Nebraska football on Friday is a logistical nightmare

Oh, goodie. I’m dreading this already.

I understand why. The Big Ten sold its soul to the highest bidder for TV rights. More broadcast windows equal more money for the conference. Financially it makes sense for the conference. But to force Nebraska to play ball here when no one here wants this to happen? Cool.

It’s not like Nebraska hasn’t played ball for road games on weekdays. Nebraska has had several weekday games in past seasons, like with Illinois in 2017, Rutgers in 2020, Rutgers in 2022, and both Minnesota and Illinois in 2023. And, of course, that doesn’t include the annual Black Friday game with Iowa.

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but this is going to be a logistical nightmare.

Here are some of my thoughts on what a mess this could be:

Traffic: Kickoff between Nebraska and Illinois on Sept. 20 is at 7 p.m. on FOX. I don’t even want to imagine what rush hour traffic will look like when you factor game day traffic into the mix, too. Pack some snacks, folks. Gridlock, even if you aren’t headed to Memorial, is bound to be a doozy. I don’t envy the folks who will be in the Omaha rush hour traffic bound for Lincoln either. Because of that, I expect plenty of fans to arrive later than they’d prefer.

Classes: There’s no way UNL will be able to hold classes that day, right? Because of football tailgating, the parking lots near Memorial Stadium are cleared out the night before. For Saturday night games, the parking lots open at 11 a.m. So, you’d think something similar would be on the horizon for this Friday night home game. 

Central/Western Nebraska fans: Request your paid time off now, I guess, if you’re a season ticket holder from Central or Western Nebraska. There’s no real good answer other than that for y’all if you work a 9-5 and want to attend the game. This whole thing feels like a slight to everyone, but especially these folks.

No. 400: Nebraska enters the season with 396 consecutive sellouts. That means the Illinois game is slated to be the 400th sellout. 

Recruiting: Take a gander down to the sideline for any Nebraska football game and you’ll see dozens of recruits taking in the view from the field during pregame warmups. Coach Matt Rhule loves, loves, loves getting recruits on campus to take in a game day at Memorial Stadium.

For this game, though, it’s doubtful many — or any — recruits will be taking visits that week because they all have games to play that night. (Unless they’re local kids that have games moved to Thursday or Saturday.)

High school football: This is one of the aspects that angers me the most. Having Nebraska football directly up against high school football. The reason why Black Friday works so well for Nebraska is because the NSAA Championships are already in the books by that point.

But high school football will be in full swing on Sept. 20. That date lines up with Week 4 of the high school football season. 

As of right now, these are the Lincoln-area schools that have home games scheduled for Week 4:

Class A: Lincoln East at Lincoln Southwest, South Sioux City at Lincoln High, Omaha South at Lincoln North Star, Norfolk at Lincoln Southeast.

Class B: Gretna East at Lincoln Standing Bear, Blair at Norris, Elkhorn at Waverly.

Lincoln Northeast, Lincoln Pius X, Lincoln Lutheran, Lincoln Christian, Malcolm and Parkview Christian are slotted to be on the road in Week 4.

Surely LPS and/or Norris and Waverly will move their games to either Thursday or Saturday, if at all possible.

Not just Nebraska: Nebraska isn’t the only school drawing the short straw. The other Big Ten schools hosting Friday night games this season: Rutgers, Oregon, Maryland, Purdue, USC, UCLA, Washington and Michigan State.

Notice who isn’t included there? Yeah. Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. It’s not that those schools aren’t hosting a Friday night game. They don’t even play in one at all. Those three — along with Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin — are the schools that don’t have at least one Friday night game on the schedule this year.

If the Big Ten is going to force unwilling schools to play along, it’s only fair to rope in the Big Three, too, at some point.

* Friday nights before football games are big cash cows for restaurants. With a 7 p.m. game on Friday, it’s doubtful that night goes according to plan.

* There’s a show at the Lied that night. I feel for the people who already bought those tickets.

* Good luck to any couples getting married in town that weekend. Things may or may not have just gotten a lot more complicated.