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Sweet talk Solich makes Sugar Bowl plea for Huskers
Posted: Saturday December 04, 1999 09:33 PM
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- If the BCS formula considers strength-of-scheduling to be as important as Nebraska coach Frank Solich does, the Cornhuskers will be playing for the national championship. Although Solich understands the Sugar Bowl likely will pit No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Virginia Tech, he said he thinks his 11-1 team deserves to be there as much or more than the 11-0 Hokies. "When you really look at it, we played four teams that were ranked in the Top 25," Solich said Saturday following Nebraska's 22-6 victory over No. 12 Texas in the Big 12 championship. "When you look at Virginia Tech, they played one team that ended up in the Top 25 at the end of the year, Boston College, and they've been in only a few weeks. "You look at that and say, 'Maybe we do belong in the game.'" The Cornhuskers are likely to play No. 6 Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl. All the BCS matchups will be announced Sunday. Nebraska went 4-1 against current top 25 teams, beating Texas, No. 8 Kansas State, No. 15 Southern Mississippi and No. 18 Texas A&M. All but Southern Mississippi were ranked at the time. Nebraska's only loss was to the Longhorns (9-4). "For us to come in and beat them in a game that was this big was probably one of the hardest things to do," said quarterback Eric Crouch, who scored both Cornhusker touchdowns. "If you think about it, there's not a team on our schedule that we didn't beat this year." Texas coach Mack Brown supports Nebraska's argument. "I wouldn't be critical of Florida State or Virginia Tech, but any BCS people watching tonight better be concerned about their ratings," Brown said. "Because they look awfully good to me." Nebraska was believed to be mathematically eliminated from the Sugar Bowl following a 33-30 overtime victory over Colorado last week. That tight game combined with a Virginia Tech blowout doomed the Cornhuskers. Solich said the caliber of his conference's teams should be in their favor. "I know this: no one in the Big 12 came through undefeated," he said. "You're talking about a conference that is tremendously tough to get through. And then when you've got a real tough non-conference like we do ... "As far as this team is concerned, we're very capable of playing in that game. But the system is going to work those things out. We've got to go with what we've got."
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