College Football HQ

Insider reveals real reason Nebraska nixed Tennessee football series

Nebraska ruffled some feathers on Rocky Top when it canceled the football series against Tennessee, and now an ESPN insider reveals the reason why the Cornhuskers did it.

James Parks

The real reason why Nebraska canceled its long-scheduled football series against Tennessee, according to an ESPN insider.
The real reason why Nebraska canceled its long-scheduled football series against Tennessee, according to an ESPN insider. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
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The stated reason Nebraska gave for calling off its long-scheduled football series with Tennessee had to do with upcoming renovations to Memorial Stadium that will reduce its seating capacity.

But the real reason may have to do with the College Football Playoff and the role the postseason format may have played in moving the Cornhuskers to change their football schedule.

That’s according to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel, who believes Nebraska likely didn’t want to play the series with the expanded playoff and how the selection committee is considered to have weighed strength of schedule this past season.

Despite the committee saying it places a premium on teams playing a more difficult slate, there’s some opinion among the sport’s decision makers that the metric isn’t as important as advertised.

“I think this just comes down to Nebraska just didn’t want to play this series,” Thamel said on the College GameDay podcast. 

“The one piece of empirical evidence we have of this 12-team playoff indicates murky rewards for a tough non-conference schedule. That’s the data set we’re dealing with right now.”

While the strategy may pay off in giving Nebraska a relatively easier victory on the field, it’s not exactly what Thamel would describe as thrilling football.

“We’re not biased toward teams. We are not biased towards leagues. But we really like good games,” he explained.

“USC-Utah Valley is not what gets us excited. We want teams to play good games, and I don’t think that shows any particular bias other than we are fans at heart and we like watching great college football.”

He added: “Nebraska-Bowling Green... is not great college football. But I can’t fault the strategy with the evidence we have.”

More ... Nebraska owes $1 million to cancel Tennessee series, per report

(Thamel)

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.

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