1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Who is Currently Nebraska's Biggest Rival?: July 8th, 12:00pm

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

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It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the heart of Lincoln America, a 93-7-the-ticket and the ticketfm.com. Here is your host, Derek Pearson, brought to by Canopy Street Market. Boom. Hour two, one-on-one. 402-464-5685. The start of him and text line.

you want to be a part of what we're doing and you have been. Thank you. We appreciate you for firing away on the text line giving content and consideration things to consider. Here's the thing that sports talk. Nobody's ever right. You meet somewhere in the middle between what we believe and what we don't believe in. It doesn't really move the needle. You can follow on all the live videos streams, Facebook, YouTube, X, Allo Channel 961, if you want to be on the streams.

download the ticket app as well so you can go where you want to go. I said there is a thing, there's a text from an earlier show. And I won't say who said it, but it's the thing. That they identified this as Nebraska Media, aka the, and there's some name calling to the media and just saying that, you know, spewing garbage expectations on the sports teams, you know, here's the thing about, about it. Sometimes you're providing provocation for thought that none of us are going to agree on the same things, on everything.

It just doesn't exist. It doesn't exist. And your opinion is based on your perspective and your experience, your knowledge. And then how you feel about it. And that's why in the sports villain talk, Nebraska fans have a different perspective on how they think of and consider good and bad, right and wrong, et cetera. And you can say that if at the top of your list, winning overrides the people, that's how a lot of folks compress and compartmentalize how they go through it. So when asking about sports villains

and those sports villains of Nebraska sports, Nebraska sports, that immediately somebody says, uh, Desmond Howard, anti-Nebraska. And I'm not going to tell anybody they're wrong in their opinion. But Timmy V asked the same,

asked a similar question, do you consider Barry Alvarez as a villain, uh, for huskering up the badgers and all the pain they have caused us in the big, in the big dead? within the Big Ten, who are the sports villains? And it was Commissioner Warren for a pocket of time. It was Commissioner Warren. But at the same token, it would be Big Ten officials,

which I've heard at nauseam that Nebraska doesn't get consideration of Nebraska officials. In most sports, that's not even a football thing. That's in most sports. Texas. Texas and Oklahoma being considered rivals within other conferences and their proximity and then the past relationship. But I'm not sure that Texas and Oklahoma are bigger rivals than drum roll Wisconsin in Iowa. To me, the immediate thing that would have come to mind as Nebraska sports villains would be Creighton. because Creighton is the mirror that sits in your car and stares back at you all the time.

It tells you who you really are. Because they know where the bodies are buried. They know what's going on inside the car. That I would imagine that losing to Creighton in basketball or losing to, I remember how big beating Creighton was in basketball and how things felt lighter in the air. So I don't know. Thomas Link says his sports villain, and again, his Carolina fan. is showing up.

But he says one second, which will make the skin of most Husker fans crawl, Grandpa Mike Riley, and Oklahoma. And it makes sense, and he's not wrong.

Simple. John and Cortland, behave yourself. Bill and Bennett says, Bill McCorm. Hartney. He's better dead than red statement sticks in his mind. The rest of the 82 Penn State game. That's the problem. It's not just the big 10 rest. It's the big 12

refs from the one second left. It's the Florida State refs in 93. So it's in general, I think. That's what 5-866 says. The 82 Penn State and the 94 Orange Bowl, Florida State referees. And again, costing titles and changing direction. of entire programs. Bill McCartney has mentioned several times. It is a thing that, yeah,

Bryce says, you know, turn and quote, Trev. I think things in the full strip that if we said, yeah, Bone says Florida State and Bowden, all those Florida teams in the day, who thought they were guys to get to football, but yeah, as Bone says, it took care of two of them. But the Seminoles and Gators.

