NU Cancelling Oklahoma Game?

It'll be thrown up at every opposing teams recruiting trips to players being courted by NU.  "I know the schedule says you're playing Notre Dame, but nothing is in stone with those guys".  "Do you want a coach who isn't afraid to go toe to toe with the big boys or play for the guy who wanted to play Old Dominion"....

No way this goes away.  Possibly in the media, but it will be used against us in recruiting so long as Moos and Frost are here.


Opposing fans and the media will throw this in our faces because it's embarrassing and that's what opposing fans and media do. That's annoying but it was a stupid move, so what are you going to do it's probably deserved.

But I would be shocked if this had any lasting or significant effect on recruiting or the perception of the athletic department as a whole. Recruits are not going to give a damn about this if we are winning games and showing we can develop players. Other athletic departments are not going to turn down big paydays to schedule nonconference games with us. And our coaches can just as easily point out that, outside of Wisconsin, no one else in the West is even attempting to schedule hard or play marquee non-con games in the first place. Iowa/Minnesota/Purdue/Illinois can get their jokes off or tell recruits whatever they want, but they don't have any tough nonconference games to "bail" on because they don't schedule any in the first place. People are overreacting to this.

 
And it seems that when we see this sort of discord (even if it is a rumor) between coaches and ADs, it ends badly 100% of the time. And problems at the top trickle down. 
Yeah, this s#!t doesn't happen at Bama and OSU. Frost/Players silence is grim to me as well. A team ready to compete would be up in arms about their biggest game possibly being taken from them. This is a moment I'd prefer a big "hell no!" from Frost and the guys, instead of a "meh". I know I'm reading too much into it, but the confidence of everyone (from fans, to coaches to players, to admin) seems like it's at a zero right now. 

 
Recruits are not going to give a damn about this if we are winning games and showing we can develop players.
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So when do we start doing that?

 
Yeah, this s#!t doesn't happen at Bama and OSU. Frost/Players silence is grim to me as well. A team ready to compete would be up in arms about their biggest game possibly being taken from them. This is a moment I'd prefer a big "hell no!" from Frost and the guys, instead of a "meh". I know I'm reading too much into it, but the confidence of everyone (from fans, to coaches to players, to admin) seems like it's at a zero right now. 
More of the same. Just like at the beginning of last season when we said we would play anyone, anywhere, anytime any how....then declined the bowl game at the end. All talk and the byproduct of mediocrity (mediocrity is actually being quite generous at this point) 

 
Does playing OU make the players better? Yes. 
 

Does playing someone beside OU make the players better? Yes. 
 

Which scenario would be better for the program going forward? 
 

Optics mean more to people who don’t matter than who actually are involved and responsible. It’s sad that we’re in this position and I agree that this is a dark eye publicly, but attaching ourselves to a narrative that they have to play this game is self inflicting.

Since everyone agrees that this is a blowout and we stand no chance, then outside of nostalgia for fans, does it matter if they play OU or some other team? They already made an excuse to not play a game, shouldn’t come as a shocker they are willing to dodge OU.

One of the best traits of Husker fans is doing the right thing, the worst is being insecure about what media and others think when you do something people don’t agree with.

 
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Recruits are not going to give a damn about this if we are winning games and showing we can develop players.
That hits the nail on the head for me.

The more you win, the less that this kind of stuff matters. Win in the fall (particularly if you can beat OU) and I think most casual people will have forgotten about this. Lose and scrap together another 4-win season, and it'll just be seen as another continuing sign of dysfunction.

 
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Do I want Nebraska to play OU. Absolutely !  For my own selfish reasons.  Did I initially think it was a bad look? Absolutely !

Now, for reality.  For everyone on here (including me), pi$$ing about the optics, that also know that we are not close to OU's level, please don't flood the board when we get smacked.  Yes, in order to be great, you must beat the great teams.  First, you must learn how to win and that rarely happens on a consistent basis if you always line up against the best (which the Big 10 is typically loaded).  Nothing wrong with getting teams on the schedule that are more our level.  Winning comes first, followed by recruiting, followed by THEN beating the big boys.

Another harsh reality is that Nebraska is so far removed from being in the National spot-light, the optics aren't really that bad Nationally.  ESPN ran a scroll for a bit, but I am sure not many paid attention.  When irrelevant teams run on the scroll, I don't really think twice.  

It isn't a good, look, but probably not as bad as some of us are making it out to be.

It also wasn't a dumb idea from a competitive stand point at the level this program is NOW.

 
Hard disagree. It’s year 4 and we’re trying to progress towards division champs in the B1G. It’s time to start competing with the big boys. Beating a MAC team does nothing at this point.  
I’d like to be competing in B1G conference title games too, but it takes a winning record and that’s been hard to come by. I do hold the opinion that this is an uninspiring look and another concern within the program, but I also believe there is more emotional attachment to dropping the OU game - which is also fair

 
Hard disagree. It’s year 4 and we’re trying to progress towards division champs in the B1G. It’s time to start competing with the big boys. Beating a MAC team does nothing at this point.  


We haven't made a bowl game in four seasons and are already playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation and you think banking a win "does nothing"?

It was a chump move to try and cancel the game, but I also absolutely understand why we might have thought it better for the program to make a bowl game than to go get our brains beat in by a team we know we are not in the same league with right now. 

 
The only way this goes away and everyone forgets about it, is to go out and beat OU.


Honestly, that's the answer. A win, or maybe even a close loss, would go a long way to putting this to bed. 

But a lackluster performance, or a huge Sooner beatdown, will make this story the main talking point of the game and the aftermath. 

 
I may be all alone here but I just don't give a sh#t about this deal any longer. The OU game is going to be played, case closed. The only people this matters to now is A) people that have an axe to grind and, if it wasn't this issue, they would just find something else to b!^@h and moan about. B) some in the media won't let it die because, you know, clicks, and kicking Nebraska while they're down is a hobby for many  C) it may or may not be used to negatively recruit against us but it really doesn't matter if the football team actually starts winning something.  Other than that it's just another opportunity for those that want to b!^@h about Frost or Moos or whatever to continue doing that very thing. There are plenty here on HB who would be complaining about anything and everything if it wasn't for this deal that they fumbled by not getting out in front of sooner and better.

Now carry on.

 
I may be all alone here but I just don't give a sh#t about this deal any longer. The OU game is going to be played, case closed. The only people this matters to now is A) people that have an axe to grind and, if it wasn't this issue, they would just find something else to b!^@h and moan about. B) some in the media won't let it die because, you know, clicks, and kicking Nebraska while they're down is a hobby for many  C) it may or may not be used to negatively recruit against us but it really doesn't matter if the football team actually starts winning something.  Other than that it's just another opportunity for those that want to b!^@h about Frost or Moos or whatever to continue doing that very thing. There are plenty here on HB who would be complaining about anything and everything if it wasn't for this deal that they fumbled by not getting out in front of sooner and better.

Now carry on.
YES!!!!!

Well said!!

 
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