Huskers Look to Clinch Big 12 Title This Week

Lincoln -- The No. 1-ranked Nebraska volleyball team can clinch the 2000 Big 12 Conference title outright when it plays host to Iowa State Wednesday in a 7 p.m. match at the NU Coliseum. NU could widen its conference lead even further when it travels to Baylor Saturday for a 7 p.m. match at the Ferrell Center.

With four matches remaining in league action, the Huskers own a four-game lead over second-place Kansas State. Nebraska (24-0 overall and 16-0 in the Big 12), winners of three of the four Big 12 titles, clinched at least a share of the conference crown Nov. 8 when it defeated No. 24 Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, snapping the Aggies' 28-match winning streak at G. Rollie White Coliseum.

The Huskers have won 26 straight league matches dating back to last season. Nebraska, ranked No. 1 in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches poll for 10 straight weeks, has swept 19 of its 24 opponents this season, including 13 of its 16 league foes.

The sophomore trio of Greichaly Cepero, Amber Holmquist and Laura Pilakowski has been largely responsible for the Huskers' 2000 success. In NU's last two matches, Cepero has been unstoppable, averaging 17.29 assists per game, 4.71 digs per game, 2.43 blocks per game and 2.29 kills per game. Cepero posted her third triple-double of the season with 71 assists, 18 digs and 11 blocks at Texas A&M, earning her second Big 12 Player-of-the Week honor for her efforts.

Pilakowski and Holmquist have been equally hot. Pilakowski has averaged 5.70 kills per game and 3.70 digs per game in NU's last three matches, and Holmquist has averaged an amazing 5.71 kills per game on a .548 hitting efficiency and 2.57 blocks per game in her last two matches.

Junior middle blocker Jenny Kropp and senior right side hitter Angie Oxley have also put up big numbers recently. Over the last two matches, Kropp has averaged 4.00 kills per game and 1.71 blocks per game, and Oxley averaged 2.29 kills per game and 4.29 digs per game.

A Look at Iowa State
Iowa State (2-24, 0-17) will be looking for its first Big 12 Conference win when it travels to Lincoln on Wednesday. The Cyclones have had a difficult time overcoming their youth in 2000, as ISU lists seven freshmen and four sophomores on its 13-player roster. Iowa State is hitting .112 on the season while allowing their opponents to hit a .261 clip.

Two of the underclassmen are Norfolk, Neb., products Dana Koziol and Sarah Rollman. Koziol, the younger sister of former NU outside hitter/defensive specialist Denise Koziol (1995-1999), ranks 16th in the Big 12 with 0.27 service aces per game. Rollman leads Iowa State in digs with 2.24 per game and also chips in 2.23 kills per game. Stacy Nicks, the lone senior on the team, leads the Cyclones with 2.61 kills per game and a team-best .241 hitting percentage.

Nebraska owns a 57-0 all-time mark against Iowa State, and the Huskers have posted sweeps in 35 of those wins. The Huskers defeated ISU 15-0, 15-5, 15-4 Oct. 8 in Ames, Iowa. NU was led by junior outside hitter Amber Holmquist, who totaled 16 kills and a .750 hitting percentage. Senior setter/defensive specialist Jill McWilliams recorded a season-high 41 assists.

A Look at Baylor
The Huskers continue their youngest Big 12 Conference rivalry when they travel to Waco, Texas, to face Baylor Nov. 18 at the Ferrell Center. The Bears (14-12, 7-10), seventh in the league standings, have lost four of their last five matches, dropping three-game decisions to Texas, Missouri and Kansas and a four-game decision to Colorado.

The Bears are led by junior setter Dana Chuha,who is currently leading the nation in assists for the second consecutive season. Chuha holds the Baylor single-season record with 1,432 assists this season. Freshman outside hitter Stevie Nicholas leads the Big 12 with 5.76 kills per game. Sister Sunny Nicholas averages 2.92 kills per game.

Nebraska owns a 10-0 series advantage over Baylor, collecting sweeps in all 10 of the matches. The Huskers defeated BU15-2, 15-2, 15-10 Oct. 11 in Lincoln. Sophomores Laura Pilakowski, Amber Holmquist and Greichaly Cepero each totaled 11 kills in the match and hit .500 or better.

