KU…It’s Like Looking in the Mirror

There's a lot at stake on Saturday. A Nebraska win would make the Cornhuskers bowl eligible, help ice the bruised egos from the Oklahoma game, keep dim Big 12 North title hopes alive and guarantee that Bo Pelini would have a winning record at home in his first season (Memorial Staidum MUST become a tough place to play again).

So far in 2008 Nebraska's been blown off the field twice but in their other two losses they've done a remarkably good job of beating themselves. In fact, that's been the albatross all year--bad penalties, costly turnovers, blown assignments--even in wins.

Of course the gods of college football are quite handy with the irony (see also: the BCS) so it's no surprise that this Saturday, at least statistically speaking, that's exactly what Nebraska will have to do: Beat themselves because there's not much separating the Jayhawks and Huskers on paper.

A quick look at the conference rankings for the Big 12 reveals that Nebraska and Kansas fall within two spots of each other in 14 different categories:

But it's not just that Kansas and Nebraska are close in rank to each other that makes this interesting, it's where they rank in relation to the rest of the conference. Outside of punt returns, both teams are clustered right around that middle ground, the area generally behind the heavyweights of the South and Missouri.

Now that might not seem like much--it's pretty much where Nebraska was slotted coming into the season--but Saturday's game, as big as it is for this season, could be even bigger for next season. Assuming Missouri won't lose two of their next three games and KU will lose to Texas, this is the game for 6th place in the conference, the Haggle for the Half, the Battle of Above the Bulge.

The winner gets begrudgingly accepted into the top half of the Big 12 in perhaps its strongest year ever, a shot at beging in the mix next year and the fair amount of momentum that would bring. The loser is simply the most buoyant grain of 7-11 coffee amongst the dregs of the conference.

The wise guys like Kansas (KU opened as 3-point favorite). The machines like Nebraska. There's not much to separate them. It is a toss-up in the truest sense of the world and that's what makes it vital.

Here's what we know about Nebraska right now in 2008. They're better than good non-BCS teams like the Western Michigans and San Jose States of the world. They don't belong in the bottom of the conference but they're not real close right now to the top of it either. They're about on par with Virginia Tech which means they're about on par with the ACC as a whole.

Kansas likely represents Nebraska's last statement game of the season minus a bowl game and winning would be a statement that nobody outside of the Big 12 North would probably even notice. That's fine. We already know that Pelini and the Huskers aren't making "the leap" this year, a thought that rested in the back of all of our minds like a Powerball ticket in pocket two hours before the draw.

But what we don't know about Nebraska is how they'll fare against an equal foe on even footing with a lot on the line. That's what this Saturday represents.