ESPN writer Bruce Feldman compiled a list of the 10 college football teams he feels have the easiest non-conference schedules.

Both Texas Tech and Kansas State cracked his top 10:

1. Indiana
2. Texas Tech: On the bright side, the Red Raiders face two of the toughest teams in their division. Then again, Eastern Washington and UMass both are at the FCS level and Tech has outscored its last four non-Division I-A opponents by an average of 61 points. Tech has beaten SMU by a combined score of 84-12 the last two seasons. The toughest of the four out-of-league games figures to be at Nevada, which is coming off a 6-7 season.
3. Northwestern
4. Kansas State: If Ron Prince is indeed on the hot seat, this slate should help. K-State opens against a North Texas team that lost 145-17 in two games against BCS conference teams in 2007. Then, middling Montana State comes to town. The Wildcats get an open week before visiting a rebuilding Louisville on a Wednesday night. K-State then hosts a Louisiana-Lafayette program that is 1-20 against Big 12 foes.
5. Arizona
6. Kentucky
7. Minnesota
8. Louisville
9. Washington State
10. Iowa

Of course, as I mentioned in a comment on the blog yesterday, Kansas State's schedule gets downright nasty come conference time:
--Tech
--at A&M
--at CU
--OU
--at KU
--at Missouri
--NU
--Iowa State

Unless the Cats are much different than I think they will be, that has all the makings of a 0-6 conference record by the time Nebraska meets them.

***

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel had some love for Bo Pelini when talking about the success of Youngstown-bred coaches, saying: “It’s something we’re very proud of. A lot of great coaches come out of this Valley and get trained in this Valley. Bo Pelini is going to do a good job. He’s competitive and I think he’s got the right perspective. He’s going to build something bigger than a program and bigger than a team. It’s going to be a full, comprehensive experience for his players. And he’s going to have his guys playing good football too. He’s going to have them doing well in the classroom and representing Nebraska well.”

***

A movie is in the works about former Colorado quarterback Sal Aunese, who died of stomach cancer at the age of 21 in 1989.

Some may forget, but Tom Osborne was recruiting Aunese, ultimately losing out because of the persistence of a young Buffs assistant named Les Miles.

Fast forward and Miles now has Aunese's son, T.C. McCartney, on his LSU roster as a walk-on quarterback. Here's a story from several months ago, but still an interesting read, about it. Aunese died just five months after his son was born. The Denver Post also had a fine story about the McCartney family when T.C. first got going at LSU.

Former Husker Aleks Maric made his debut Tuesday night in the NBA's Orlando summer league.

Playing with the Indiana Pacers, Maric played 18 minutes, hit 3-of-4 shots for six points and had four rebounds in an 95-78 victory over Oklahoma City.

Maric also had three assists, two steals and three blocked shots. He posted a team-high or tied for the team lead in offensive boards, steals and blocked shots.

Maric is playing on a summer league contract in hopes of making the Pacers' roster.

The Pacers play again later today.

I had a chance to catch up with Vander Joaquim's high school coach, Kelvin Starr, who provided some good insight into Nebraska's recent recruit.

Sounds like Vander has a very strong bond with Nebraska assistant Walter Roese.

Flipping around the dial tonight, I happened across former Husker wide receiver Matt Davison's appearance on the Fox Sports show "Sports Science."

The show aimed to recreate Davison's famed last-second diving touchdown catch against Missouri in 1997. As probably anyone reading this blog knows, the ball found Davison's hands only after bouncing off, as Brent Musberger so called it, "what appeared to be a foot" of Shevin Wiggins.

Wiggins probably should have caught the 12-yard pass from Scott Frost himself -- it hit him in the numbers -- but I guess he wanted to make it more interesting.

The show used a "probability chain" to try to figure out what the odds are that such a play could happen as it did. It was ultimately figured that the odds of it happening were 1 in 3,240,000. I'll just have to take their word for it on that one.

Anyway, they reenacted the play on the show, Davison helping out. It took them only two attempts to get a decent replay of it, though I might say the guy playing Shevin Wiggins was a little too obvious in his attempt to kick the ball back to Davison.

