The Huntsillve Times remembers what happened a year ago when Auburn went into their bowl game with a bit too much confidence.

One New Year’s Day last January, they took the field for the Capital One Bowl feeling quite good about themselves. They were 9-2, ranked No. 7 in the polls and were being lauded as one of the nation’s top teams. A win over underdog Wisconsin, they figured, would vault them into the top five in the final polls.

Instead, Wisconsin gave outgoing coach Barry Alvarez a 24-10 victory in a game that wasn’t as close as the score. The Badgers outgained Auburn 548 yards to 236.

Auburn players vowed they would not be caught napping again.

“The atmosphere last year, going back to Orlando for the second time, the preparation, I think a lot of guys were a little lackadaisical in practice,” senior linebacker Karibi Dede said. “We were looking at a team that wasn’t ranked so high. We were a heavy favorite.”

“I know, as a senior, I’m not going to let that happen this year. It’s going to be a big-time game and we’re going to prepare for it like we were playing a team that is ranked higher than we are.”

It’s Nebraska v. Auburn on New Year’s Day in Dallas.

According to Huskers.com:

Auburn will enter the AT&T Cotton Bowl with a 10-2 record and ranked 10th in both the USA Today Coaches poll and the Associated Press poll. The Tigers were ranked as high as second in the polls in early October and own victories over second-ranked Florida and No. 4 LSU. Auburn’s lone setbacks this season came against Arkansas and Georgia.

The matchup with Auburn will mark Nebraska’s fourth game of the season against a top-10 opponent, its most since also meeting four top-10 teams in 1995.

Over the past three years, Auburn has compiled the third-best record in college football (32-5), trailing only USC and Texas.

I’m glad we’re going up against such a strong opponent. Hopefully, it’ll help us focus.

Oklahoma is favored in tonight’s Big 12 conference championship matchup. According to Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that doesn’t bother Nebraska’s coach one bit.

Oddsmakers have installed Oklahoma as a 3 1/2 – point favorite, but most statistics can be spun in either direction, depending on a person’s rooting interest. Nebraska averages more points per game (33.9) than Oklahoma (30.1). The Sooners surrender fewer points per game (16) than Nebraska (18.2).

Unlike recent north division underdogs who have been blown out in this game, Callahan said the last thing he is concerned about is getting blown out.

“We came here to win,” Callahan said. “We came to Nebraska to win championships and our kids have a championship mind-set. That’s a function of team maturity. If you don’t have that, you’re not going to go very far. And we’ve got it. The performance of this team in key situations, with rare exceptions, has been exemplary.”

[SUNDAY UPDATE] We didn’t get blown out and it looked like we might after giving Oklahoma 7 on the first sequence of downs. But there aren’t any moral victories here. Losing three games to Big 12 south teams this season is a bitter pill to swallow.

According to Omaha World Herald, Husker and Sooner fans visiting KC for tomorrow night’s big game are expected to pump an estimated $20 million into the metro area. The paper estimates 60,000 Husker fans will converge on Arrowhead Stadium.

Nebraska fans are known for flocking to big away games such as the 1996 Fiesta Bowl and the 2002 Rose Bowl. But a big draw of Saturday’s game is that it requires only $50 to $80 for a game ticket, not a plane ticket.

In related news, Nebraska will be playing on New Year’s Day, no matter what happens in KC. The winner of Saturday’s Big 12 Championship Game will earn the conference’s automatic bid into the Bowl Championship Series and a trip to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The Big 12 Conference runner-up will participate in the 71st Cotton Bowl Classic on Jan. 1 in Dallas.