What if Nebraska went the Notre Dame route...

A

AlaskaNebraskan

Walk-on
And moved the football program to independent status? More pros or cons? Being able to schedule more top notch games and renew rivalrys every year would help ticket revenue. Better tv contracts? Would NBC dump the fighting drunks for the Huskers? 

 
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Olympic sports would still need to have a home conference. This would only really affect football, and in a negative way. Being involved in a conference involves way more than just football. The university as a whole benefits greatly from access to the Big Ten Academic Alliance, which it wouldn't have access to as an independent.

AlaskaNebraskan said:
Would NBC dump the fighting drunks for the Huskers?  
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I'm Irish. This is swell.

 
I see Elon Musk predicts people will soon be able to sell their home and move to Mars. It’s more likely we join the Mars league than go independent.

 
Honestly, i think soon teams like ND are going to have to join a conference or be left out of playoffs. Could be interesting when new playoff contract comes up what conference teams decide on teams like ND. 

 
C N Red said:
Honestly, i think soon teams like ND are going to have to join a conference or be left out of playoffs. Could be interesting when new playoff contract comes up what conference teams decide on teams like ND. 
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They basically have joined the ACC, it is just a matter of when not if.

As to the thread topic....

I dunno, I don't hate the idea if it mean some more intriguing matchups and closer patsy games.  But why forego the millions of conference dollars in favor of a couple old Big 8 games.

 
The Big Red do not belong in the Big Fourteen. This was an arrangement due to needing to get away quickly from The Big Texas Conference and having access to stable conference money.

Nebraska vs. Michigan or Ohio State or Rutgers , et al... is just wrong. Nebraska is not a Rust Belt state like the Big Ten was born from and still largely remains. Nebraska has no Big Ten legacy and can never compile one to compare with those Rust Belt schools. If the Big Red were in the Big Ten for the next fifty years they still would not have the historical place of those conference Blue Bloods. The Big Ten is a league centered on high population states with big cities and old heavy industry. Those power schools will retain the power in the Big Ten just like a school in Austin, Texas will always be the power in that other league. None of them will surrender their place to the newcomer.

Nebraska shares a lifestyle with the likes of Oklahoma and - forgive me - Colorado. Schools and places like that. Nebraska vs. Iowa or Wisconsin or Michigan will never be on a par with Nebraska vs. Oklahoma no matter how many times they play or beat them.

When, and not if, there is conference realignment... the Huskers need to find a new home where they really belong. Where they can thrive and not just be an add-on like they are now.

Do I expect this to happen? Odds are against it for sure. It’s too easy to just stay where they are now.

Younger Husker fans won’t remember how special it was waiting for that big football matchup at Lincoln or Norman at the end of the regular season... beating the Sooners... going to a good bowl game... and - win or lose - knowing everything is right with the world and the Land of Corn.

Instead, get back and drive East on I-80 again and again and again... for years to come.

 
Roundball Shaman said:
The Big Red do not belong in the Big Fourteen. This was an arrangement due to needing to get away quickly from The Big Texas Conference and having access to stable conference money.

Nebraska vs. Michigan or Ohio State or Rutgers , et al... is just wrong. Nebraska is not a Rust Belt state like the Big Ten was born from and still largely remains. Nebraska has no Big Ten legacy and can never compile one to compare with those Rust Belt schools. If the Big Red were in the Big Ten for the next fifty years they still would not have the historical place of those conference Blue Bloods. The Big Ten is a league centered on high population states with big cities and old heavy industry. Those power schools will retain the power in the Big Ten just like a school in Austin, Texas will always be the power in that other league. None of them will surrender their place to the newcomer.

Nebraska shares a lifestyle with the likes of Oklahoma and - forgive me - Colorado. Schools and places like that. Nebraska vs. Iowa or Wisconsin or Michigan will never be on a par with Nebraska vs. Oklahoma no matter how many times they play or beat them.

When, and not if, there is conference realignment... the Huskers need to find a new home where they really belong. Where they can thrive and not just be an add-on like they are now.

Do I expect this to happen? Odds are against it for sure. It’s too easy to just stay where they are now.

