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I'm spending the next 8 days rooting like crazy for one team - the FBI. If they can just hurry things along, rise from their underdog status, and take down several other bubble teams - and a few blue bloods along the way - we'll be dancing .... maybe even as a #5 or #6 seed.

Throughout the Minnesota game I kept having déjà vu. My mind went back to countless moments (during the Collier and Sadler eras in particular) when our under-manned, out-talented team would try to scratch and claw its way to a victory over a vastly more talented opponent. I remember being exasperated in the bleachers at the Devaney, wondering how we were the only team that seemed to never be able to buy a call at home. I’ve seen that game in person no less than 50 times. But now I’ve finally seen it from the other side—through the lens of a fan of the talented road team. As the can’t-catch-a-break home team fan, that game feels like highway robbery. I’m sure the Gopher faithful left that game thinking the game was called unfairly (and at home no less!). Many of them likely uttered some variation of “Man, if only the calls went both ways, we totally would have won.” But as a fan of the athletic and talented road team, watching from the comfort of my couch, I finally have come to appreciate just how tough it is to officiate that game fairly. Because the reality is you can’t “call it both ways.” Why? Because the teams aren’t committing the same types of fouls. Our team was quicker. More explosive. Proactive. And when there was contact, it was usually because our guys had put themselves in position to make a play and they did. The result is that the refs didn’t blow their whistle on anticipation fouls. Or in other words, they assumed our guys were athletic enough to make a clean play on the ball, unless their eyes told them otherwise. A perfect example of this is when Copeland went straight up to misdirect the final shot of the game, the Gopher guard jumped into him and crashed hard to the ground, and the fans went bananas on the no-call. The Gopher players, on the other hand, were largely reactionary. They were a step behind. Not as quick. That makes it much easier for a ref to anticipate contact and know that the defender is going to be late, and the contact worthy of a foul. And generally speaking they were right. The Roby fastbreak foul (when Pitino got his technical) was a microcosm of how the entire game was officiated. On that play a Gopher defender clearly clipped Roby’s arm. It was a foul, no question. But as a Gopher fan all you see is a bang-bang play that got called against your team. The reality is that the Gopher defender was just a little too slow, and Roby just a little too quick, for the steal to be made cleanly. I finally get it. I now know why that game can’t be called evenly. As a ref you either call fouls on contact equally (which favors the slow home team), or you call fouls only on clear infractions (which favors the athletic road team). There is no way of officiating that game that “calls it both ways.” Sorry refs for all the mean things I’ve called you through the years. And thanks for getting the game right last night.

If you rearrange the letters, it spells out "Creighton sucks".

For anyone that missed it, there was an article in the Journal Star yesterday where they interviewed Hank Bounds. http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/sipple/steven-m-sipple-bounds-might-rankle-some-but-his-lofty/article_471a8b4f-9085-5350-b25d-3a9000ed5ce4.html The basic premise was a quote by Bounds something like “you have to convince me why we shouldn’t compete for national championships in every sport”. Well Hank, after the debacle on the basketball front yesterday, I give you exhibit A for why we won’t be more competitive in basketball and despite your talk, we are clearly just a football school. Whether you’re a Miles supporter or not, the tepid actions by the administration show one thing; they don’t have the same commitment to basketball as football. IMO, the one year extension was a joke. It did nothing to help anyone other than possibly showing Miles just enough love that you hope he sticks around if you can’t find someone better next year. It clearly sends the message he’s on the hot seat, doesn’t help in recruiting players or hiring a new assistant coach. It provides a litany of possible excuses for next year and the following years. It also damages future recruiting classes and all but assures that we have some bad years coming up. They should have either extended him to have a total of 4 or 5 years on his deal or done nothing. Either would have done more for the program than what they did. The fact Bounds had an interview on the same day saying he expects championships is a joke. You don’t build championship programs this way. There is no way they would ever do this to the football program. Can you imagine a football coach had under 4 years on his deal here? I can’t. The actions of our AD on basketball make me realize what they think of basketball and as a die hard, long time fan, it makes he both angry and sad.

I got my NIT tickets. If that's where we end up I'll be caring about it and attending. I hope the players rally and play hard. The NIT is a lot like the minor bowl games. It is obvious some teams are disappointed and don't give maximum effort. I think if we get a home game we'll be OK. I'm not judging the season by yesterday. 22 wins and 4th in the Big 10 is satisfying. We played some exciting basketball. Easy team to support as they seem like a bunch of good guys. Bench mob came up with some original Schtick. Enjoyed this season a lot.

Lunardi probably still puts them ahead of us on the bubble...

IT'S A BOY

I don't care what it is. NCAA's NIT, CBI...I'm buying ALL THE TICKETS...that is all. This team is special and we need to watch them play as much as we can.

Same with Copeland, Petteway, Pitchford to an extent. Miles has really made lemonade with what others assumed was an apple.

That's hurtful. I feel hurt.