Nebraska football officially begs off of more Friday night games

Nebraska football on Friday night was a big hit. That’s the good news. The bad news is that may undercut athletic director Troy Dannen’s argument to the Big Ten.

During his monthly appearance on Sports Nightly, Dannen said that despite the pomp and circumstance around the game, and despite the ratings that came in, he’d rather the Huskers just play on Saturdays from now on. In fact, he’s sent an official letter to Big Ten offices requesting NU no longer play on Fridays.

Just how successful Dannen will be in this quest is anyone’s guess. Other teams who seems to be higher on the pecking order than Nebraska football have already stated they want nothing to do with Friday games.

"I sent a letter yesterday to the (Big Ten) commissioner, with the blessing of the (university) president and the chancellor, formally requesting not to host Friday games outside of Thanksgiving every other year – the game with Iowa," Dannen said. "Just because of the size of the stadium and the locale, I don't think we want to be canceling in-person classes. I'm sure the students didn't mind. But at the end of the day the more we can avoid that I think the better off everybody will be.”

Nebraska football wants fair treatment

"So if it happens again, it happens again. I don't like seeing other athletic directors in the league saying, 'By golly, we will not do that' and laying their foot down. I'm not sure any institution should have the unilateral ability to do that. But if we do, I raised my hand with the commissioner and said Nebraska should be in that same position with 90,000 fans and the proximity we have to campus."

This request obviously leaves out talk about wanting to back out of the Black Friday game against Iowa. There are different circumstances ther, considering the campus isn’t nearly as packed since students are sent home for the holiday.

How or if the Big Ten responds to Nebraska football’s request is anyone’s guess. However, considering how popular the game was, it doesn’t seem likely they’ll acquiesce.