LINCOLN — Organizers of the Outland Trophy banquet had to stop selling tickets two days before Ndamukong Suh was named the 2009 winner of the award.

An expected crowd of 700 at the downtown Doubletree Hotel will see the Nebraska defensive tackle honored on Jan. 14.

“It definitely impacted it this year,'' said Joe Mancuso of the Greater Omaha Sports Committee and Mid-America Expositions, Inc. “We could have moved it this year. We decided it was probably best just to tighten it up and quit selling it.''

Mancuso said the event usually draws about 500 people. The committee looked briefly at Qwest Center Omaha and the Holiday Inn convention center as options for the banquet.

Suh is the first Husker to win the Outland since Aaron Taylor in 1997, the first winter the banquet was held in Omaha.

The “throwback'' winner scheduled to appear at the Outland banquet is former Ohio State offensive lineman John Hicks (1973).

Ganz to join staff as offensive intern

Former NU quarterback Joe Ganz will be back at the Osborne Complex after one season away from the Husker program.

Ganz will start Jan. 15 as an offensive intern on the football staff. The 24-year-old said his duties are mostly yet to be defined, but it's a start he was looking for.

“This is what I want to do for my career and the rest of my life,'' Ganz said. “I talk to friends who have 9-to-5 jobs, and I just don't think I could sit behind a computer every day.''

Ganz previously told NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson that he was interested in coaching but wanted to first exhaust his playing options. Ganz then met with Watson again during the bye week in October.

“He brought me into Bo (Pelini) and Bo said, ‘If you want to do it, the spot's yours,' ” Ganz said. “I told them right there.

“I'm just going to sit there and be a sponge and soak up anything from Wats and Bo and the rest of those guys.''

Holiday blowout not good for TV

Television ratings for last week's Holiday Bowl were down slightly from the year before, ESPN spokesman Mike Humes said.

Humes said the Nebraska-Arizona game averaged a 4.3 rating and was viewed in 4,267,000 households. The Oregon-Oklahoma State game in 2008 had a 4.6 rating with 4,511,000 households.

By comparison, the 1998 NU-Arizona meeting drew a 6.0 rating, which still ranks third highest among Holiday Bowls on ESPN. Mark Neville of the Holiday Bowl said the average rating had been 4.8 during the past 11 years — the period in which the Holiday has matched Big 12 and Pac-10 teams — but added that the lopsided game likely didn't help.

Three seniors picked as all-stars

Suh, Larry Asante and Phillip Dillard are the Nebraska seniors who have been invited to postseason all-star games or are already on rosters.

Asante, a safety from Alexandria, Va., is listed with the West team for the Jan 23 East-West Shrine Game in Orlando, Fla. Asante ranked third on the team with 79 tackles this season and also forced two fumbles and intercepted two passes.

Suh has an invitation to the Jan. 30 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. It's not known whether the defensive tackle will make the trip or play in the game, considering his already high draft projection.

Dillard is headed for the Feb. 6 Texas vs. The Nation all-star game in El Paso, Texas. After not playing in the Huskers' first two games, the linebacker from Tulsa, Okla., came on to rank second behind Suh with 83 tackles and also had three sacks and an interception.

Not all rosters are final for all-star games.

Top 15 ranking may be possible

Judging from bowl results, Nebraska has a good chance to climb into the top 15 when the final Associated Press and USA Today polls come out Friday.

NU hasn't been inside the AP top 15 since reaching No. 14 in 2007 after a 2-0 start. The Huskers haven't finished a season ranked No. 15 or higher since playing for the national championship in 2001.

Nebraska (10-4) is No. 20 in the AP poll, in which No. 19 Stanford, No. 18 West Virginia, No. 16 Oregon State, No. 14 Miami and No. 13 Louisiana State all have lost bowl games.

NU is No. 19 in the USA Today coaches' poll, where No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 17 West Virginia, No. 15 Miami and No. 13 LSU all have fallen.

— Rich Kaipust