Gym Cracks By Jim November 28, 2002 THE BIG PICTURE Down this season, but the Huskers' track record is nearly unmatched By Jim (Babe) Berryman MissingNebraska.com Western Nebraska The four years I spent in high school, the Huskers compiled a record of 16-20-3. True, that was many years ago, many decades ago. This was even before Nebraskans had heard of Bob Devaney. Tom Osborne? Hey, he was in high school at the same time I was. The University of Nebraska fielded a football team for the first time in 1890. This team was undefeated, winning both games they played. In 1957 the Huskers won only one game while losing nine. This has been the only one win season in their history. Since 1962 the Huskers have won at least nine games each year with the exceptions of the l967 and l968 years. Oklahoma was the football power in the central part of the United States when I was a high school student. The Sooners rolled to a 35-5-2 record during these four years. Close behind the Sooners were the Fighting Irish with a four-year record of 27-8-4 and the Texas Longhorns who compiled a 32-10-0 record during this same four-year period. Alabama showed a lot of muscle in the southern part of the United States during these four years as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 30-13-3 record. This included a record of 5-6-0 one year. The Stassen website ranks college football teams on their winning percentage. The information below is gleaned from this site. Where do the Huskers rank in 1-A Winning Percentage in the years 1869-2001according to the Stassen website? How does fourth grab you? What teams are ahead of the Huskers? If you would have answered Notre Dame, Michigan and Alabama, you would have won the cigar. Football teams following the Huskers in order--Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Tennessee, Penn State, and Southern Cal. The winning percentage are very close for first place (Notre Dame 0.74953, Michigan 0.745.29). Alabama edged out Nebraska (0.71676 to 0.71133) for third place. The Kansas State Wildcats are near the bottom of the 1-A Winning Percentage chart with a 0.42338 percentage. The Wildcats had some horrendous years until Coach Snyder took the reins of the football program. In the next Gym Cracks, I will address how the Huskers have fared with opponents such as Oklahoma and other Big Seven, Big Eight and now Big Twelve opponents. Feedback Previous Gym Cracks: 11-18-02: 2 For 2 Gym Cracks By Jim 10-25-02: Sweet On Switzer Gym Cracks By Jim 10-17-02: Best Time Year Gym Cracks By Jim 10-11-02: Odds And Ends Gym Cracks By Jim 10-04-02: The Rating Game Gym Cracks By Jim 09-22-02: Fans Panned Gym Cracks By Jim 09-12-02: World Herald Calling Gym Cracks 09-05-02: Bit By Baseball Bug Gym Cracks 08-29-02: Caring Coaches Gym Cracks 08-22-02: Nebraska "Storm" Hits Colorado Gym Cracks 08-15-02: Cubs Win, Wallet Drained Gym Cracks 08-08-02: To Coors For Cubs Gym Cracks 07-25-02: Major League Madness Gym Cracks 07-18-02: Nebraskans In The Majors Gym Cracks 07-11-02: Kile Death Sheds Light Gym Cracks 07-04-02: Couch Potato Parking Gym Cracks 06-23-02: Top 10 Nebraska High School Nicknames Gym Cracks 06-06-02: Better In The 50s Gym Cracks 05-30-02: Dangerfield of Nebraska Gym Cracks 05-16-02: Baseball Sneak Aways Gym Cracks