Cepero wins second Big 12 honor
Dallas - Greichaly Cepero earned her second Big 12 Conference Player-of-the-Week honor with an impressive performance in the Nebraska volleyball team's 3-1 win at Texas A&M Nov. 8, the league office announced Monday.

Cepero recorded her third triple-double of the season in leading the Huskers to their first win in College Station, Texas, since 1997, as the Huskers snapped A&M's 28-match home winning streak. The sophomore setter posted career-best totals with 71 assists (17.75 per game) and 18 digs (4.5 per game) while adding 11 blocks (2.75 per game), a mark that tied for the match high.

Cepero is currently ranked in the top 10 of three different Big 12 categories. She is 10th in hitting percentage (.318), ninth in assists per game (12.67) and fourth in blocks per game (1.58). The Dorado, Puerto Rico, native, who was also the first setter in the league to earn Big 12 Volleyball Athlete-of-the-Week honors, is averaging 11.90 assists, 2.23 digs, 1.41 blocks and 1.74 kills per game. She leads NU with three triple-doubles and four double-doubles. Cepero was just one kill short of the school's first quadruple-double when she produced nine kills, 46 assists, 10 digs and 11 blocks at Texas Oct. 22.

Cepero has guided the Huskers to a .325 hitting percentage, a mark that ranks first in the Big 12 and first nationally. Seven Nebraska players are hitting .293 or better under the direction of Cepero.

Cepero also won the conference player-of-the-week award Oct. 2. Middle blocker Amber Holmquist and outside hitter Laura Pilakowski, both sophomores, have also earned the league honor in 2000. Overall, Nebraska has won a Big 12-best four player-of-the-week awards.

Holmquist has the hot hand for Nebraska
With impressive all-around play at the net in recent weeks, sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist is one of three NU sophomores who have emerged as serious candidates for All-America honors. Holmquist, who has averaged an amazing 5.71 kills per game on a .548 hitting efficiency and 2.57 blocks per game in her last two matches, leads the country in blocking with 1.92 per game and ranks seventh nationally in hitting percentage.

If Holmquist maintains her blocks per-game average, she would tie the NU single-season school record set by Stephanie Thater in 1992. If she maintains her hitting percentage, Holmquist could finish the season ranked second on the Husker single-season efficiency chart. Holmquist has already broken a Big 12 Conference record with 16 total blocks at Texas Oct.22. She has led Nebraska in blocking in 16 matches this season.

The Houston, Texas, native is also the only Big 12 player to rank first in two categories among league players. She is first in both blocking and hitting percentage.

Holmquist is hitting .449 in Big 12 matches, where she has totaled 3.48 kills per game and 2.02 blocks per game. Holmquist has led NU in blocks 16 times this season and in kills 12 times. She smashed her previous career high of 15 kills with 26 in NU's 3-1 win at Texas A&M Nov. 8.

Holmquist has hit .500 or higher in 13 matches this season, and she has hit .600 or higher six times. From Sept. 30 to Oct. 18, Holmquist produced an amazing six-match stretch in which she hit .522, .667, .750, .500, .500 and .688.

Holmquist is one of three Huskers who have earned Big 12 Conference Athlete-of-the-Week honors this season. The others are her sophomore classmates, setter Greichaly Cepero and outside hitter Laura Pilakowski.

Pilakowski pounding Husker opponents
Sophomore outside hitter Laura Pilakowski is the third NU sophomore working on an All-America campaign. Pilakowski has been an offensive force for Nebraska in 2000, leading the Huskers with 4.33 kills per game on a .351 hitting efficiency. But she has played at an even higher level over the past two weeks, averaging 5.70 kills per game and 3.70 digs per game in NU's last three matches.

Pilakowski has posted double-doubles in two of her last three matches with 22 kills and 12 digs against Colorado Nov. 4 and 17 kills and 20 digs at Texas A&M. The Columbus, Neb., native has hit .341 or higher in five of her last six outings, including a .412 efficiency against Kanas Oct. 28, and a .404 hitting percentage against CU. Pilakowski has posted seven of the Huskers' top eight kill totals this season, and she has led NU in kills in 13 matches. For the season, Pilakowski ranks fifth in the conference in hitting percentage and eighth in kills per game.

