Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 180

COLLEGES I I I I I till' air between the state Preseason polls predicting another Oklahoma-Nebraska shootout By Gary White FLORIDA TODAY A College football is the sport of the Big Game. The Big Game takes place when a team plays its Big Rival. There are two types of rivalries: 1. natural rivalries those that develop because of the proximity of the two schools (e.g., Florida-Florida State, Penn State-Pittsburgh, Michigan-Michigan State), and 2. scheduling rivalries, which develop because the jFTr is i Associated Press i.

1 phies, seven Outland Trophies and five Lombardi Awards. So what kind of rivalry 's Oklahoma-Nebraska? "It may sound hackneyed," says Oklahoma sports information director Mike Treps, "but the thing that makes this rivalry special for me is that the players seem to get along so well. There are no charges of illegal this or spying that to detract from the game itself. What makes it unique is the fact that both schools respect each other so much that nothing negative usually comes up." The vaunted civility of the Oklahoma-Nebraska relationship is impressive enough in itself; it's remarkable in light of the fact that the two teams are routinely ranked in the top 10. "If we were located in Wichita, Kan.

a three hours' drive away from Norman (Okla.) things might be a little different," says Nebraska sports information director Tom Simons. "But the fans don't see each other except two days a year. And being so far apart there's not much media bleedover, either. We have the state of Kansas sitting between us, and that's a nice buffer. It's like a demilitarized zone." It's not that Oklahoma and Nebraska fans don't have crazy streaks.

But, they seem to hide them in the presence of each other. "Our real monster rivalry is with Texas," Treps says. "We have been much more bitter over the years it. VV 12. Arkansas 13.

Washington 14. Arizona St. 15. Texas ASM 16. Iowa 17.

Tennessee 18. Notre Dame 19. USC 20. 'Florida 20. 'Georgia 'tie I.

Oklahoma 2. Nebraska 3. UCLA 4. Ohio State 5. Auburn 6.

LSU 7. Michigan 8. Florida State 9. Clemson 10. Miami, Fla-.

II. Penn State 1 -TmililM i "-riMWir- i i lif-flii-ittlr -ftilMIMI-TM Ii FLORIDA TODAY READY TO ROLL: Nebraska quarterback Steve Sooners come to town on Nov. 21 a game that could Taylor expects a fierce battle when the Oklahoma eventually decide the national championship. 1 The Sporting News homa last won it in 1986. This season, both teams appear to be legitimate contenders to finish the season at the top of the polls.

Considering the team's strength, paths of powerful teams cross each other year after year (e.g., Michi-gan-Ohio State, Notre Dame-Southern California). The first type comprises countless games played each year in places such as Berkeley and Boulder and Pocatello, where territorial bragging rights are usually all that is at stake. These are the games that give college football its specialness and make games in November seem important even if neither participant has a winning record. The second type comprises a handful of games which have a bearing on the race for the No. 1 ranking year-in and year-out.

During the past decade or two, no rivalry has produced bigger Big Games than Oklahoma-Nebraska. This year's game, scheduled for Nov. 21 at Nebraska, could be the biggest yet. The teams are ranked 1-2 in several preseason polls. The rivalry between the Sooners and the Cornhuskers definitely falls into the Type designation.

In some ways, this one pales in comparison with certain Type A rivalries. Oklahoma-Nebraska lacks the charming Street Smith's I.Oklahoma 2. Ohio State 3. Nebraska 4. Clemson 5.

Arizona St. 6. LSU 7. UCLA 8. Michigan 9.

Florida State 10. Auburn 11. Washington 12. Arkansas 13. Iowa 14.

Penn State 15. Miami 16. Notre Dame 17. Georgia 18. USC 19.

Tennessee 20. Pittsburgh and the fact that we almost won the national championship last season, people assume that we'll go to Lincoln with a 10-0 record. "But all you have to do is look at what happened to Michigan against Minnesota last year (when the undefeated Wolverines were upset) to see the danger of that." If overconfidence is a possibility in Norman, it is less likely at Nebraska, which this season plays non-conference games against UCLA, Arizona State and South Carolina. Should the Cornhuskers survive those early season tests, the Nov. 21 matchup could feature a pair of undefeated teams.

If either Oklahoma or Nebraska is to claim a national championship this year, it must get past its rival on that Saturday afternoon. That is the nature of the Oklahoma-Nebraska have maintained their dominance of the conference and to some extent the country by changing with the times. Like USC, Oklahoma used to have such punishing linemen and runners that the Sooners didn't have to worry about throwing the ball. But the Sooners haven't had a dominant runner since Billy Sims in the late 70s, and Coach Barry Switzer has adjusted by developing a passing game. Junior quarterback Jamelle Ho-lieway is more versatile than such predecessors as J.C.

