Surprising news today that the NCAA volleyball championships won't be coming back to Nebraska until 2013, at the earliest.

The NCAA announced they would play the final four in Kansas City, Mo., in 2010 and Louisville, Ky., in 2012. Previously, the NCAA had set championship sites in 2009 (Tampa, Fla.) and 2011 (San Antonio, Texas).

Omaha hosted the final four in 2006 and 2008, establishing record crowds both years. Omaha likely will be a regular destination for regional tournaments. One is already set for Qwest Center Omaha in 2009.

The Sporting News ran the list of all invitees to the NFL Combine Feb. 18-24 in Indianapolis. It's fascinating to pore through the names.

If you're Joe Ganz, doing so might be kind of depressing.

Check out the list of combine-bound quarterbacks and tell me Ganz doesn't belong ahead of at least five of these guys:

-- Jason Boltus, Hartwick (Division III school)
-- Rhett Bomar, Sam Houston State
-- Tom Brandstater, Fresno State (49th nationally in pass efficiency this season; Ganz was 14th)
-- Nathan Brown, Central Arkansas
-- Hunter Cantwell, Louisville (73rd in pass efficiency)
-- Rudy Carpenter, Arizona State (48th)
-- Chase Daniel, Missouri
-- Nate Davis, Ball State
-- Josh Freeman, Kansas State (34th)
-- Cullen Harper, Clemson (58th; you saw what I saw in the Gator Bowl)
-- Graham Harrell, Tech (no-brainer)
-- Chase Holbrook, New Mexico State (um, OK)
-- Brian Hoyer, Michigan State
-- Stephen McGee, Texas A&M (Mike Sherman's NFL connections pay off; the kid threw only 85 passes this season before injuring his shoulder)
-- Curtis Painter, Purdue (76th)
-- Mike Reilly, Central Washington
-- Mark Sanchez, USC (no-brainer)
-- Matthew Stafford, Georgia (ditto)
-- Pat White, West Virginia
-- Drew Willy, Buffalo
-- John Parker Wilson, Alabama

I'm just sayin' . . .

So, this is what became of Jason Pierre-Paul, who was considering signing with Nebraska as late as Wednesday morning . . .

This from the Tampa Tribune:

Don't expect a Christmas card: DE Jason Pierre-Paul, one of the nation's top junior college recruits out of Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College, signed with South Florida, but it wasn't easy.

USF head coach Jim Leavitt said Fort Scott head coach Jeff Sims was pushing Pierre-Paul to Nebraska.

"A young man that had to put up with a whole lot," Leavitt said. "His junior college coach was pushing him hard to Nebraska and he had to fend all that off. That was a long day for him.

"He stood up to his junior college coach and everyone else and signed with the University of South Florida because that's where his heart is. That was a pretty tense process a little bit today. I'm really proud of Jason Pierre-Paul. Wish we would have had a little more support out of the junior college head coach, but that's the way it is."

Meanwhile, The Tennessean reports that Lane Kiffin already is in hot water with the SEC.

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive issued a public reprimand to Kiffin Thursday for violating the league’s code of ethics. It was a result of remarks Kiffin made at a breakfast meeting in Knoxville, Tenn., attended by a reported 1,000 Tennessee fans.

Kiffin accused Florida coach Urban Meyer of breaking an NCAA recruiting rule. The controversy involved Tennessee signee Nu’Keese Richardson, who had previously verbally committed to Florida.

“I’m going to turn Florida in right now in front of you,’’ Kiffin said Thursday morning. “Nu’Keese was here on campus and his phone kept ringing. One of our coaches said, ‘Nu’Keese, who’s that?’ He said, ‘Urban Meyer.’’’

Kiffin insinuated Meyer’s action constituted a rules violation. Trouble is, it was not a violation. Oops.

Husker head coach Bo Pelini didn't seem to have much interest in putting this year's Red-White game on television when asked on Wednesday if such a thing were a possibility.

"I don't want to turn it into a circus," he said of the scrimmage which last year drew more than 80,000 Husker fans to Memorial Stadium.