Pilakowski's heroics have not gone unnoticed by others this season. The Big 12 Conference honored the Columbus (Neb.) High graduate with its first volleyball athlete-of-the-week honor. Pilakowski, who played in just nine matches for Nebraska as a freshman in 1999, was also the MVP of the US Bank Tournament and was named to the Notre Dame adidas Invitational all-tournament team.

Kropp quietly producing big numbers
She has been somewhat overshadowed by fellow middle blocker Amber Holmquist's rise up the national blocking and hitting percentage charts, but junior Jenny Kropp has quietly produced an impressive 2000 campaign of her own.

A 6-foot-2 middle blocker, Kropp ranks second to Holmquist in the Big 12 Conference with 1.68 blocks per game. In league matches, Kropp is averaging 1.81 blocks per game. In that category in the Nov. 5 NCAA statistics, Kropp was fifth nationally.

Through the 2000 season, Kropp ranks third on the team with a 2.64 kills-per-game average. The Grand Island, Neb., native ranks fourth among Big 12 players in conference matches with a .355 hitting percentage.

Senior Oxley solid in new position
A three-year starter on the left side for NU, senior Angie Oxley moved to the right side for the 2000 season when two-time All-American Nancy Meendering elected to redshirt this year after training with the U.S. Olympic Team in the off-season. The move has proven successful. Oxley has provided the Huskers with solid numbers at the position, leading the team in digs with 2.79 per game, and she is tied for the team lead with 22 service aces. Oxley has produced 1.86 kills per game on a .308 hitting percentage. The Ogallala, Neb., native hit just .217 on the left side last season.

Nebraska nation's top blocking team
In the Nov. 5 NCAA statistics, Nebraska ranked No. 1 in the nation in team blocking with 4.04 per game. Sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist leads the nation in blocks per game, and junior middle blocker Jenny Kropp was tied for fifth nationally in that category.

The Huskers also lead the Big 12 in blocking, averaging 4.22 blocks per game in league matches. NU will likely break its own conference record of 3.83 blocks per game in a single season set in 1998. Holmquist ranks first in league matches (2.02), Kropp is second (1.81) and sophomore setter Greichaly Cepero ranks fourth (1.58 bpg). Nebraska, which has led the conference in blocking three of the past four years, is out-blocking its opponents 318.0 to 106.0 this season.

Huskers break conference blocking records
Nebraska staged its own block party at Texas Oct. 22, breaking two NU school records and two Big 12 Conference records for block assists.

The Huskers set a new NU record for block assists in a single match with 46, smashing the 9-year-old record of 41 set in 1991 against UCLA. The total also broke the Big 12 record for blocks in a four-game match. The previous mark of 42 was set by both Texas A&M and Kansas State in 1998.

With 16 total blocks against Texas, sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist broke the Big 12 Conference and the Nebraska record for total blocks in a single match. The previous record of 15 was held by former NU middle blocker Tonia Tauke, who accomplished the feat against Michigan State in 1996.

For the week of Oct. 16, the Huskers averaged an amazing 6.00 blocks per game in wins over Kansas State and Texas. Holmquist averaged 3.29 blocks per game for the week

NU ranks second nationally in hitting percentage
The Huskers second nationally in the Nov. 5 NCAA hitting percentage statistics with a .333 efficiency. The mark includes their first 23 matches. Nebraska currently ranks first in the Big 12 Conference with a .327 efficiency, and the Huskers could challenge the NU single-season mark of .331 set in 1986. The Huskers are the only Big 12 team that boasts a hitting efficiency higher than .300.

As a team, the Huskers have hit .300 or higher in 17 of their 24 matches under the direction of first-year setter Greichaly Cepero. Their most impressive statistical offensive showing came against Creighton Oct. 3 when NU posted a .567 hitting percentage, their best mark in at least seven years. Nebraska has hit .485 or higher three times and .433 or higher five times already this season. Nebraska hit .400 or higher only two times in 1999.

For the season, seven of the 10 NU players who have attempted a kill are hitting .308 or higher, and the Huskers are dominating the Big 12 statistics in conference matches, as four players rank among the top 10 in hitting percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist ranks first with a .449 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Jenny Kropp is fourth (.355), sophomore outside hitter Laura Pilakowski is eighth (.333), and Cepero ranks 10th (.318) in league matches.

