Bill Moos’ takes on the hiring of head football coach Scott Frost has taken most of the news headlines, but the idea of moving from the Big Ten to the Big 12 was a real thing in 2021 during his tenure.
Here are the takes and what Nebraska would look like if the move actually happened.
Memoir Reveals How Close Huskers Came to Leaving the Big Ten
Why Was Nebraska Looking For a Way Out of The B1G?
It was 2021, Nebraska was entering a critical season in the Frost era, which, up to that point, had been very disappointing. The Huskers hadn’t been to a bowl game since 2016, but hopes were high with standout quarterback Adrian Martinez back for his junior season.
At the time, the travel distance in the Big Ten, which spanned from Nebraska to New Jersey, was becoming too costly and time-consuming. According to Moos, he was repeatedly informed by numerous professionals, including members of the University of Nebraska regents, as well as farmers, ranchers, and small-town merchants. To add to this, pressure was building, and a growing sour opinion of the fan base towards the Big Ten was emerging following the pandemic.
Exploring Options
So, the former AD explored the idea of leaving the Big Ten, and he reached out to his friend Pat Kilkenny, the former Oregon athletic director, who then reached out to Bob Bowlsby, the Big 12 conference commissioner at the time. The interest was there. However, there were a few problems.
The first problem was that Moos didn’t have the support of the university chancellor, Ronnie Green, and most of the regents. The second problem was that, at the time, the football program was trying to get out of its home-and-home series with longtime Big 12 rival Oklahoma Sooners for the 2021 and 2022 regular season.
“I pointed out to Ted that any chance of returning to the Big 12 would go down the drain if we pulled out of the Oklahoma game. His surprising response was that there was only two regents in favor of that move. and it was no longer an option.”
It just overall wasn’t the right move at the time, and the university chose the more lucrative option of staying in the Big Ten. Now, this move will probably never happen, even if it had a small chance in 2021.
What if Nebraska Made the Move to the Big 12?
Let’s say the University of Nebraska made its way back to its home before the Big Ten. The fan base of the move would say that the Huskers would be much more competitive at the top. Which is partially true. It would return to the conference against its former longtime rivals, such as Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Iowa State, which dated back to the days of the Big Six and Big Eight conferences.
However, depending on the timeline and how far they were on negotiations with the SEC, Oklahoma and Texas could still be on their way to the conference, starting in 2024. So, that would leave Nebraska in the conference as one of the top members.
Nebraska would have missed out on a much more lucrative deal: $63 million given to each of 12 long-standing Big Ten schools in 2024, compared with $38-42 million for each long-standing team in the Big 12.
Now, how would the rest of conference realignment play out? Would the collapse of the Pac-12 still happen? The Big 12 would still have to rebuild after Oklahoma and Texas bolted, but the damage would have been less with Nebraska within the conference.
It was an interesting idea, but Nebraska is much better off not making the move in the long run, rather than going with the more nostalgic move to the Big 12.
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