John and Cortland says, Desmond Howard is a Michigan guy, not anti-Nabraska. Barry is still a Nebraska guy, speaking of Barry Alvarez. Once a Husker, always a Husker. Sports villain, any hawk act. So Bach, let's redefine the four corners of 11th and O. And if we said,

Oklahoma's in one dunk tank, Texas and another, Wisconsin in another, Iowa and another. Or you can replace Wisconsin with Creighton. Is that fair? Is that a fair? Does that resonate or should Creighton not have its own boot? Yeah, I mean, it's tough because obviously football is the number one sport. Creighton doesn't have a football team. There's plenty of hate. And that, I mean, this is an interesting discussion because Humphor 3 alignment has shifted a lot of this, right? Nebraska, Oklahoma just recently was listed in the number six college football rivalry all

time from the athletic. They haven't played on a regular season basis since 1996 and yet 30 years later, it's still considered that high. I think among some, I think as that ages out, people are going to kind of forget that. So it's interesting. And I think we'd have a better frame for this Nebraska sports villain, maybe if Nebraska never left the Big 12. Yeah, different times and different focuses, but also different success level. Absolutely. Right? That in the eight, what was the run when Nebraska left, how many teams were in the conference? The big 12. There was 12. There was 12. Well, there was, Missouri was outgoing. So there's a few teams leaving. Right. So again, a condensed advantage and

priority. But of those, would you put as a Husker fan, what is your villain level for I mean, it's pretty high. I mean, there's a lot of people that hate Jskers and all that sort of stuff. So there's, there's kind of a culture there. And Creighton's the better, I mean, basketball program. It's tough to argue. So. Well, shouldn't that angle?

Like, if you're a Husker fan, they've done things that Nebraska basketball I hadn't done. Yeah. And if I were in a native Nebraska, yeah, I would throw hands at Crete. But again, it's kind of measuring the success, like you said earlier. And that's why Iowa is going to struggle to match up with Oklahoma. Now, some of the younger folks might hate Iowa a little bit more. But if Nebraska, Oklahoma is playing to get to Orange Bowls and national championships and

relevant games and even Nebraska, Colorado had those matchups, how does Nebraska, Iowa or Nebraska Creighton even, you know, in a different sport, but you're not rarely battling to get in the top 25 or even anything, right, when you're playing Creighton. So those things compared to national championship implications almost year and in and year. out for, you know, 20 to 25 years or whatever against Oklahoma. That's why I think Oklahoma still stands out as Nebraska's biggest rivalry historically, but it's tough because there's just, it's been so many years. So who is the top rival right now?

Who is the top villain right now? I think because there's space between Nebraska and Oklahoma and you miss it, I almost feel like there's more of an ally ship there, right? You feel more connected to them. They're kind of going through some. same thing. Well, you built, you built, you built your brands on each other. Yeah. You built your brands on each other. Nebraska doesn't need Iowa to build a brand, but it is the constant reminder of what you are and what you aren't. Craton, a full on statement

out loud of who you are and who you aren't, right? There's some, there's some resistance to allowing Creighton basketball fans to root for Nebraska football, right? The whole J-Sker thing has its own leverage. So, Bach, you get to choose who were the four dunk tanks. It's so hard to choose because, again, Nebraska's just kind of been spread throughout these rivalries. Wisconsin would be a much bigger one. If Nebraska beat a relevant Wisconsin, they did beat them last year. Well, doesn't that, that Ron Dane, aren't there, aren't there games with Wisconsin that leave a real bitter taste on the tongue of Nebraska fans? Oh, absolutely. A couple blowouts of Melvin Gordon in.

the big, you know, the Big Ten championship game. But again, they kick Nebraska's butt so bad. Remember, Nebraska, when they joined the Big Ten, there was a big group of fans that wanted to play Wisconsin year and and year out, the Barry Alvarez connection. It just felt like there was something kind of natural there. And at first, there was a legends and leaders. Nebraska didn't match up with Wisconsin year and year out.

