Now that Ted Carter is gone, the Nebraska Cornhuskers are in a bit of a state fo flux. Luckily, the interim university president seems to understand that the college sports world is also in a state of flux. And he knows that to some degree the current state is not unlike a game of musical chairs.
More importantly, Kabourek thinks he knows how to avoid UNL from being the school that doesn't have a seat when the music stops. The interim president sat down with Tom Shatel this week and talked about how getting back to being an AAU school is the key to everything.
“Whether we like it or not, college athletics is changing all the time,” Kabrouek said. “We don’t know what college realignment will look like in five to seven years."
That's a subject that has been brought up about the Nebraska Cornhuskers before. As the college sports world changes, and the number of power conferences shrinks, there's no guarantee that every member will get to stay where they are.
Most people think the answer is for struggling athletic programs to make sure they aren't struggling anymore. The Nebraska Cornhuskers need to fix it so that the football team is actually good again. But what if athletics isn't what saves NU?
“There’s no guarantee that Nebraska will have a seat in the Big Ten," Kabourek added. "So we have to make sure we look like our peers.”
Nebraska Cornhuskers need to get back to the AAU
Every single Big Ten team besides Nebraska is an AAU school. When the four Pac-12 schools are officially members this July, 17 of the 18 universities will be AAU. Nebraska will be the only outlier.
“From the presidents’ perspective, when I walk into meetings with the presidents and chancellors, it makes you a little apprehensive in terms of we don’t look quite like the others." Kabourek added.
He also thinks that the Nebraska Cornhuskers have put a plan in place to make sure that the Big Ten won't turn on them for not being part of the AAU.
“We have the hammer down now to make sure we’re not only on the upswing in athletics but also on the academics side as well. This is about our public declaration to go compete against the best." I'ts not a surprise that kind of talk can apply both the academics and athletics.