Nebraska football could see a season in the early part of 2021.
Could Nebraska Football in the winter be a possibility? I wouldn’t put it out of the question just yet. Thursday, UNL Chancellor Ted Green discussed the possibility of playing football in the winter.
Of course, it wouldn’t be as simple as playing games. Schedules would have to be figured out, eligibility requirements would have to be calculated, and venues for these games would have to be discussed. Nevertheless, it’s an intriguing possibility.
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As a report from Francis Gardner of the Lincoln Journal Star notes, there has already been a task force set up to resume playing fall sports after January 1. That right there is good news: There is optimism that sports can be played after January 1.
"“That group has already started to work. Heavily focused on what we will do post-January 1 with all of these sports,” Green said. “And of course a lot of focus obviously on football and basketball, around how you can do that within a calendar year.”"
I certainly would love to see sports return. However, if the football games were not played inside for example, that would make for some cold games in Lincoln. A bubble is certainly not as easy for football as it is for basketball. I imagine that games would be played outside, on the field. depending on if fans are allowed or not, they may have to bundle up.
Nevertheless, it sounds like the idea for a winter/spring season is gaining more steam. This has been an idea that has been talked about ever since the Big Ten canceled their fall sports. It sounds as though a potential season would not come with any shortcomings either. Per Green, a season played in the spring would come with all of the games, and the Big Ten championship.
It doesn’t sound like the plan is to modify the season in terms of conference championships and conference games. For competition’s sake, that is certainly a good thing. I personally have loved watching the Big Ten championship over the past couple of years. I just wish Nebraska was in it.
"“There is a growing level of enthusiasm for what a winter schedule could look like, and how that could be put together; how that could look,” Green said. “There’s a growing level of enthusiasm that this could work and we could pull it off, and … retain a Big Ten season with a Big Ten championship and have a real apples-to-apples comparison to the other conferences and where they may end up.”"
I will certainly be intrigued to see how the group will come up with a plan to play sports next year. I think it can be done, it’s just going to be a matter of how everything will look.
In a calendar year that has been anything short of normal, this certainly falls under the category of good news. Hopefully, there can be some sort of plan put out sooner rather than later.