Sam McKewon and Evan Bland discuss whether or not Nebraska would thrive in a football super league and how that would work, particularly in regards to other sports.
YEARS AGO IN FRESNO, Calif. -- The pine needles, an inch from my nose, didn't move. Not a breath of wind outside the stadium.
All around the country, hearts surely warmed at the idea that Nebraska football, in this act of generosity, chose to play a game at Fresno State in September 2014. Those hearts weren't as warm as my arms. Or cheeks. Or forehead.
The temps creeped above 100 degrees a few hours before the night game. Not a breath of wind in that open air press box, either. The jam-packed stadium looked like a moving organism. That was the crowd, melting in the dry heat, using whatever it could find as an actual or makeshift fan to cool off.
It was 99 degrees at kickoff.
"What the (expletive) was that?" NU coach Bo Pelini asked a group of reporters after the Huskers beat the Bulldogs 55-19 in a three-hour, 41-minute game that ended 1:21 a.m. Nebraska time. Pelini was referring to Fresno's almost maniacal desire to throw 59 passes -- including 16 in the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs already trailed by 36 -- in the heat.
Even if Nebraska got two home wins over Fresno State out of the deal, the road game was a fool's errand. A smelly one, too -- I'm think of those sub sandwiches served as a media meal that left out to...ferment...in the evening blast furnace.
Yes, the football gods rewarded NU a week later in its 41-31 win over Miami (Florida), and perhaps the football gods will punish the Huskers for canceling the home-and-home series with Tennessee. A loss to Bowling Green in 2026 or Miami (Ohio) in 2027 would feel like punishment, that's for sure.
Perhaps the Huskers win those games and not much is said about it unless the College Football Playoff is in reach and some ESPN analyst fusses at Nebraska's decision. Might happen that way.
But make no mistake: We're in a new era of Nebraska football. Some pundits will fuss. Some fans will, too. The lack of a spring game, the absence of a marquee nonconference opponent for two seasons, a new concession contract with a national company, the expansion of Husker football's staff, facilities and budget for things like the best artificial turf -- NU is moving past its corner store identity.
The Huskers aren't going entirely corporate; this operation isn't yet the Dallas Cowboys or the Chicago Cubs. But Nebraska lagged behind some other Big Ten teams out of Midwestern frugality and maybe some desire to please.
"People here don't ask for anything they don't need," NU Athletic Director Troy Dannen said in a February interview. "It's almost disarming, because I've never seen it before. People feel like they have the resources necessary. I don't know that people had measured against our peers as 'do we feel like we're in a good place?' Well, where are our peers? I've used this analogy a lot with rev share topic: I want our peers to worry about Nebraska vs. Nebraska worrying about our peers."
Until the last decade, this acceptance of institutional mediocrity seemed most obvious in Husker men's basketball, which once in an unrenovated Devaney Sports Center that, back then, had an abandoned-science-lab feeling to some concourses.
Pinnacle Bank Arena -- approved by voters in Lincoln -- changed the program's trajectory. PBA is now among college basketball's toughest home courts.
Recently, Husker football lost some of its edge, and not just in the win/loss column. Coaching salaries were smaller, Dannen said, than they needed to be. From the Rewind's perspective, recruiting budgets didn't always reflect the amount of travel NU coaches put in, the construction of a much-needed football building took longer than needed and the south end of Memorial Stadium continues to looks like something time forgot.
Persistent turnover among ADs and coaches halt program progress. New administrations reassess and reorder priorities.
Dannen and coach Matt Rhule may be the duo to deliver a College Football Playoff berth -- magical runs take a village to pull off -- but, even if they're not, they share a long-term vision that makes CFP berths more attainable.
Rhule's grew his coaching and support staff. He's managed to get Dannen to agree to eventually installing grass inside Memorial Stadium and overhauling all the artificial and natural grass practice fields. Rhule has also empowered his nutrition guru, assistant athletic director Kristin Coggin, to build out an empire that relies top-shelf product and preparation.
"Our nutrition investment is light years ahead of almost everyone in the nation," Dannen said.