Younger Husker fans won’t remember how special it was waiting for that big football matchup at Lincoln or Norman at the end of the regular season... beating the Sooners... going to a good bowl game... and - win or lose - knowing everything is right with the world and the Land of Corn.

Instead, get back and drive East on I-80 again and again and again... for years to come.
Click to expand...




This is all wrong. 

 
Roundball Shaman said:
The Big Red do not belong in the Big Fourteen. This was an arrangement due to needing to get away quickly from The Big Texas Conference and having access to stable conference money.

Nebraska vs. Michigan or Ohio State or Rutgers , et al... is just wrong. Nebraska is not a Rust Belt state like the Big Ten was born from and still largely remains. Nebraska has no Big Ten legacy and can never compile one to compare with those Rust Belt schools. If the Big Red were in the Big Ten for the next fifty years they still would not have the historical place of those conference Blue Bloods. The Big Ten is a league centered on high population states with big cities and old heavy industry. Those power schools will retain the power in the Big Ten just like a school in Austin, Texas will always be the power in that other league. None of them will surrender their place to the newcomer.

Nebraska shares a lifestyle with the likes of Oklahoma and - forgive me - Colorado. Schools and places like that. Nebraska vs. Iowa or Wisconsin or Michigan will never be on a par with Nebraska vs. Oklahoma no matter how many times they play or beat them.

When, and not if, there is conference realignment... the Huskers need to find a new home where they really belong. Where they can thrive and not just be an add-on like they are now.

Do I expect this to happen? Odds are against it for sure. It’s too easy to just stay where they are now.

Younger Husker fans won’t remember how special it was waiting for that big football matchup at Lincoln or Norman at the end of the regular season... beating the Sooners... going to a good bowl game... and - win or lose - knowing everything is right with the world and the Land of Corn.

Instead, get back and drive East on I-80 again and again and again... for years to come.
Click to expand...






we also pass the ball way too much

 
Roundball Shaman said:
The Big Red do not belong in the Big Fourteen. This was an arrangement due to needing to get away quickly from The Big Texas Conference and having access to stable conference money.

Nebraska vs. Michigan or Ohio State or Rutgers , et al... is just wrong. Nebraska is not a Rust Belt state like the Big Ten was born from and still largely remains. Nebraska has no Big Ten legacy and can never compile one to compare with those Rust Belt schools. If the Big Red were in the Big Ten for the next fifty years they still would not have the historical place of those conference Blue Bloods. The Big Ten is a league centered on high population states with big cities and old heavy industry. Those power schools will retain the power in the Big Ten just like a school in Austin, Texas will always be the power in that other league. None of them will surrender their place to the newcomer.

Nebraska shares a lifestyle with the likes of Oklahoma and - forgive me - Colorado. Schools and places like that. Nebraska vs. Iowa or Wisconsin or Michigan will never be on a par with Nebraska vs. Oklahoma no matter how many times they play or beat them.

When, and not if, there is conference realignment... the Huskers need to find a new home where they really belong. Where they can thrive and not just be an add-on like they are now.

Do I expect this to happen? Odds are against it for sure. It’s too easy to just stay where they are now.

Younger Husker fans won’t remember how special it was waiting for that big football matchup at Lincoln or Norman at the end of the regular season... beating the Sooners... going to a good bowl game... and - win or lose - knowing everything is right with the world and the Land of Corn.

Instead, get back and drive East on I-80 again and again and again... for years to come.
Click to expand...
old.jpg


 
As much passion as there is in the state for the Huskers, it really doesn't have the national prominence that ND has.  The following that Nebraska has isn't any bigger than any other traditional power.  If schools with much larger alumni bases (i.e. Texas, Ohio St., Florida) don't go the independent route, then there's little reason for me to believe Nebraska would have success doing it.  

 
I'm okay culturally all the way to Ohio. Gets a little iffy in Pennsylvania. Then the Big10 loses me in Maryland and Rutgers. 

Culturally, we have the most in common with the plains states. Can you imagine if Nebraska teamed with Kansas and The Dakota's to form our own football powerhouse?

 
I'm just surprised a few people took the question posited in the OP seriously.

 
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