Dear Dan Beebe,
You thought you won. You thought everything was just falling into place for you. When Nebraska decided to leave for the Big Ten, we knew you didn't welcome our departure with open arms, instead you just wanted to see us spiral out of control before the switch became official. Before the move to the B1G Ten, the volleyball team was able to capture it's 12th Big XII title (keep in mind the conference has only been in existence for 15 years). But since this conference shift seemed like it was based on football, that's where we wanted to make our stand. After both the UT and OU losses, I texted friends saying "Dan Beebe is smiling somewhere right now." I know it's true, and you don't have to hide it. So after the monumental football collapse in our last few games, you were probably feeling pretty good about yourself, feeling that you don't "need" Nebraska anymore, and it seemed like a nice present to you before the new year. Then, Nebrasketball took the court against your beloved Longhorns, and the tables have now shifted.

After football was over, everyone was disappointed, not only because of how the last few games played out, but how we exited the conference. As fans moving to another conference, you want to win every championship on your way out or at the very least, pull off some huge upsets to embarrass your former conference before your exit. Football couldn't get it done, and I don't think there's anyone that seriously thought basketball would be the spot that it would have happened from.

We're as far from a basketball powerhouse as Connecticut is close to California. Holding a 7 point lead part way through the second half at Kansas earlier this year, everyone thought we might see a little magic. Then, as it seems it always happens with our upsets, it slips through our hands in the waning seconds, and we all talk about what could have been. After that game, I sent the same text out, "Dan Beebe is smiling somewhere right now."

Then Texas had to step into the Bob Devaney Sports Center. You know Texas, right? That team that "held together" your conference so you'd still have a job and then made their own TV network so they had stranglehold on the conference as a whole for as long as they want, and to a lesser extent, you. They decided on their own free will to not make a power Pac-16 conference and the end result was you still having a job instead of looking like a goat, which almost all of us thought would happen. So when it comes to the team that saved your job versus the team that almost cost you your job, it's not too tough to place a bet on who you'll be rooting for.

I'm not sure if you or Texas were aware, but we've only lost once at home all year (to Kansas). Even before the game, everyone thought we'd give the #2 Longhorns a nice run until halftime, maybe keep it close through 30 minutes, then have it slip away like always. Most fans would have been fine with "keeping it close" with one of the top teams in the nation, but from the opening tip, you could just sense that it was going to be a struggle all night for them.

I'm sure your emotions went up and down throughout the game. I bet the blood pressure went up a little bit with one minute left in the first half as Nebraska cut a nine point lead to two, but then you thought we'd just go away as Texas orchestrated a run of their own and was leading by seven at the half with all of the momentum in the world.

The second half was something our fans will never forget. Turning a seven point half time deficit into an 11 point lead with just over a minute to go. How many teams in the country can blow an 11 point lead with 71 seconds to go? At home? Well, if anyone can do it, Nebraska can ... and did. With :35 left on the clock, the score was tied. From that point on, between my swearing and my nonstop bargaining with my laptop screen, somehow we find ourselves up three at the end, and hold off what would have been the most monumental collapse in Nebrasketball history.

With that, all I could think about was your current status. How your team couldn't beat our team in what looked to be an absolute blowout win for UT on paper. I know your life doesn't hinge on every game that Nebraska wins or loses (or at least I hope it doesn't), but when we do something like that to your team in your conference on our way out the door you can be damn sure that I'm smiling somewhere. Since we don't have each others numbers, here was my new text after the upset:

"Dan Beebe will never forget this day."

Sincerely,
Brian Helge
Proud Nebrasketball fan who sat stood in the same spot in the front row of the student section at the Bob for every home game (no exaggeration) from '02 through '06.

Editor's note: This was completely random, but I found this YouTube clip of the fans rushing the court after the game in what looks to be the same exact spot that I stood in for all of those years: