UNO is dropping football and wrestling

[Husker from Kansas]

i read on d2football.com today that this morning University of Nebraska-Omaha is moving to Division 1 and joining the Summit League. And in doing so they are going to drop the football team and wrestling program as well. This is very shocking because UNO is tradition rich in football and they are the back to back d2 wrestling national champs.

[ladyhawke]

i read on d2football.com today that this morning University of Nebraska-Omaha is moving to Division 1 and joining the Summit League. And in doing so they are going to drop the football team and wrestling program as well. This is very shocking because UNO is tradition rich in football and they are the back to back d2 wrestling national champs.

 

So sad. If you would like to 'read all about it' go to the 'Other Sports' section of the HuskerBoard. Very interesting reading!

[zonaSker]

FIRE TREV ALBERTS! SPINELESS B!TCH!

[TMagic]

I'm wondering if this has something to do with lighting a fire underneath the walk-on program at Nebraska. Pretty interesting.

[74Hunter]

I'm wondering if this has something to do with lighting a fire underneath the walk-on program at Nebraska. Pretty interesting.

Highly doubtful, even though some crack-smoking big wallet from Omaha seems to think so (forgot his name). Said that TO told Trev to get rid of the football program so that UNO would not compete with DoNU. I think that this decision was not Trev's to make, he just passed the message on. I'm pretty sure that it has to do with UNOs football team not having any fan support and it is too costly.

 

Uh-huh.........

[ADS]

FIRE TREV ALBERTS! SPINELESS B!TCH!

Tell us how you really feel...

[RedNLeader]

so what happens with their football coach?? Is there a chance that the huskers could off him some kind of a job?

[Scratchtown]

UNO's wrestling team has actually won 3 in a row...and 6 out of the last 8 Wrestling championships.

 

I'm more mad about that then I am their football program because the wrestling program at UNO completely paid for itself, they did all the fundraising and the university didn't have to spend a dime.

[Roark]

UNO's wrestling team has actually won 3 in a row...and 6 out of the last 8 Wrestling championships.

 

I'm more mad about that then I am their football program because the wrestling program at UNO completely paid for itself, they did all the fundraising and the university didn't have to spend a dime.

 

I'm not. There are currently less than 50 schools that have Division II wrestling programs. Most of it has to do with Title IX legislation. Even if the wrestlers did do some fund-raising, the university would still have to fit the bill for a comparable female program that Title IX demands. If joining the Summit League meant fielding two more male programs (soccer and golf) then I can see how cutting football and wrestling could seem like a reasonable and attractive option.

[Roark]

so what happens with their football coach?? Is there a chance that the huskers could off him some kind of a job?

You're joking, right?

[zoogs]

UNO's wrestling team has actually won 3 in a row...and 6 out of the last 8 Wrestling championships.

 

I'm more mad about that then I am their football program because the wrestling program at UNO completely paid for itself, they did all the fundraising and the university didn't have to spend a dime.

 

If so, I really do not understand that one.

 

This is a financial decision about the future viability of UNO sports. The move to Division 1 was necessary, and I suppose they couldn't have stayed in Division 2 in wrestling, or something? I don't know, that's really dumb.

 

But as far as cutting football goes, it's sad but oh well. I understand that. It's real expensive. You can't just keep supporting programs for tradition's sake. Got to make some tough decisions sometimes. I don't think Trev had too much of a choice. You deal with the cards you are dealt. I'd guess that the cards dealt forced his hands here, or it wouldn't go down like this.

[The Dude]

I just feel bad for the 12 people that follow UNO football.

[gobiggergoredder]

so what happens with their football coach?? Is there a chance that the huskers could off him some kind of a job?

 

Behrns blows. Nice post.

[Bradr]

Then you hear the wrestling coach on the radio complaining that Trev showed no respect for the wrestling program. Apparently Trev has never attended a match. Maybe he was too busy researching solutions to try to keep the schools athletic programs intact?

 

The shortsightedness of some people really surprises me here.

 

Like said earlier, between the new conferences mandated sports, title 9, and the budget shortfalls of current sports, what is left? You want to be mad at someone, get mad at the people who legislated title 9, or the people who failed to make your sports profitable - or even build a model that would lead to future profitability. Sounds like the current athletic department has researched this pretty heavily and found football and wrestling to be unsupportable.

 

Someone earlier said that wrestling was profitable? I would like a link here. I recall reading over the last several days that the wrestling was near 250K under, while the football was well over a million under. Even the hockey has been unprofitable for the last several years because of the enormous expenses of the Qwest center.

 

Bottom line, the money for those athletic scholarships, travel expenses, and other sports related expenses has to come from somewhere. If the money isn't there, people can huff and puff all they want. In the end, the department is choosing to be fiscally responsible. I can't fault them for that.