Nebraska No. 1 for 10th straight week
For the 10th straight week, Nebraska was voted No. 1 in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. The 24-0 Huskers received 49 first-place votes and 1,489 points after a 3-1 win at No. 23 Texas A&M last week.

Second-place Hawaii earned nine first-place votes and 1,451 points. Southern California was third, Colorado State, a team NU defeated 3-1 Sept. 2 in Lincoln, was fourth, and Arizona was fifth.

Six of the teams on NU's 2000 schedule are ranked, including Big 12 foes Missouri (No. 25) and Texas A&M (No. 23).

The Huskers were voted the nation's No. 1 team for the first time in 2000 in the Sept. 1 poll. The poll marked the first time since 1995 that NU has held the top spot.

The Huskers moved into the No. 1 ranking on the strength of their successful weekend in South Bend. NU first posted sweeps of then-No. 22 Notre Dame Sept. 8 and then-No. 16 Michigan State Sept. 9. In the adidas Invitational title match Sept. 10, Nebraska knocked off previously third-ranked UCLA, 12-15, 15-11, 13-15, 15-1, 15-10.

Nebraska has produced an overall 59-2 mark when holding the nation's top spot. The Huskers are 18-0 in 2000, and were 27-0 at No. 1 in 1995, 9-1 in 1994 and 5-1 in 1990. Nebraska's only losses while ranked No. 1 were to Pacific in 1990 and Penn State in 1994.

NU downs Aggies, claims share of Big 12 title
College Station, Texas -- The top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team claimed at least a share of its fourth Big 12 Conference title with an 8-15, 15-6, 15-13, 15-9, win over No. 24 Texas A&M Nov. 8 before 2,130 fans at the G. Rollie White Coliseum. The match marked the first time since 1997 that the Huskers claimed victory at Texas A&M.

Sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist produced the best match of her career, smashing her previous career-best mark of 15 kills with a match-high 26. The Houston native hit .550 and posted a match-best 11 blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Laura Pilakowski added 17 kills and 20 digs, junior middle blocker Jenny Kropp totaled 15 kills, senior left side hitter Kim Behrends had 13 kills and 16 digs and senior right side hitter Angie Oxley had 11 kills and 14 digs.

NU sophomore setter Greichaly Cepero prevailed over A&M setter Jenna Moscovic in a battle of the preseason conference co-players of the year. Cepero recorded her third triple-double of the season with a career-best 71 assists, 18 digs and 11 blocks to Moscovic's 55 assists and 19 digs.

Heather Marshall and Erin Gibson led Texas A&M (15-7, 10-5) with 18 kills.

With the win, the Huskers (24-0 overall and 16-0 in the Big 12) broke Texas A&M's amazing 28-match winning streak at the G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Aggies had won 20 straight Big 12 contests at the "Holler House," dating back to a four-game loss to Texas Tech Nov. 1, 1998. Meanwhile, the Huskers have won 26 consecutive league matches. The A&M match marked just the fifth time this season that NU has not posted a sweep.

Nebraska breaks NCAA attendance record
Lincoln, Neb. -- An NCAA regular-season record-breaking crowd of 12,504 fans cheered the top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team to a 15-12, 15-3, 15-13 win over Colorado Nov. 4 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The attendance mark smashed the previous record of 11,529, which was set Oct. 22, 1995, at the Nebraska-Colorado match at the Devaney Center.

The record-breaking crowd was the second-largest overall in NCAA history, trailing only the 13,194 fans who attended the 1998 NCAA championship match between Long Beach State and Penn State in Madison, Wis.

Nebraska matches at the Devaney Center have attracted the top three regular-season crowds in NCAA history. The Huskers' match against UCLA Sept. 14, 1991 drew the third-largest crowd, 11,032 fans.

Nebraska Coach John Cook said he wanted to play at the Devaney Center in hopes of creating an atmosphere similar to the NCAA Final Four. The Huskers normally play at the 4,200-seat NU Coliseum.