If Rhule originally wanted to build the program almost entirely through high school recruits and walk-ons, he's tacked to embracing the transfer portal. He's spearheaded a change for the spring game that rebuffs, to some degree, that Nebraska is obligated to put on a spring game for its fans. Shielding opposing teams from seeing NU's players might result in a .05% advantage. It's an advantage this iteration of Nebraska football -- where 7-6 is the best season in eight years -- chooses to take, even if it chips away at sentiment.
NU's decadeslong willingness to make the "character move," even against its own self-interest, has built up more than enough goodwill.
Participation in the Kickoff Classic. Keeping a stiff upper lip when Oklahoma ducked out of annual games in the Big 12 era. Embracing those 2011 and 2012 Big Ten schedules that included Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State and Michigan. The 2-for-1 deals with Fresno State and Wyoming.
How about starting four straight seasons, 2020-2023, away from home? Or keeping its game with Cincinnati when the Big Ten's COVID protocols prevented NU from hosting the Bearcats in 2020?
Nebraska embraces Friday night games. Michigan refuses. What's Michigan's postseason penalty for that? Well, nothing. It's Michigan.
Alabama didn't play a true road game against a power nonconference team for 10 seasons, 2012-2021. What guff did Alabama get? Not much. It's Alabama.
Tennessee will live.
So will NU's critics of the move.
Unless the Huskers lose to one of those MAC teams.
That's the risk Nebraska takes in guaranteeing its bottom line -- used, starting this summer, to pay players -- stays strong.
On with the Rewind.
Big Ten in Las Vegas
The Big Ten announced Friday it would move its 2025 Media Days -- held July 22-24 -- to a Las Vegas casino after the last four years at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Is that an accommodation to the media that cover Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington? On the surface, perhaps; I don't envision a ton of Los Angeles TV stations ditching Dodger home games to watch USC's Lincoln Riley and UCLA's Deshaun Foster out-grump each other for an afternoon in a casino.
More likely, it's an opportunity for the Big Ten en masse to hang out it Vegas, since the city couldn't care less about college football -- just 26,671 attended the 2024 Las Vegas Bowl between USC and Texas A&M -- and national reporters can travel anywhere to cover a media event.
The only beat writers/local TV station reporters who can realistically drive to Vegas are from LA; Portland is 15 hours away and Seattle is 16 hours. Look for fewer local media and less engaged coaches and players fielding fewer informed questions as a result.
Nebraska basketball's "Big Monday"
There are faint lines between a coach praising, pushing, prodding, pleading, and flat-out praying. During a college basketball season, probably all five are needed. (And perhaps UConn's Danny Hurley adds a sixth category -- provoking.)
Fred Hoiberg's lively Saturday presser, in advance of Monday's big game vs. Michigan, seemed to straddle categories three and four. This squad, better and more reachable than some of Hoiberg's early-tenure teams, nevertheless requires Hoiberg's full toolbox of motivational tactics.
"We're a quiet group, man, we are a quiet group," Hoiberg said. "And we've got to find a way to come out with our hair on fire, talkin', foamin' at the mouth, make an effort play early.
Nebraska is close to putting signature touches on its NCAA Tournament resume. But these Huskers play inconsistent hoops, too, and a blowout loss at Penn State left players down and frustrated, Hoiberg said. NU didn't watch film of the game.
Hoiberg referenced his dad, Eric, a sociologist who worked more than three decades at Iowa State. The Husker coach noted he, too, has to play amateur psychologist a bit.
Michigan might be Nebraska's worst matchup on paper, with two 7-footers in the starting lineup, one of whom, Yale transfer Danny Wolf, Hoiberg called a "unicorn" for his offensive skillset.
"It's (Nikola) Jokic-type stuff," Hoiberg said.
NU also has its Pinnacle Bank Arena crowd, though, on an unseasonably warm evening that should help pack the place. It comes down to defense -- Nebraska is 16-1 when holding foes under 75 points, and 1-9 when opponents score 75 or more. (Michigan, by contrast is 14-1 and 6-5.)
The Wolverines' stature as a top-20 team, coupled with Hoiberg's interesting presser, makes Monday feel like a "circle it" game. An old-school "Big Monday," just in a different league.
Photos: Our favorite photos from the 2024 Nebraska football season