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I'm predicting a Nebraska team will win this game. I'm not going to get too excited preseason. Drank the Kool Aid last year. Not doing that this year. Just looking forward to year 45 with my dad.

The topic was who's going to "surprise," Jacob!

The answer probably needs to be Griesel for this team to have a chance at success. We don't know exactly how his game will translate to the Big Ten (he made a huge leap last season, but didn't get a chance to test his improved game against any high-major teams), but he's the most well-rounded player on the team. I think Nebraska is really going to struggle if Bandoumel has a better season than Griesel. Sam isn't just a token culture guy.

"Stop sucking."

I don't think we have that guy. I think the surprise will be that this will end up being Nebraska's best shooting team in over a decade. We haven't had a team shoot better than 34% from three since Doc was the head coach, which is sad but not surprising. Doc and Collier each had three teams that shot better than 36%, and each had one team that was close to 40%. On paper and in the press conferences, this year's team looks and sounds like a Doc/Barry team. There is no talk of leaving early for the NBA and no talk of how many points they scored in junior college. There is talk of selflessness, toughness and defense (I know, let's see it before we believe it). I just think the percentages will be up, due to the mindset and skillset of our personnel. Better decisions. There will be less off the dribble, off balance, contested, fadeaway threes. More catch and shoot threes. Our lead ball handler and decision maker is a guy who grew up in Lincoln, wasn't recruited by anyone and doesn't seem to care about attention, which is the exact opposite of what we've had in the past. Maybe since Jake Muhleisen. He also shot 38% last year. Bandoumel shot 35%. Wilcher shot 41% and it seemed like he had an off year. They say Wilhelm and Keisei can shoot it. Hoieberg also loves getting open threes in transition. If we are better on defense and better rebounding the ball, there should be more opportunities for that. Just my thoughts.

I'm here to argue in favor of Cookie Belcher

i used to work with a guy who would always brag up his grandson as a pretty good player, and back when he was a sixth grader they were hoping he’d be good enough to get a scholarship and get his dad an assistant’s job to Chadron State. But, now he’s got offers for football from Nebraska, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Iowa, Wisconsin, Iowa Stste, Baylor, Penn State, Alabama, Kansas, Kansas State, and Duke, so I think Chadron State might be out of luck.

I got Keisei. Strick said he’s improved in every area. Strick also said he likes this team based on a scrimmage too. That’s a good sign coming from the best perimeter defender ever at Nebraska.

I asked Fred in Minneapolis about the rotation, and as part of his answer he said unprompted that Denim Dawson is a guy he hasn't talked about enough, saying he knows what he's going to get from him every single time (and the strengths he described certainly fall in line with the offseason talking points of defense, toughness, grit, etc.). Then we get this line from Thursday's availability: "Then guys like Juwan, and guys like Blaise, Denim, off the bench who give us a size and physicality..." (Part of a long answer responding to a question about how things are looking on the court in terms of chemistry and adopting the defensive and rebounding mindset he's talked about.) Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but it sounds like Dawson might actually be in the rotation to open the season. If those three (Gary, Keita, Dawson) play off the bench, then you're looking at maybe one rotation spot for the guard group of Tominaga, Lloyd, Lawrence and Jacobsen.

Sone stuff that might not be easily measurable: -Be a ‘tougher’ team. As in better defensively and on the glass. -Show a more sustainable/developmental recruiting plan. -Bud a roster that shows some development for the future and not another total restart. I don’t think Fred can go 10-22 and survive. I also don’t think he has to finish above .500. I can see him coming back with a 15-17 type record if some other intangibles are looking improved.

If you are using Roman numerals, then he's already done that last year.

Michael Jacobson?

A very cryptic title which could refer to Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Mango Juice or Megajoules.

You will most likely get 7 to 10 wins and a team that looks like they forgot how to play basketball most nights.