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Iowa and Nebraska get together Thursday for their own version of the Big Ten Network show, "The Journey."

The title could be "Careful What You Wish For."

Or, "The Butler (Todd Lickliter, Barry Collier) Did It."

The Hawks and Huskers are trying to find the road back, back to a place where they were happier than they knew at the time. Back to a life they threw away in the name of moving up.

On the surface, these two don't have much in common. Iowa has a rich basketball tradition. Ralph Miller coached in Iowa City. So did Lute Olson. The Hawks have been to the Final Four three times, including in 1980 under Olson. They've gone to the Sweet 16 five times.

Nebraska, well, you know the story. Six NCAA appearances, no wins. Big Eight tournament title in 1994. That's about it.

Historically, Iowa expects more out of basketball than Nebraska. But back in 1999-2000, both expected more than they were getting.

And neither has recovered since.

In 1999, Iowa Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby sent coach Tom Davis packing. In 13 years on the Iowa bench, "Dr. Tom" went to the NCAA tournament nine times and made the Sweet 16 three times and the Elite Eight once.

In the spring of 1998, Bowlsby told Davis, the Hawkeyes' all-time wins leader, he wasn't going to extend his contract beyond the 1998-99 season. Davis then made the Sweet 16 in his final year. And was fired.

Here's the difference between Iowa and NU hoops: If a Husker coach ever made the Sweet 16 — once, never mind three times — NU would build a statue of him and put his name on the court.

Bowlsby had stars in his eyes. He hired Steve Alford, the Bob Knight protégé, who had led Southwest Missouri State to the Sweet 16 in 1999. Alford's run wasn't anything special: eight years, three NCAA bids (one win, over Creighton in 2001) and a star player charged with sexual asault.

Alford left after the 2007 season — before the posse could get him. He went to New Mexico. Athletic Director Gary Barta brought in the next young genius: Lickliter, who had led Butler to the Sweet 16.

Lickliter led the Hawks into the ditch.

If you're keeping score, that's two coaches who arrived after taking teams to the Sweet 16, and three NCAA appearances for the Haweyes since they fired a coach who had them in the Sweet 16.

Sound vaguely familiar?

Danny Nee was no Tom Davis. But he is Nebraska's all-time leader in coaching victories. He took NU to five NCAAs and won that Big Eight tourney title. He got NBA talent to Lincoln.

But NU wanted to win in the NCAAs. And Nee's jokes were wearing thin after 14 years. So Nee was gone.

Enter Collier, who had success at Butler. At the Big 12 level at Nebraska? Not so much. Two winning seasons and no NCAA bids in six years. Collier left on his own in July 2006 to become athletic director at Butler.

Then came Doc Sadler. In his first five seasons, Sadler had three NIT appearances and the first 20-win season since 1999, when that guy named Nee was still coaching.

As Doc heads to Iowa City on Thursday, his team is 10-9 and he's in danger of a losing record in his sixth season. The noise for a new coach is growing.

Meanwhile, after this season, Nebraska will likely have a whole five NIT bids to show for 12 years since Neebraska left town. Compared with Collier and Sadler, Nee looks like John Wooden.

Nobody is clamoring for the return of Nee (though the coach has returned to Lincoln in recent years and made his peace). But there is a greater appreciation now for what Nee did from 1986 to 2000.

"I think that's definitely the case," said Bruce Chubick, who played on four NCAA teams for Nee from 1991 to '94. "If you look back, it looks pretty good now.

"He may have alienated some people the last few years. I think he was frustrated by not being appreciated more by people. I think his thought was, 'I've done what I was hired to do.' Maybe he lashed out more than he should have. But everyone was on him pretty good."

It's hard to blame people. Nee spoiled them. It wasn't like making the NCAA became an entitlement. But here's the problem with giving fans a taste of success: they inevitably demand more.

Nee looked like he had hit the wall in 2000. Husker fans would take that wall right now.

We're not here to re-examine Nee's good and bad moves. But look at the Nebraska rosters the past 12 years. You haven't seen many Tyronn Lues, Venson Hamiltons or Erick Stricklands, not to mention Eric Piatkowskis.

Somewhere along the way, the game changed at NU. The school hired "teachers" and not recruiters. Many fans want good kids. Nee was always more concerned with winning. Sometimes it blew up in his face. Other times, he made the NCAAs in a rugged Big Eight Conference.

"Honestly, I really like Doc," Chubick said. "He's gotten a lot of good kids and good players. But there's a way to come up with guys who can play and balance it. Coach Nee was able to find a happy balance. Sometimes you have to take a kid or two who may not be doing the things he should be doing, but you can rein them in by surrounding them with other good kids. It's a fine line to walk. Coach Nee knew how to walk it."

Over at Iowa City, they think that they're on the way back with Fran McCaffery. But a lot of Hawk fans wonder why they had to be put through the past 12 years. There's still regret over sending away Davis.

"We're still suffering from that," said Mike Gatens, an Iowa City businessman who played for Lute Olson at Iowa and whose son, Matt, is a senior on the currrent Hawkeye team. "That was a very poor decision. A lot of people were upset about that. Tom should have coached another 10 years at Iowa. I'm not sure why Bowlsby made him a lame duck. He still made the Sweet 16 that year.

"Then we had Steve Alford and he didn't connect with the fans. Iowa's got the guy right now. Coach Fran is very popular with Hawkeye Nation."

McCaffery is 22-29 in his second year at Iowa, including 11-9 this season, but the vibe is much more positive across the state line. It has helped that "Coach Fran" has secured a touted recruiting class, including Adam Woodbury (Sioux City East) and Mike Gesell (South Sioux City). McCaffery had a great run at Siena, where he engineered two first-round upsets in the NCAAs. But he never made the Sweet 16. Unlike Alford. Or Lickliter. Maybe that's a good sign.

"Iowans know basketball, and they expect a lot," Gatens said. "We think we're on the road back."

As the Hawks and Huskers found out, it doesn't take much to find a detour.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

twitter.com/tomshatelOWH

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