Watts and Thomas Lott, and senior tight end Keith Jackson achieved All-America status last year by averaging 28 yards per reception. Nebraska, likewise, has embraced the forward pass. Junior quarterback Steve Taylor continues the double-threat ability of his high school idol, former Cornhusker Turner Gill. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne also mixes in the trick play, 11. Florida State 12.

Texas ASM 13. Penn State 14. USC 15. Clemson 16. Georgia 17.

Iowa 18. Arizona St. 19. Pittsburgh 20. Tennessee I.Oklahoma 2.

Nebraska 3. Auburn 4. UCLA 5. Ohio State 6. Miami 7.

Washington 8. LSU 9. Arkansas 10. Michigan Coaches' UPI Inside Sports "10. LSU 12.

Arkansas 13. Clemson 14. Florida State 15. Washington 16. Notre Dame 17.

Tennessee 18. Iowa 19. Alabama 20. Florida flthlon's I.Oklahoma 11. Arizona St.

2. Penn State 12. Nebraska 3. Auburn 13. Tennessee 4.

Michigan 14. Clemson 5. Miami 15. Pittsburgh 6. 18.

Arkansas 7. UCLA 17. USC 8. Florida SL 18. Washington 9.

LSU 19. Mississippi 10. Ohio State. 20. Notre Dame 1.

Oklahoma 2. Nebraska 3. Ohio State 4. UCLA 5. Auburn 6.

Michigan 7. Penn State 8 Arizona St. 9. Miami 10.Tex.A&M tie with Texas. They're our sister state, and we recruit many players from the state of Texas.

In fact, our entire economies and cultures are all tied to each other, and it's like a backyard brawl, really." On the other hand, Oklahoma-Nebraska is only considered a rivalry because of the impressive quality of the two programs. "The Nebraska rivalry is not like Texas," Treps says. "We don't have to compete against them for anything but football players, and even that is at a minimum. I think the reason it's a big rivalry is that it's always at the end of the season and usually a major bowl berth is at stake and a lot of times a chance to play for No. 1 as well." The one true tie between Oklahoma and Nebraska is their membership in the Big Eight Conference.

They alone elevate the otherwise mediocre league to the level that it can at least be mentioned in the same breath as the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference. Part of the respect Oklahoma and Nebraska seem to have for each other may be based on their shared feeling of superiority toward the rest of the conference. The Sooners and Cornhuskers Oklahoma's schedule this season is almost laughable. The traditional game against regional rival Texas has lost its luster as the Longhorns have faded from the realm of collegiate powerhouses, and the non-conference schedule lacks the difficult tests provided in recent years by the likes of Miami and UCLA. Late scheduling changes eliminated USC and Southern Methodist, which disbanded its team for this season, from the Sooners' schedule.

As a result, Treps says some Oklahoma fans are assuming the team will be 10-0 when it plays Nebraska in the regular-season finale. The combination of a strong team and a weak schedule has the folks in Norman feeling very optimistic. "The bad thing about it is the expectations are so great," Treps says. "This year, because of one thing and another, the schedule has softened up a bit. We didn't have any choice, we just had to fill in with anybody we could find.

And because of the schedule and our tradition 1. Nebraska 2. Clemson 3. Oklahoma 4. Michigan 5.

Miami 6. LSU 7. Ohio State 8. Arkansas 9. Florida State 10.

UCLA 11. S. Carolina 12. Notre Dame 13. Auburn 14.

Iowa 15. Pittsburgh 16. Washington 17. Florida 18. Penn State 19.

Georgia 20. S.D. State belligerence of Florida-Georgia, but it is light years ahead in terms of significance. Since 1970, the Oklahoma-Nebraska winner has won or shared every Big Eight Conference championship (although the Sooners had to forfeit the 1972 title because of NCAA probation) and captured five national titles. Meanwhile, players from the two schools have collected three Heisman Tro- Page4 rivalry: The game stands at the end of the regular-season schedule each year as a day of reckoning.

In the case of other showdowns, a victory against an arch-rival can help restore a disappointing season. But, in the case of the Sooners and the Cornhuskers, a loss can wreck a championship season. Conference previews, Page 6. August 30, 1987 such as the "fumblerooski" that brought six points against Miami in the 1983 Orange Bowl. That loss to the Hurricanes marked Nebraska's most recent run at the national championship.

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