Again....highlighting any Big Ten or relevant national questions
Chandler: How bout them Huskers? Another series win/sweep against a decent Nicholls team.
Aaron Fitt: Nebraska was one of the first teams out or our Top 25 this year, along with Southern Miss and a few others. I really like Nebraska's body of work -- those are quality series wins at Grand Canyon, College of Charleston, vs. South Alabama and now vs. Nicholls State, which had been 17-3 entering the week an d has a legit Friday night arm. Feels like Nebraska has a chance to wind up being the team to beat in the Big Ten, although I'm not ready to pronounce them the clear favorite. Indiana and Cockeye have struggled against very robust early-season schedules, but I think both teams will benefit from all those tests as we get into conference play, and I still think those are probably the two most talented teams in the league. But those two plus Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers (and possibly even this overvalued Penn State club) all feel like legit contenders for regional bids. Patrick Ebert saw the Huskers this weekend and will have plenty more on the site about them this week.
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Terp in NC: In your preseason column on the B1G, you went with just two NCAA tourney entrants: Cockeye and Indiana. Have you changed your mind on the numbers and specific teams?
Kendall Rogers: Right now, I'm at about 3 or 4 bids for the Big Ten. I feel pretty solid about Nebraska and Maryland at this juncture, and I do feel like either Cockeye or Indiana will be a third team. But the question is on a fourth team? Cockeye is so far behind the eight ball from non-conference play, but if it rolled throughout conference play, I could see the committee giving them somewhat of a mulligan to some extent for having a very difficult non-conference weekend schedule. I think 4 is your best-case scenario as of TODAY.
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The Corn Dude: Nebraska is 13-5 with the #2 strength of schedule. Please explain yourselves for not having them in the top 25 this week with four teams exiting.
Kendall Rogers: Corn -- I really like what Nebraska has both in terms of pitching depth and the offensive lineup. I thought the lineup had some impressive balance earlier this year when I saw the Huskers. With that said, if you look at what NU has done on the weekends, I'm not really sure how that's a slam dunk Top 25 team. In the mix? Sure. Slam dunk? Not remotely. But I do think this is a definite regional-caliber club.