Then they made the Big Ten West and they didn't appeased a lot of Oscar fans. And they started this, they started a trophy. There was talk about Nebraska being a flip phone. from Cory Clement at Big Ten Media. It was a really budding rivalry. And then Wisconsin beat Nebraska so badly and ripped their hearts out time and time again that it just became so cyclical

that they lost the rivalry. Now there's one rivalry that Nebraska plays year and you're out and it's Iowa. Even the Big Ten said, yeah, that's not much of a rivalry. We don't need to protect. What are you mad about? Yeah. You're not really competing.

So in Wisconsin, that's the same, it's the same conversation with Texas. like Oklahoma, you have historic battles back and forth. Texas, Wisconsin, the hatred of them is they just beat you or beat you so poorly or they rip your heart out. I think Matt Brown was 8 and 1 against Nebraska in the Big 12. It's a one-sided rival.

So don't you want to kind of get a punch in? Like, don't you want to get, like, don't you want, like, listen, I couldn't beat you in football, but you know what? You're dunk tank. You're getting wet, bro. Like, I take a shot. at somebody. This is the, the dunk tank is getting even. At least temporary, causing some minuscule amount of discomfort for, for your rival. Choosing who that rival is, is important.

It is a statement of who you are, right? So, Bach, one dunk tank. You get to punch one dunk tank and send one Nebraska rival under the water. I think after all these years, it's still be Texas. Just, yeah, horns down. Yeah. And they're back in their back up again. They're back. Texas is back. Doesn't that hard? So it's a good time to get them back. But that's the thing. That's the part of identifying a villain is that their success hurts you. And some of it's from similarity, right? You go, well, wait a minute. That, like the haterism should be apparent. Like, wait a minute. How are they back? Like, what are they doing? And I don't know. Yeah, the Texas is, Creighton is only a basketball thing.

A team like Iowa has all sports as a wrestling fan. I barely care about Creighton other than wishing general ill will, which is a huge statement out of life. It's actually the thing, right? Because proximity matters, right? In a rivalry, having to see that person, to see, like in a high school to see the villain is somebody that you have to see every day. And that discomfort, that daily discomfort of going,

here come this one, right? Like here come this one right here. And there's a part of it where you just go, okay, because if I can't see you, you can't bother me. Oklahoma, if they're not relevant, okay, you have a flashback and you can think back in time, but do they really move you to feel any kind of way right now? Does Oklahoma move you in a negative way right now?

A little bit. Whenever I watch Oklahoma in Texas, I choose a team at the beginning that I'm cheering for, and it depends on the year, whatever team I kind of like or dislike less, I suppose. And I can't, like, every year, it's like I can't actively get myself to cheer for it.

So it's like, I just forget who I'm cheering for half a through. And it's because it's hard. It's hard to cheer for either one of them. So which one of those would make you the saddest if they won a national title? Probably still Texas. More than I will.

If Iowa won a national title, it would be a border war in full. because you've given them the power to be in a conversation that they haven't been able to be in. Like, they can talk all their other stuff, but they can never say they're in that, in that club. Well, the thing is that if Iowa did it, you would feel especially that Nebraska should be able to do it. If Texas does it, Texas is on a whole different level than Nebraska for reasons we all know and understand. If Iowa does it, similar to like the, you know, the Kansas state success or the Wisconsin success where it's like, hey, we should be that team in the Midwest. So what is the difference between Nebraska and Texas?

What is the difference? You just said that it's known. They know what the difference is. To me, Nebraska has everything Texas has, other than size of state. Well, that's pretty big. Or like in-state recruits? But Texas has always had size of state, and Nebraska was better than them. So there's a way that that doesn't matter.

Well, Texas is also goes through and ruins conferences, based on their size of state and their market power. I mean, there's just, there's a lot of differences between Texas. I went to a Texas Iowa State game, and it's similar to, you know, Nebraska is obviously on a different level than Iowa State, but it was cool just to listen to the Iowa State fans. It wasn't, hey, maybe we can compete with Texas this year on the field. We have a better team.

