron Baker after it looked like Van Treese hit Baker in the face. That changed the possession arrow and set the stage for Hess’s tour de force: a jump-ball call with six seconds left when Baker, his team down three, briefly lost control of the ball and tussled for perhaps three or four milliseconds with Luke Hancock before recovering it. As Gary Parrish noted, the whistle was far too quick, but nothing on the court happens so quickly that it can escape Hess’s whistle. The arrow belonged to Louisville because of the double foul, and instead of having a chance to tie with a late 3, Wichita watched Russ Smith seal the game from the line. If the Shockers thought they could escape the wrath of King Karl, they were dead wrong. But there was a silver lining to the one-man terror show — the Twitterverse was raging against Hess all night, holding him accountable with a mix of bile, humor, and a sort of desperate, furious frustration. Here were the 50 best Hess-themed tweets of the night, starting with an incredible bit of prescient foreboding on Saturday morning.

No fan wants to watch a whistle-fest. I hate it when the game becomes about foul shots. Even at the end of a game when a team is trying to foul. The way this game was officiated bugs the ever-living piss out of me. We were typically the aggressors going to the basket. That almost always means we would draw more fouls. The officiating was just brutal today. Yeah, we didn't play particularly well, but part of that was that there was never any flow to the game because the refs kept trying to be the main event. I can stand losing but it leaves me with a sick feeling when you don't have a level playing field.

this is irony, right?

There has to be accountability. I hope the administration pursues every avenue to have the officials held accountable I sure hope so. I know we will never hear anything about it but that second technical was an example of their incompetence.

I'm guessing TM will say "I let my team down today". Not saying he did, but that's what I think he might say.

FG%: NU 42.6, BU 40.5 3pt%: NU 19.0, BU 15.4 baylor shot just as bad if not worse. the sole difference in the game was the whistles.

These announcers can hardly even acknowledge that the refs made a terrible mistake. Called it a "miscommunication". WTF?

AGREE!!!!!!

"It can only get better"

They will. I think I love you. In a purely bro-mance kind of way, of course.

Dudes, lay off Tai. Enough already. You hate him, we get it. In the meantime, the entire team needs to step up.

this is like the Umass game. awful. whistle whistle whistle.

These f'ing refs. Let. Them. F'ing. Play.

I will say it again, basketball officiating as a whole sucks

hey guys, If you go back and check the game thread when we beat Ohio State for our first conference victory, I knew beforehand we were gonna win that game. Got the same feeling today. It's a privilege to share our first NCAA Tourney victory with you all! GBR! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkwJ-g0iJ6w

Well, I hear something calling me Like I've never heard before It's a red and white freight train And I wanna get on board

Trying to make the next 2 1/2 hours go faster and "Miracle" pops up on my DirecTV guide - haven't watched it in a while, one of my favorite movies, sounded like a good plan till the pre-game show with Kent. I'm thinking that maybe it's a sign considering where NU was 8 weeks ago - I believe in miracles! Had forgotten that about 10 minutes in when the hockey players arrive for tryouts there's a player with a Nebraska hat in the panning shot of the crowd in the lobby. Completely out of place in a hockey movie, so it's a definite sign for today! I mean it's not quite Dave Webber and the corn cob at the Orange Bowl, but it's close!

Have fun everyone. Drive safely and be sure to check out the basement of the Alamo while you are there.

There are more comin'! We stayed in Austin last night.

Pitch and Les on the pick and roll as much as possible. If the bigs won't come out to Pitch, he can drill from range, if they do, a seam opens in the zone for penetration. I do know that if we are ice cold from range, we're going to lose. Someone has to step up. And hopefully Petteway is back to normal for this one. I have absolutely no feel for how this game is going to go whatsoever. I'm sure we can hold the transition game down. We've gotten pretty good at that this season. Phew, totally nervous for this one!

will call will open at 830am. we took 281, sounds like we made the right decision. 75 on a two lane road was awesome, and not much traffic.

Lets be honest... Buffett knew all along that nobody would pick Nebraska to beat Baylor, Creighton, Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, and Florida.

I had forgotten that I picked North Dakota State over Oklahoma...why was I hoping Oklahoma won? That said, I am still perfect. Hard to believe.

Ahhh, FYI, most people in Omaha do *not* usually cheer for Blue in any sense. There does seem to be a lot of people who'll just cheer for 'winners' & can easily be swayed by the passing tide ... I think, for the most part, Omaha is more year-round Husker-focused 'cuz this is BIG RED country, the Cornhusker state after all!

I saw your tweet. Kent's bus

I had Western Michigan over the Cuse. Didn't exactly pan out.

One guy in a group, who traditionally picks wayyy to many upsets is still perfect.

Definitely doing the chant. Just taking off from Omaha. Next stop San Antonio!