Like Alabama Nebraska's been a sleeping giant

In fact, Big Red won nine games and nearly won the Big 12 championship mostly on defense, special teams, and suicidal runs through a subpar offensive line.Like Alabama, Nebraska's been a sleeping giant. Similar histories and local diehard loyalties have bolstered the programs through a difficult decade.The Huskers have been able to recruit nationally, too. In fact, as one commenter pointed out, only five of the 22 Nebraska starters this year were actually from the state of Nebraska, which is encouraging when you consider the relative lack of prominence of the program in recent years The Husker name still sells itself. But I expect them to be back in a big way by the time 2015, and maybe 2020, rolls around.Texas LonghornsHand-in-hand with the Huskers are the Texas Longhorns.

They get the nod over the Sooners in the South.Texas, because of its recruiting talent, can circle the wagons far more effectively than Oklahoma, which continually has to raid the Lone Star State instead of counting on its native sons.And though both programs are separated by only a year, in terms of trips to the national championship, the Texas team is more settled in for the long haul. The brief Stoops-to-Notre Dame debacle raised questions about the succession program at OU.Meanwhile, Mack Brown, though evidently nowhere near retirement, has named his successor: defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. This ends up guaranteeing an uninterrupted change of power that will surprise exactly zero recruits and boosters should it ever need to take emergency effect.How successful that plan is will depend both on Brown's stamina and the interest Will Muschamp has in being a head coach sooner rather than later. Muschamp's name will surely come up for just about every SEC and Big 12 program with a vacancy.Cross-apply all previous arguments about adaptability and evolutionfor which I feel Mack Brown ought to be the poster childand throw in a little something about how messing with Texas is a bad idea.The Horns will be hooking 'em for the better part of the next decade The sooner we get used to it, the better.. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Barack Obama"Dealing with this foreclosure crisis is something that we've got to do," Obama said in an interview with CNBC."I expect to unveil plans to prevent foreclosures in consultation with (Rep.) Barney Frank and (Sen.) Chris Dodd, who've done some very good work on this, sometime in the next month or two," he added, referring to the chairmen of the congressional committees that oversee banking.Obama also had warm words for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair, who he said "had the sense of urgency about the problem that I want to see."Asked whether he would tap former Time Warner Inc Chairman Richard Parsons to be U.S. commerce secretary, Obama declined to answer, although he called Parsons "a great guy" and good friend.(Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Leslie Adler) Barack Obama.

Securities and ExchangeCommission (SEC) has begun a new probe into whether hedge fundPequot Capital Management illegally profited from insideinformation on Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) in 2001, Bloomberg Newsreported on Wednesday. Stocks Regulatory News Funds News ETFs News One of two people familiar with the matter told the newsagency investigators had learned of documents that show formerMicrosoft employee David Zilkha may have obtained confidentialinformation about the software maker, it said Zilkha had leftMicrosoft in 2001 to join Pequot, it said. "We will cooperate fully with all requests for information andare confident that Pequot's trading in Microsoft was at all timesproper," said Jonathan Gasthalter, a spokesman for Pequot SEC spokesman John Heine declined to comment. The SEC closed an earlier investigation in 2006 that focusedon communications between Arthur Samberg, chief executive ofPequot, and Zilkha while the firm was betting on Microsoft'ssecurities, citing insufficient evidence to bring a case, the newsagency said Microsoft declined to comment. Playoff time has officially started in every league, which means your options have dwindled down to due to NFL roster and depth chart moves, as well as inconsistent performance and injuries. Guys like Clinton Portis, Chris Cooley, and Anthony Gonzalez left you hanging by a thread for much of the season, but now two are on injured reserve, and the latter has yet to suit up for a game since injuring his kneed in Week One. This time of the season is all about making the right decisions, and our goal is toprovide you with the information so you can do just that.

Here are three intriguing match-ups that could help you decide your final fantasy line-up for Week 15 : Tom Brady, QB, NE ( BUF) VS. However, this week has both passers facing very stingy pass defenses, making them risky plays heading into the playoffs. There are two aspects to this match-up: First, both players are facing top pass defenses, and have struggled against defenses that apply pressure in addition to covering their top receivers well. Brady had a very tough outing in his first game against the Jets this season, and struggled mightily last week against Favre's opponent this week, the Carolina Panthers.