College football: Nebraska, Bo Pelini could be headed to the Rose Bowl

“This is a special group of guys,” Pelini said. “They mean a lot to me. It's hard to believe this is their last go-round in Memorial Stadium. I recruited them all. They walked into a tough situation and we put this class together in a short amount of time. They've accomplished a lot.”

What the Huskers could accomplish next is the Rose Bowl. Nebraska is tied with Michigan for the Big Ten's Legends Division lead, but the Huskers have the tiebreaker, since they beat the Wolverines.

If Nebraska beats Minnesota this week and Iowa next week, the Huskers are in the Big Ten title game against Wisconsin.

“They understand what's at stake,” Pelini said. “We've got two tough games ahead of us. We've just got to stay the course.”

Nebraska still is led by Taylor Martinez, who quarterbacked the Huskers to the 2010 Big 12 title game, in which OU rallied for a 23-20 victory.

Now there is talk of an OU-Nebraska showdown in the Rose Bowl, but much would have to happen for a battle of the Big Reds.

Nebraska would have to win the Big Ten, Oregon and Notre Dame would have to play in the national title game, OU would have to win out and every other Pac-12 team would have to fall out of the BCS top 14.

Under that scenario, the Rose might invite the Sooners, perhaps even at the behest of Nebraska, which would rather renew old acquaintance than butt heads with an SEC Doberman.