New investigation / Institutional accountability
Athletic directors, examined individually: the good, bad and ugly, with contract figures beside a transparent results score.
Examine the athletic directors
Big Red Truth / So close, and then not
Results below expectation. Decisions with lasting consequences. Examine the scorelines, competitive transitions and administrators behind the setbacks.
Historical briefs / 4 entries · Generated illustration, not archival photography
1984
Football
Miami 31, Nebraska 30 in the Orange Bowl.
Trailing by one point, Osborne attempted a two-point conversion rather than playing for a tie. The pass failed; Miami won 31–30. The outcome is documented. Whether the risk was justified is a separate judgment about the decision.
2001
Football
A 62–36 beating at Colorado, then a title-game rout by Miami.
Nebraska lost 62–36 at Colorado but still received a BCS championship-game berth. Miami then won the Rose Bowl 37–14. Selection and performance are distinct questions: reaching the championship game does not erase the two decisive defeats.
Through 2025
Men's Basketball
The long wait for a first NCAA Tournament win.
Through 2025, Nebraska men's basketball had never won an NCAA Tournament game. That drought finally ended on March 19, 2026, with a 76–47 victory over Troy. The Huskers reached their first Sweet 16 and finished 2025–26 at 28–7 under Fred Hoiberg — a breakthrough worth celebrating without forgetting the long wait.
2011
Football
Goodbye to the Big 12 — and to Oklahoma on Thanksgiving.
Nebraska moved from the Big 12 to the Big Ten in 2011. Evaluate the institutional and financial rationale separately from competitive outcomes and the loss of regular conference rivalry games; a conference change alone does not establish the cause of subsequent defeats.