Husker fans, you may need to pace yourselves on St. Patty’s Day. There are a pair of good games on tap Tuesday night. The baseball team takes on Dave Van Horn’s Arkansas Razorbacks and the basketball team opens NIT action at New Mexico. Both are intriguing match-ups and will be tough for the Big Red to win.

The baseball game isn’t on TV, but I’d rather listen to the radio than watch Simon Cowell in his extra small t-shirt or Lawrence Taylor dance.  Listening to the reality show in Fayetteville will be more entertaining.  The 20th ranked Razorbacks (12-3) are coming off a home sweep of Florida.  Former Husker Head coach Dave Van Horn’s team is tough at home, but not unbeatable.  Earlier in the season Kansas (10-5) split a two game series in Fayetteville.   If the Huskers (11-5-1) are going to hang with the Hogs, they’ll need better play from the bullpen.  In NU’s two loses at Texas Tech, the relievers gave up 16 runs in 5.1 innings.  The Huskers are a young team still trying to find themselves.   A pair of road games at one of the best ballparks in college baseball should be a good barometer.  First pitch at Baum Stadium is set for 6:35pm CT.

As the baseball game nears end, the basketball game tips off at 9:05pm CT. Nebraska (18-12, 8-8) and New Mexico (21-11, 12-14) enter the NIT with similar early exits from their conference tournaments. The Huskers beat Baylor in the regular season finale and then got flattened by the Bears in the Big XII tourney 65-49. The Lobos beat Wyoming in their final regular season game and proceeded to lose to the Cowboys in the Mountain West tournament. Both Nebraska and New Mexico lost their Larry Legend range. NU shot 20.8% from behind the arc.  The Lobos hit just 13% of their 3’s. Even if the Huskers find their range, it will tough to win at New Mexico. “The Pit” will be packed and rocking. NMU fans love their basketball like Husker fans love their football.  

The two St. Patrick games provide a pair of good coaching clashes. Mike Anderson spent eight years as a husker assistant under Dave Van Horn. There are some in Huskerland who still hold Van Horn in higher regard than Anderson. During his five years in Lincoln, Van Horn went 214-92 (.699) with 3 Big XII titles, 4 NCAA berths and two CWS appearances. In six plus years at NU, Anderson is 266-120-2 (.685) with 2 Big XII titles, 5 NCAA berths, a CWS appearance and the school’s first win at the series. Anderson and van Horn our 1-1 in head-to-head competition, splitting last year’s series at Hawks field. The numbers are very similar. One coach can get a leg-up this week.    

There’s not as much history in the Doc Sadler vs. Steve Alford showdown. They both learned the game from some legendary coaches. Sadler was a student manager under Eddie Sutton at Arkansas.  The former All-American Alford led Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers to a national title. The manager versus the All-American, I love it. Sadler and Alford can both get pretty heated on the sideline. Even if the game gets ugly, the losing coach is guaranteed to have some mute button moments with the refs.  

On Tuesday, wear you green Husker shirt, stay up late, and throw away anything that says “kiss me I’m Irish.”  Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day.