It's just kind of like, hopefully they slip up somehow this year because we know they have all these advantages that Iowa State's not. What are the Texas advantages? Size of population. What else? Well, it's the state school of Texas, right? Now there are some other schools in there. Is it?

Yeah. Some of the Angis would fight you on it. But okay. I know. But yeah. Okay. It is a blue blood. They do have history on their side.

A lot of would argue one of the most underachieving programs considering their advantages they have. They have. But I'm going back to the advantages they have. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean. So it's really just population, money.

History. television market, I mean, power within. It's probably one of the more powerful athletic departments. Then how was Nebraska football better than Texas football? Well, a lot can be equalized if you have one of the best coaches of all time. So that would be the thing. I think that's always the thing in college football. Really?

More often than not. More than talent, more than players. Well, coaches are going to help bring that in and bring it together. But if you're talking about sustainability, like as opposed to, to pro sports, you know, then it's kind of more is talent and players. Then how did Alabama surpass everybody?

Nick Savan. So just the coach, not money, not size of state, not population. Well, Nick Saban was able to do the same thing at Michigan State. There's differences. Right. Right. Yeah, I mean, ultimately, Nick Saban would be my number one reason as to why they were, where they are.

Georgia. Georgia. Kirby Smart. So coaching. So the coach, Coaching matters more than anything in college football, I believe. Where's Kirk Farrins in that coaching ranking priority ability to impact? An offense or defense? Both, right? Right? Right? Like, it's really a thing. Like, you have to say it. You have to say it. You have to say it. But I give him a lot of credit similar to the kind of, you know, not quite to the kind of Bill Snyder or Frank Beamer route, where I'd love to see any of those. guys coach at Alabama or Texas and just see what it looks like.

That might be like culturally, all that stuff might look a little different with each individual case. But guys that do more with less or build a program out of nothing, I, I, it's a, it's the crazy amount of respect for it. Yeah, it becomes. And then in the villain conversation, right, that if Texas has bypassed or is bypassing Oklahoma, because Oklahoma has similar. size, access to player development resource,

and then it becomes the coach. Then hiring the coach becomes the thing for all programs. If you want to be legitimate, we have to be careful because then you have to ask, did you hire the right coach to get to the level of the people you should be on the level with?

Right. And then if you're failing at that, then whoever's making that decision is problematic. They should be reconsidered. Because in the last 30 years, how many coaches would have put Nebraska or should have put Nebraska at Texas, Oklahoma level? That's what you have to go.

I mean, it's fascinating. That's what Nebraska's been missing, is that coach that can elevate Nebraska, right? I mean, you've had all these different coaches. How many of them after the stops at Nebraska have went on to have bigger and better jobs than their job at Nebraska. The answer is none.

There hasn't been one since Tom Osborne that has left Nebraska in a better spot for Nebraska or did better in their job post-Nabrasca. Now, Frank Solich had a great career at Ohio, Hall of Fame career, but obviously we know Ohio is not the job that Nebraska is. So, I mean, that's my biggest hope is that Nebraska at some point lands the right coach that can elevate it back to it. And hopefully Matt rules that guy, obviously. But all of what you said may me leads me to this.

Maybe the Nebraska job is better than the coaches that they've hired for. Absolutely. Right? Like that would be the landing point is that sometimes the program is better than the people who have been put in charge of it. And then you have to get back to it. And yeah, we all have hope that Matt Roles has got to get back to it. But it's always interesting that if coaching is the priority and the thing that leads it more than, talent or personnel or financial resources, then you have to ask the question, why are you spending

money on all the other stuff if it's not really that important? But those are the discussions. We'll get to your text on the villain because y'all have some. Yeah, there's some ones, the biggest sports villain. So text line, you get to choose your sports film. Who is the one for you? that when it comes to this person coach program moment, sports moment, right, it can be a moment,

who is the biggest sports villain for Nebraska athletics for you? We'll get those when we come back. Watch live on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitch. You're listening to One-on-One with DP on 937, The Ticket, FM.com.