Moos said the TV partners would have input in the schedule. Traditional rivalries would be maintained, but they might come early in the year. From a TV standpoint, Nebraska is still a very marketable program. Ohio State is the best in the league.
I have a hard time believing it would get the axe when the alternative is Rutgers.
The only through-line for those two programs is Noah Vedral, the former Husker quarterback who transferred in the summer to be new head coach Greg Schiano’s guy.
But the Scarlet Knights would be a reprieve. Nebraska already has heavy-hitters on its schedule; Ohio State staying on would mean the Huskers play the projected top two teams from the East as well as traditional West powers.
"We’ve got to be very sensitive to (who’s coming off the schedule), especially in regards to the schedule and how fair it is to the participants,” Moos said. “That’ll be a big part of our discussion. … I think we’re going to be fair and equitable.”
If he had his way, it seems like Rutgers would be the team that stayed. It might come down to who blinks first: Moos, or the league.
The other issue at play for Nebraska is that Moos wants Iowa back in the Black Friday slot.
Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez said Wednesday the league could look at Monday games potentially, as well as Friday games. Moos added Fridays are definitely on the table.
“Especially due to the inventory we want and need to provide to our television partners,” he said. “I pressed all along in all these different models to situate the schedule so that Nebraska had our Black Friday game … and hopefully with Iowa.”
But getting the Hawkeyes back into that slot would mean moving the Minnesota game out of it.
https://hailvarsity.com/s/10129/what-might-nebraskas-new-football-schedule-look-likeMaybe things end up looking something like this:
vs. Purdue (Oct. 24)
at Northwestern (Oct. 31)
vs. Illinois (Nov. 7)
at Ohio State (Nov. 14)
vs. Penn State (Nov. 21)
at Iowa (Nov. 27)
at Wisconsin (Dec. 5)
vs. Minnesota (Dec. 12)