With conferences reportedly mulling kicking out unproductive teams, should Nebraska Cornhuskers fans be worried at all about their future?
As one conference after another looks for ways to add teams in order to make them the dominant organization in college sports, there are some who believe that the next logical step is that some conferences might start booting schools. And if conferences are really going to start booting teams that are a drag on the conference, it’s unfortunate to admit that the Nebraska Cornhuskers would at least be mentioned.
College football analyst Joel Klatt is the latest to claim that a kind of conference relegation might be on the horizon with some of these massive realignments. It certainly seems that might especially be the case if the ACC and/or the Pac 12 more or less dissolved.
Jim Weber posted Klatt’s comments on Twitter and pointed out that it’s not unheard of for a conference to boot an unproductive team that doesn’t add much. Temple was kicked out of the Big East in football in the early 2000s.
So if Matt Rhule doesn’t turn things around for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. If Fred Hoiberg doesn’t show that he’s making progress. If Will Bolt doesn’t show that two straight years of no postseason is not a trend, could the Big Ten start wondering about replacing Nebraska with more ACC or Pac 12 schools?
Wow, @joelklatt says we are close to conferences kicking schools out that aren't pulling their weight.
— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber) May 28, 2023
I remember the Big East did this with Temple in the 2000s but this would be a new level of cut-throat conference realignment. (via @Heartland_CS) pic.twitter.com/rembMMTSh3
Nebraska Cornhuskers in danger of getting the boot?
The short answer is almost certainly “no.” The longer answer is “there are schools that would deserve relegation *cough* Northwestern *cough* long before Nebraska. But it’s important to remember that in the grand scheme of things, the Huskers haven’t been members of the Big Ten all that long. And since joining, they’ve mostly been bad.
It’s also worth remembering that the Nebraska football name, the name that is the biggest argument for keeping the Huskers around, doesn’t go as far as it used to be able to go. The best argument for the Nebraska Cornhuskers sticking around, if there was ever a real argument about them leaving, is that Husker fans travel well and a conference isn’t going to want to lose that money, or devoted television audience.
But if the Big 10 shifts its strategy. If it adds more Pac-12 teams than just USC and UCLA. If it adds ACC teams like Pittsburgh and even finally, Notre Dame, might it start looking at relegating some of the bottom feeders?
The Nebraska Cornhuskers are one of two Power 5 teams that haven’t gone to a postseason in any of the big three men’s sports. The sports that generate money for the schools and the conferences.
None of this is anything to worry about until college sports’ version of relegation starts becoming a reality. And even then it’s almost certainly not something for Nebraska Cornhuskers fans to worry about. But it’s not entirely and completely out of the question.