After all of this change, all of what once was morphing into something we barely recognize, Nebraska still doesn’t get it.
It’s about the product on the field.
College football is now about the best games, between the best teams, in the best environments. To grow the game, and more critically in the now era of where athletes are going to be paid by schools for their name, image and likeness, the revenue-producing future of the sport.
So what does Nebraska do? It cancels a home-and-home series with Tennessee in 2026 and 2027, a sweet spot of new scheduling ideals if there ever was one in the new college football landscape.
Why, you ask? If you listen to Nebraska officials, it’s because Memorial Stadium renovations will reduce capacity in 2027, when the Huskers were set to travel to Tennessee. The extra home game eliminates that problem.
It also creates a much larger public relations pothole.
Make no mistake: Nebraska isn’t running scared from Tennessee as much as it’s running toward the Indiana model of taking the College Football Playoff path of least resistance. Neither is a good look ― nor productive in the Big Ten’s grand scheduling plan.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule reacts during the second quarter against Texas-El Paso at Memorial Stadium.
The Big Ten and SEC have spent four years completely dismantling college football in a quasi-arms race, focusing on generating bigger games to sell to media rights partners to make up for millions in lost revenue from the expected system of sharing money with players in a “pay-for-play” system under the guise of NIL.
And the Nebraska administration comes swooping in, in one quick move on a sleepy, post-football sports world Friday, and drops a bomb.
Nebraska vs. Tennessee is exactly what the Big Ten and SEC are trying to sell, the very game(s) ESPN and Fox will pay more for in…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/nebraska-isnt-running-tennessee-following-184713943.html
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2025-02-21 18:47:00
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