Some teams have had their spring games televised in recent years. Florida played its scrimmage on ESPN last year. Nebraska had its spring game aired on NFL Network on a tape-delay basis in 2007. Bill Callahan even came into the broadcasting booth and talked for a bit.

There's probably no need to televise the thing this year anyway seeing that a good portion of the state will apparently be watching it in person.

In just a couple days, more than 50,000 tickets have already been sold.

*****

Pelini said offensive coordinator Shawn Watson seems interested in taking on more recruiting assignments as the program goes forward.

Often times, head coaches limit their coordinators' recruiting duties, especially during the season. That said, Watson was the lead recruiter, along with Mike Ekeler, on bringing in Cody Green. Pelini said Watson's main recruiting areas were in the Houston and Kansas City areas.

"But he wants to pick back up in his normal areas," Pelini said. "Together for the first time, new offensive staff, I didn't want to spread him too thin and I'm glad we didn't. It worked out well but I think he wants to get back out and start doing his thing again, and get out there a little more often. But the bottom line is we're not going to send him out in the season too much. You can't."

Nebraska, coming off a not-so-pretty victory Wednesday night in Boulder, returns home Saturday to play Texas.

At stake for the Huskers: The chance for sole possession of fourth place in the Big 12 standings as the second half of the league season unfolds.

Nebraska is 4-4 in Big 12 play following its second straight road victory.

“You’ve fought yourself back in to where you’re competitive," Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said Thursday. "We were 2-4 and fixing to go on the road for two games. As I’ve said all along, I think this team is a tough team, and they’ve shown that they’ve got some toughness in them.”

No. 17 Texas is 4-3 in the league, and has lost two straight home games to North Division foes Kansas State and Missouri.

"I wish they would’ve won two in a row," Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said, "but it is what it is."

Kansas State is also 4-4 and plays Saturday at Texas A&M.

The Huskers overcame a season-high 18 turnovers and 13-of-24 free-throw shooting to beat CU 55-53 on Wednesday.

Nebraska faced a variety of zone defenses against Colorado, which contributed to the high turnover total.

“We weren’t attacking it to where we needed to be attacking it," Sadler said of the zone. "We were trying to play on the perimeter, and they just kept extending it out. We were open in the middle, and we didn’t get it in there like we needed to.”

Texas is the largest team Nebraska will face in the Big 12. Does Sadler expect the Longhorns to zone?

“In the past, they’ve played a lot of zone, but this year they haven’t played much. I don’t know. I don’t think so," he said.

“They haven’t shown much. I would Texas thinks that they can come in, and their best is going to be good enough. I don’t see them doing a lot of things different just because they’re playing us.”

Nebraska played with two ill players at Colorado. Paul Velander, in fact, missed Thursday's practice because he was still sick. Ryan Anderson battled a similar stomach problem that Ade Dagunduro had last week. He did practice Thursday.

Stewart Mandel of SI.com hands out some signing day awards . . .

Biggest disappointment (in general): Nebraska. You know the formula: Hot-young coach takes over at tradition-rich program and puts together a monster class in his first full recruiting year. In fact, it happened the last time the Huskers changed coaches -- Bill Callahan landed a top five class in 2005.

However, that wasn't quite the case for Bo Pelini, whose first full class was solid (top 30) but hardly spectacular. The lone "star" is QB Cody Green (Dayton, Texas) -- and even he was ranked just 173rd by Rivals.

On the other hand, Jeremy Crabtree praises Nebraska's class in this article by Eric Olson of The Associated Press.

Crabtree said Pelini met a lot of his needs with his first full recruiting class.

Rivals.com had the class ranked 27th in the nation and fourth in the Big 12. Scout.com ranked Nebraska 33rd and fifth, respectively.

"They got their quarterback of the future, they added depth on the lines, they have defensive back help," Crabtree said. "Overall, just a lot of things to be really happy about if you're a Husker fan."

