It's only fair that when since A & E released a "greatest games" collection of the Oklahoma Sooners football team, that a similar compilation be done for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The schools have been football rivals for decades, and have been involved in two highly anticipated and executed football games that were billed as games "of the century." So where one goes, the other would have to follow.

But that's an unfair categorization of the Nebraska football team, especially when you look at the history that the team has created through the years. The team has five national championships in a 35 year span, and has given birth to various Heisman trophy winners and pro football stars. Among the list of Husker alumni are all-pros Roger Craig, Tom Rathman, Will Shields and Neil Smith, and some of them appear in this collection. Spread out over five discs, the collection includes the National Championship games from three of Nebraska's five championships (their 1971 Orange Bowl win over LSU, their tense and close win in the 1995 Orange Bowl against Miami, and their successful defense of that title in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl win against Florida). The other two games are the Huskers' 21-20 win against Oklahoma in 1982, and their 1998 Orange Bowl win against Tennessee, which was the last game that head coach Tom Osborne presided over.

As far as Osborne goes, he was the yin to Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer's yang. The cream to Switzer's coffee. Taking over as head coach from Bob Devaney, who was barely a year removed from winning the school's first title, Osborne's understated manner was the face of the team's consistent excellence through the years. They won two National titles and shared a third, and were no worse than 15th in the country almost every year of Osborne's service. His average record each year was 10-2, which is exceptional any way you cut it, and only won 49 of his last 51 as a coach, before moving onto other opportunities. Those opportunities you ask? Well, he was a two-term congressman for Nebraska and narrowly lost in the primary for the state's gubernatorial chair. When you hear occasionally of people being so popular as a college coach that they could do anything they want? Well Osborne is a testimony to that. He has since moved back to Lincoln to become Athletic Director for the school and while the team has fallen on some hard times since his departure as coach, the hope among Huskers fan is that he will help return the college football team back to prominence. At the end of the day, despite the team's recent struggles, it's nice for A & E to help give the legions of fans of Nebraska football a healthy does of nostalgia, and this disc is a nice look at the program's earlier successes.

Just like the Sooners set, these are really nothing more than other broadcast copies that have been replicated for DVD purchase and consumption. The video quality (full frame, by the way), is a little erratic, in the sense that disc five's game against Tennessee has more picture noise and issues in it than disc two's game with Oklahoma, which only took place more than a decade previously. But still, this takes up less room on your shelf than five videotapes, so maybe that's good...?

Dolby stereo, which I'm not all that surprised about. But the games sound clear and are free of hiss or other sonic issue, and the broadcast volumes possess good levels and don't result in any real adjustments from your receiver, so it's all good.

Before I cover the extras, a quick word on the packaging of this set, which is a nod to the quality control, or lack thereof. The 1996 Fiesta Bowl lists Nebraska beating Florida 24-17, however the game's final score was 62-24 Nebraska, as they ran roughshod over Florida coach Steve Spurrier and his offense.

That said, there's a few more extras here, moreso than were on the Sooners DVDs that I've also seen. First off, the school-produced highlight films for the back-to-back championship years are included. And these aren't just quickly produced clip reels, these cover the entire championship season from start to finish, and each are over an hour in length, and include interview footage with some of the players and coaches. The films are very all-encompassing, at least more than I was expecting, and are very much for Huskers fans. From there, a reunion of the 1997 team that shared the title is included, or to put it more specifically, a speech by defensive coordinator Charlie McBride is included, and it's worth a chuckle.

While comparing this set to the similar compilation from Nebraska's rival is a little unfair, the fact remains that the reason why this set is slightly better than that one is the supplemental material that's included on this set. That's the only separator to speak of, as the technical qualities and content are basically the same, but if you're even a small fan of all things Nebraska football, then this set is worth picking up.