Before today's game, I was thinking that if we continue to get embarrassed in the big games (which could definitely still happen btw) that Bo would have one more year to prove that "Nebraska is back, and here to stay" as he so eloquently put it a couple years ago.
When NW went up 28-16 in the 4th today, I honestly thought we would lose today's game, then go on to lose to Michigan (high probability of losing), lose on the road to MSU (gonna be awfully tough to beat them), and then lose to Penn St (playing arguably the best football of any B1G team at the moment). That, my friends, would be a total of 6 losses and only 4 wins heading into our last 2 games of the year. I realize that may be a bit dramatic to think such things, but if that were the case and we barely became bowl-eligible this year (or worse, missed a bowl), then I'd say Pelini returning for a 6th season would be a HUGE question mark.
Oh and I'm not sure this has been mentioned, but I do think this entire conversation boils down to money. Our new AD may not want to face a situation where we need to get a new head coach, but I'm thinking the people who really matter are the people who are largely responsible for financial donations. What if they don't like Pelini to begin with (as previously mentioned in this thread, he's not the most cuddly guy)? If money is power, which it is in this world, then I'd think Pelini could very easily get the boot.