Is it officially time to start talking about new potential Nebraska football rivals?
It seems like Big Ten expansion season started a bit earlier this year. And the rumors and whispers this time around are coming from some interesting sources.
The most recent talk came on Saturday morning while ESPN was previewing the North Carolina basketball game against its bitterest of bitter rivals. The conversation soon turned to the idea that the Duke-North Carolina rivalry might be coming to an end, because the Tarheels are on the verge of heading off to the Big Ten.
“We need to cherish this game. Who knows how much longer we might have this game? North Carolina could potentially go to the Big Ten.”
— Second Take (@SecondTake20) February 1, 2025
-@RealJayWilliams on the Duke/UNC game
Could Nebraska football could soon face off against Bill Belichick?
Jay Williams was the first to really float the idea, saying that the rivalry will be destroyed when UNC moves to the Big Ten. During the same segment, Rece Davis jumped in and didn’t exactly shoot it down. Instead, he indicated he didn’t believe the rivalry would go away, but that the game would be a non-conference showcase type contest.
It’s not the first time that North Carolina has been mentioned as a possible addition to the Big Ten. However, talk has died down quite a bit over the last few months. The new contract the ACC just got from ESPN makes the timing of this kind of talk especially interesting.
On the other hand, North Carolina now has former New England Patriots head coach and eventual Hall of Fameer Bill Belichick at the helm. They may want to take advantage of that notoriety by getting to the conference that has more money to offer.
The Big Ten also got four teams into the College Football Playoffs compared to the ACC’s two squads. And UNC’s current conference got very close to having a single representative.
That the expansion talk was revived during a discussion about basketball was certainly quite interesting. For now, there’s barely any smoke. But that’s usually how these kinds of things work. Its seems unlikely that Nebraska football will have a new rival for the 2025 season, but don’t count that out for 2026.