Nebraska's 2000 season average attendance jumped up to 4,288, which ranks second natoinally. Hawaii ranks first with a 6,858 average, Wisconsin is third, Minnesota is fourth and Penn State is fifth..

Behrends making noise in Big 12 play
In her first season as a starter, Kim Behrends has produced solid numbers, ranking fifth on the team in kills per game (2.20) and third on the team in digs per game (2.40). But it has been during the Big 12 Conference season when the senior outside hitter has done most of her damage.

In league matches, Behrends is tied for first among Huskers and ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 0.39 service aces per game. Behrends has 20 service aces in her last 15 matches after posting just three aces in NU's first nine matches of 2000. Oct. 28 against Kansas, Behrends posted a career-best five service aces. It was also the most service aces by any Husker in a single match this season.

The Chappel, Neb., native's offensive numbers are also up in Big 12 play, where she has produced a slightly higher 2.30 kills per game and has hit .256. Behrends has led Nebraska in kills in two of its last five matches, posting a career-best 14 at Missouri Oct. 25.

Freshman Schrad a quick study
With the success of starting outside hitters Kim Behrends and Laura Pilakowski, NU Coach John Cook has had the luxury of slowly breaking in freshman outside hitter Anna Schrad.

However, Schrad appears to be catching on quickly. Schrad has played in 45 of 92 games this season, spelling Behrends periodically. The Lincoln Pius X graduate is averaging 2.21 kills per game in Big 12 play. Schrad produced her best match of the season Oct. 14 at Texas Tech. Playing in the third and fourth games only, Schrad posted a career-best 14 kills on 31 attacks. She hit .387 for the match. Schrad also played well at Oklahoma Nov. 1, producing eight kills and no errors on 11 attacks for a .727 hitting percentage. Schrad is tied for 10th in the Big 12 with 0.29 service aces per game in conference matches.

One of the top volleyball players to ever come out of the state of Nebraska, Schrad joined the Huskers after a stellar prep career. She was named a three-time all-state selection and was the 1999 Gatorade Nebraska Volleyball Player of the Year. A first-team Volleyball Magazine All-American, Schrad served as the captain of the USA Junior National Team as a senior.

Wischmeier and McWilliams successful in new roles
Sophomore Lindsay Wischmeier and Senior Jill McWilliams entered the 2000 season with new roles after sharing the setting duties in Nebraska's 6-2 offense last season. NU Coach John Cook decided to revert back to a 5-1 offense and use the more athletic Greichaly Cepero as the starter. In order to continue to take advantage of Wischmeier's consistent play, Cook moved her into a defensive specialist role, and the Burchard, Neb., product has flourished.

As a back-row substitute for sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist, Wischmeier ranks fifth on the team in digs with 2.13 per game. Wischmeier is second on the team with 21 service aces. She has produced at least two service aces in a match five times this season, including a season-best three service aces at Kansas. Wischmeier is tied for 16th in Big 12 matches with 0.27 service aces per game.

McWilliams also plays a defensive specialist role in matches, coming in for middle blocker Jenny Kropp for two rotations in the back row. She has started five matches this season, and played the entire Iowa State match at the setter position, posting a season-best 41 assists.

Three prep standouts sign with Nebraska
Three prep standouts have signed National Letters of Intent to attend the University of Nebraska and play volleyball for the Huskers in 2001, NU Coach John Cook announced Thursday.

Top-ranked Nebraska's class includes Melissa Elmer, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker from Fort Wayne, Ind.; Michelle Lynch, a 5-11 setter from Jacksonville, Ill.; and Elizabeth Allyne Rebholz, a 6-1 middle blocker from Indianapolis.

Lynch became Cook's first nationally-ranked recruit at Nebraska when she committed to the Huskers in late August. A left-handed attacker, Lynch, who was listed as one of the top five prep setters in the nation by volleyball recruiting analyst Bill Feldman, led her team to the Illinois Class 2A IHSA Sweet 16 in 2000. Lynch chose Nebraska over Pacific, Colorado State, Illinois and Clemson.

A product of Indianapolis Cathedral High School, Rebholz is a two-time Indiana Metro Player of the Year, a two-time first-team all-state selection and a three-time Indianapolis Star First-Team All-City squad member. Feldman said that Rebholz "may be the best-skilled middle hitter and blocker in the country out of everyone in the class of 2001."