Allen Wallace, publisher of SuperPrep magazine and national recruiting editor for Scout.com, told Olson that Pelini's class was solid but not overly impressive.

"You have to look at them as being a slightly below average class for Nebraska standards," he said.

But Wallace agrees that Green, Burkhead, Ankrah and Williams are potential difference-makers.

The most interesting quote from Bo Pelini's national signing day press conference Wednesday?

I thought it was his assessment of the response Nebraska gets these days when it calls recruits.

"It's good, not great yet -- it's getting better," Pelini said. "I think people are waiting to see. I think it got better as we had momentum this season. Obviously, the 'N' carries a lot of weight. But at the end of the day, kids want to win championships. The more we win, the better it's going to be.

"That's on us."

The Huskers' 53-36 record from 2002 to the present has exacted a toll.

At any rate, here's a potpourri of our signing day coverage, starting with my personal favorite -- a map of the grand old USA on which you can access each Husker recruit by state.

Here's Scott Young, BC and I breaking down the class (if nothing else, you can poke fun at us).

You probably would be better served watching Bo break down the class. Please do that here.

As for stories, Pelini specifically targeted the secondary as an area of need.

Chris Williams made a name for himself as a big hitter.

Also, national signing day unfolded at NU with minimal drama.

Hey, and how ’bout some Husker Texas-Cali Crunch?

Finally, Bo was his usual self when it comes to recruiting, clearly avoiding anything that resembled hype in regard to the class of 2009.

Well, it's been a busy day, with the football signing day news conference and all. But time to put the basketball hat on -- Huskers in lovely Boulder, Colo., tonight to take on the Buffaloes.

(Man, wish I would've known about this company leer jet before I hopped in my car to drive to Lubbock).

Seriously, I'm in my living room watching the game on TV with the rest of you. But feel free to discuss the game here.

Tipoff at 9:30 on FSN (37 in Lincoln).

The Nebraska assistant coach who did the best job recruiting for this class? It looks like a three-horse race between John Papuchis, Mike Ekeler and Carl Pelini.

Pelini, a defensive coordinator/line coach, gets the edge in my opinion. He played a leading role in recruiting at least five of the players. That’s particularly impressive considering many head coaches limit coordinators’ recruiting duties, especially during the season. Of course, it helps matters that Carl shares coordinator duties with his brother, head coach Bo Pelini.

“What we’re doing is limiting their areas,” Bo Pelini said of his coordinators. “But you need all nine (full-time) assistants out there recruiting because of where we are. If you’re at Texas, your pool of coaches doesn’t have to be as big because you don’t have to beat as many people. Same with Ohio State and USC. They have more recruits in their back yards.”

Papuchis pulled off a surprise by recruiting four-star defensive end Jason Ankrah out of Gaithersburg, Md., while Ekeler played a lead role in recruiting four-star quarterback Cody Green of Dayton, Texas.

“They have tremendous energy,” Bo Pelini said of Papuchis and Ekeler. “They communicate well. That’s what recruiting is. Can you deal with people? And do you have the work ethic to do it? It’s not rocket science. You have to be able to evaluate . . . Then it takes persistence and hard work and the ability to communicate and establish relationships. I believe that, to a man, that’s the strength of this staff.”

One guy you can't help but feel good for today is Antonio Bell. A year ago, the wide receiver from Daytona Beach, Fla., had his name listed on that Husker recruiting class.

But he didn't quite qualify academically. A lot of times you never hear from those guys again. But Bell kept with it and today his name could be found as part of another Husker recruiting class. He's on campus and ready to go.

While Bo Pelini likes to talk about the team and not the individual at these deals, he did offer up some thoughts about Bell given the receiver's road here.

"Antonio was so close the last time," Pelini said. "He kind of had a bad start when he started high school and he had to overcome it. He just missed it. He decided to take a couple of classes and take the tests again and he became eligible. Obviously, if we didn’t believe he could do it we couldn’t have stayed with him. He’s a great kid. He’s gone through a lot and I’m happy for him. He’s here and he’s doing well."