The play, which saved Nebraska's bacon in that national championship season, has not only become a staple of college fooball highlights and now even has earned Wikipedia fame: The flea kicker.

It certainly has a place among the most memorable plays in Husker history, right up there with Rodgers' return, Frazier's tackle-breaking Fiesta run, Schlesinger's rumble, Tagge's championship lunge.....

All those, but I'd still rank the top one as Tom Osborne going for the deuce against Miami. How about you?

Interesting read in the Baton Rouge Advocate about LSU co-defensive coordinators Bradley Dale Peveto and Doug Mallory. Both men are trying to pick up where Bo Pelini left off.

During the first defensive meeting prior to spring practice, Peveto read a list of key names the Tigers had lost from last year's national championship team. One of the names he read was Pelini's.

“The point I was making was not only are we all in this together,” Peveto told the Advocate, “but somebody has to step up and take those players’ spots. Somebody has also got to step up and take Bo Pelini’s spot. That’s pretty darn hard, but Doug and I have to get it done.”

Peveto said in the article that he and Mallory still sometimes call Pelini to get his opinion on a defensive matter, noting that Pelini is "one of the best I've been around."

Said Peveto: “Why fix something that ain’t broke? The game changes, there are wrinkles year in and year out. That’s why we visit with Bo and make sure we’re staying on the cutting edge.”

Back from a week of fishing in Minnesota, I was greeted with an e-mail asking for preseason Big 12 football predictions for the media poll they'll soon unveil.

The poll asks for the writer to rank the six teams in the North and then the six in the South.

It also asks for you pick players for the preseason all-conference team, including an offensive player of the year, a defensive player of the year and a newcomer of the year.

I'm in the process of filling it out and would like to know what you think.

If you were ranking the six teams on each side, how would you place them?

And who do you think will be offensive and defensive player of the year?

As for my picks, I've went back and forth, but probably will end up with something like this:

North
1. Missouri
2. Kansas
3. Nebraska
4. Colorado
5. Iowa State
6. Kansas State

South
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas Tech
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma State
5. Texas A&M
6. Baylor

If I were to guess, I'd say Nebraska will be picked fourth in the media poll, with Colorado being third. Of course all this really means a whole lot of nothing, but so it goes in July.

(Not to pour cold water on Tom Osborne's Husker hall of fame idea -- I think the idea has merit, actually -- but here's some news out of Kentucky to consider (from ESPN.com):

The University of Kentucky Basketball Museum in Lexington has closed its doors, according to media reports in Kentucky.

The museum, which was located in the Lexington Center adjacent to Rupp Arena, can no longer support itself financially, executive director Van Florence said.

According to its Web site, the museum featured interactive exhibits giving fans the chance to make a radio call of a great UK moment, or play "virtual one-on-one" hoops against a favorite Wildcat.

According to reports, some of the museum's exhibits will likely reappear in a free setting before the 2008-09 season begins -- possibly in the Craft Center, Kentucky's new on-campus practice facility.

"I don't think it would be a museum, per se. It would be a sort of Walk of Fame, a public display in common areas that everyone could enjoy for free," deputy director of athletics Rob Mullens said, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

While the Wildcats have some of the most loyal and passionate fans in college basketball, that did not translate into attendance that would support the museum, which struggled financially from the start.

(So, a question: Would Nebraska fans support a Husker-style hall/museum, with trophies and jerseys and interactive exhibits, the whole nine yards, so to speak? I've always considered Wildcat basketball fans and Husker football fans to be similar in their passion).

Just starting a blog for the oral commitment of Vander Joachuim. Of course, a lot can happen between now and signing day in November, but this looks like a big -- figuratively and literally -- pickup for Doc Sadler.

In former player news, Jay-R Strowbridge said yesterday he's signing with Jacksonville State.

Well, if you read today's story, it doesn't sound promising for a big man to join the Nebraska basketball team for this coming season.

The door's not entirely shut, but the crack is growing smaller this late in the recruiting process.

However, there could be some big news with a 2009-10 recruit upcoming. Yes, a big man.

I should have more soon.

For those of you who wish discuss, here's a short story on Tyrone Sellers committing to Kansas.