Rebholz, who goes by "Ally," played on two Indiana Class 4A state team titles in her four years at Cathedral.

Rebholz has trained with the US Youth and Junior National Team for the past two years, spending some time competing alongside current Husker Anna Schrad. During the summer of 2000, Rebholz competed at the NORCECA Championships in Cuba for the Junior National team, which finished runner-up to Cuba in the All-world tournament in Salt Lake City. Rebholz's club team, Circle City, posted an 18-1 record and finished fifth at the 2000 Junior Olympics. Rebholz chose Nebraska over Penn State and Florida.

A first-team all-state and all-Summit Athletic Conference selection in 2000, Elmer led Northrop High School to the Indiana Class 4A finals in 1997 and 1999. Competing alongside current Husker defensive specialist Jenae Dowling, Elmer totaled 330 kills, 101 blocks and 149 digs on the season. She ended her season as the school record holder with 267 career blocks.

A three-sport athlete, Elmer was a standout on the Northrop High basketball and track teams. She averaged 18 points per game and eight rebounds per game on the court as a junior. A high jumper on the track team, Northrop set a school record with a leap of 5'6" last season. Elmer picked Nebraska over Michigan State, Michigan, Illinois and North Carolina.

Cook leads NU to No. 1 ranking in first season
It came as no surprise to Husker fans when John Cook was tabbed Nebraska's head volleyball coach by Director of Athletics Bill Byrne on Dec. 14, 1999.

That's because Cook had already shocked the volleyball world one year earlier when he left his post as head coach at Wisconsin, another top 10 program, to take the position as associate head coach for the Huskers, setting up his succession of 23-year head coach Terry Pettit who retired from coaching last season.

Cook is not a stranger to the Husker program. He served as an assistant coach under Terry Pettit for three seasons from 1988 to 1991. In his first season at the helm of the program, Cook has led the Huskers to a No. 1 ranking and a 24-0 start to improve his career record to 184-73.

Cook earned praise as one of the game's top young coaches after building the Badger program into a top-10 program during his seven-year career in Madison. Cook, 43, compiled a 161-73 record at the helm of the Badgers, including an 89-51 league mark in the Big Ten, one of the nation's toughest conferences. He was named the Big Ten Co-Coach and AVCA District 2 Coach of the Year in 1997 after leading the Badgers to a share of the Big Ten title with a 19-1 mark and school-record 30-3 overall record. In his seven years as head coach, the Badgers advanced to six straight postseason tournaments, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998. In 1995, Wisconsin won the National Invitational Volleyball Championship with a perfect 6-0 record.

During his tenure at UW, Cook coached four All-Americans, nine AVCA All-District award winners, 11 All-Big Ten honorees and two Big Ten freshmen of the year. He also coached 21 Academic All-Big 10 selections during his seven seasons. Cook has also served on the coaching staffs of the U.S. Men's National Team and California-San Diego.

A graduate of the University of San Diego, Cook earned his bachelor's degree in history in 1979. He completed his master's degree in teaching and coaching effectiveness from San Diego State in 1991. Cook and his wife Wendy, a former two-time All-America setter at San Diego State, are the parents of two children, Lauren, 9, and Taylor, 6.

Survey allows fans to speak on proposed scoring change
A scoring format subcommittee of Divsion I head coaches will meet in RIchmond, Va., at the AVCA Convention at the NCAA Final Four in December to discuss changing the scoring format in college volleyball. Instead of playing the current system of the best of three games out of five with each game scored to 15 points and a rally-scoring fifth game, a new format could include international rally scoring (best of three games out of five to 25 points and 15 points in the fifth game if necessary). Another proposal is the Game, Set format of two sets of the best two out of three games.

The change has been suggested as a way to make volleyball more appealing to fans and television networks. However, Nebraska Coach John Cook and several other Division I coaches don't agree that a change would accomplish these objectives. Cook points to the fact that televiion has not given any indication that it will contract additional air time for volleyball if the scoring format is changed. Also, Cook said, schools with loyal or growing fan bases could lose fans by expirementing. Other negative factors include historical records losing their relevance and the already failed attempt by the Big Ten to attract television by expirementing with a new scoring format.