[Judoka]

I found this post on the Huskermax site and it pretty much hits the nail on the head for me:

 

 

bilsker:

 

1. Anyone who thinks UNO basketball will have any effect on Creighton basketball is high as a kite. I don't say this because I'm a CU basketball season ticket holder/fan. I say this because I UNDERSTAND exactly what UNO will be. The Summit league is a TERRIBLE basketball conference. Ranked 21st as of yesterday. Teams in the Summit League are "buy game" fodder for major and high mid-major programs like CU, NU, KU, ISU, etc. That is not changing anytime soon. I understand Darren Hanson is probably excited about the move to D1 but he and his recruits will soon learn that their typical season will include a 10-12 game road trip to start the season. They will typically enter conference play at about 3-12 after scheduling a few NAIA teams at home for wins. They will then play a conference season that means nothing. And THEN their 3-4 game season will begin. The basketball program will exists to a) turn a profit by whoring itself out for those first 15 games and then B) taking a shot at "glory" by trying to win 3-4 in a row at the end of the season. Nobody with any understanding of college basketball would think that THIS would have an impact on CU or UNL or anyone else. The Missouri Valley is one of the top Mid-Major leagues out there. They (CU specifically) don't compete with the likes of S. Dak. St. for recruits. That's just fact. Another fact is that nobody will be going to their games. Someone early in the thread suggested UNO bring KU and some other big programs in to play at the Qwest. CU has spent the last 15 years trying to make that happen. NO CHANCE. And UNO won't be playing at the Q. They will be at the Civic until they get a place of their own as Hanson alluded to on the radio the other day. They will generally be playing in front of friend and family. CU has nothing to worry about. They take care of their own business (i.e. don't hire a Rick Johnson) and they'll be just fine. I already know what fRed is thinking..."CU IS WORRIED!" Simply not the case. Name a local CU basketball player (Dotzler, Young, Jones, etc.) that would consider UNO over CU. ONE.

 

2. Dropping Wrestling is a joke. Alberts said that they would have to triple the budget to compete at the national level. Roughly speaking the wrestling budget was about $400K. So what's his answer? Well, he's going to start a GOLF program at about $300k and a Soccer program at probably roughly the same figure. Why not try to FIND a way spend another $600K to COMPETE at a national level when Alberts SPECIFICALLY said that they have no intention of truely competing in Golf or Soccer? Telling this NATIONAL CHAMPIONS over the freaking phone is simply Bush League. Get your ass to the tournament and tell Denney like a MAN.

 

3. Football. One of the arguments i've seen made here is that nobody was going to UNO games/supporting UNO football. As for attendence..kinda seems logical that people don't go out of their way to attend DIVISION II football. If you are all of a sudden playing UNI or Youngstown or former rivals like S. Dak St., etc. in a higher level of football then the support (attendance) would increase. Much of the extra cost of football could be made up by taking guarantee games that are paying upwards of $1M a year these days. One major FACT here is that those in Lincoln (regents and Admin) have wanted UNO football gone for a long time. Obviously, budgetary reasons are part of that. But the Tom-father himself said "I wouldn't exactly be jumping up and down." about the prospect of UNO going D1aa. I will translate that for you: OVER MY DEAD BODY! In this state if Tom says no to something like that then the answer is NO! UNO going D1AA would absolutely have SOME impact on NU football. Not in terms of fan support or dollars. But think about guys like Ohanlon or Cassaday ( I say "like" not specifically them). Walk-ons that may pass up a DII offer to walk-on at NU may more strongly consider a 1AA offer instate...that's simple logic. And if NU loses a few nice walk-ons....well, that's just not acceptable to Tom.

 

4. Since when did going D1 become a cost cutting measure? Hockey is already D1. No need to bring the rest of the program really. You aren't going to be competitive in basketball, golf, soccer, baseball, or any other men's sport. Probably not in any women's sports either. So what's the point? Cutting costs? Hell, why not just cut football and stay DII? You still crap on a good football program, save a bunch of money, preserve wrestling and balance the budget. Poof! Problem solved. This makes very little sense? If the standard is "nobody cares about football based on attendance...or wrestling!" Well, no crap! Then go ahead and drop the whole athletic program because the "give a damn" for sports at UNO is, in order: Hockey, Wrestling, Football, basketball and then NOTHING else. Anyone gonna care about golf? Answer: Nope.

 

5. The usual jock sniffers wouldn't for one second question the God that is Trev Alberts. The fact is you BETTER start to question him. He lost his job at ESPN because he is an egomaniac. Anyone catch his presser? "I got the summit offer"...."I couldn't afford football"....he's speaks in the first person quite a bit on this issues. He lacks integrity. Up until Saturday night when all the football coaches showed up to the hockey game in support of their game against Bemidji they thought they were part of UNO's future. When the fact is, according to Alberts, the football program's fate was sealed in November. He SCREWED the new assistant hires. He really SCREWED the 20 guys that signed to play at UNO. Pat Behrns and Denney deserved better. Lack of integrity, huge ego, ambition. Does that remind anyone of a former AD at NU? It should. And this likely replacement for TO should scare the crap out of you. For the love of god, I hope Paul Meyers is the real AD in-waiting.