Riley may very well get fired this year. When you compare value of major football programs (WSJ) to the state's GDP, Nebraska ranks highest (at ~.6%) compared to others such as Texas (.08%), OU (.2%) or Michigan (.3%). There will be pressure from all aspects of Nebraskan, from private, corporate and even government. NU lost approx 17% between 2011 and 2012. If you don't think this didn't play a major factor in estranging Pelini and his firing, you're kidding yourself. This is a money game, bottom line.