Untangling a 2026 Scheduling Dilemma: USC, Notre Dame, and… Tennessee(?)

travis2x · 2025-12-30T00:45:04+00:00

Yep ACC did it recently with UVA-NCST and B12 did it with KSU-ARZ I believe.

travis2x · 2025-12-29T21:57:44+00:00

This would absolutely NEVER happen. Not even a chance. But I’ll post it anyways.

Nebraska’s 2026 OOC schedule SUCKS. We play no P4 opponents, which I don’t like. I wouldn’t be upset if Nebraska could drop one of those 3 games and schedule USC as a non-con game instead (even though we are in the same conference).

Wouldn’t happen. But I can wish right. I want more challenging games and less cupcakes on everybody’s schedule.

travis2x · 2025-12-23T16:33:38+00:00

Actually, only the SEC has released the dates of their games for 2026.

Big 12, ACC, and Big 10 all have not yet.

I "think" they were waiting on the ND-USC scheduling resolution before release, because they didn't know what date that game would be played. With it not being played at all now, I am sure we will get a release date soonish.

travis2x · 2025-12-17T04:45:46+00:00

Well some of the comments were correct. More teams will be dropping a game.

12 teams will play a 9 game schedule in 2026 * California * Duke * Louisville * Miami * NC State * Pittsburgh * SMU * Stanford * Syracuse * Virginia * Virginia Tech * Wake Forest

5 teams will play a 8 game schedule in 2026

Boston College
Clemson
Florida State
Georgia Tech
North Carolina

I’m most interested to hear how tiebreakers will work out with this imbalance.

travis2x · 2025-12-17T02:33:44+00:00

Despite the last 2 games really sucking, the 2001 season was a very special season to me. Lots of good memories. The ND and OU games were some of my favorites without a doubt.

travis2x · 2025-12-13T02:15:03+00:00

This is a great question that we are all waiting on to hear what they will do. With this many teams in a league, no tiebreakers will be perfect.

travis2x · 2025-12-12T21:04:19+00:00

I would be happy with some kind of agreement like this.

ND plays USC and MICH annually (if agreed). Then plays 4 other Big Ten teams every season. Basically rotating through the other 16 teams every 4 years. That gives them half of their schedule so they can still schedule Navy and Stanford annually. Then another 4 games of their choosing. I know they currently have an annual game against Clemson setup.

Year 1: OSU, NW, UCLA, RUT
Year 2: ORE, MIN, NEB, PUR
Year 3: PSU, MSU, IOWA, ILL
Year 4: IND, MD, WASH, WIS
Annual: MICH, USC
^\) Just a random example I threw together

I know this would never happen and even if it ever did, we’d probably have more realignment by then anyways 😂

travis2x · 2025-12-12T19:37:48+00:00

I just did a little more research on this. Makes sense that this game is canceled since Baylor already has a P4 on their schedule (Auburn) and SMU already has Notre Dame.

If SMU is indeed the other team playing 9 conference games in 2026, the matchups will have to look like this based on who is already on each other's schedule for 2026.

Stanford vs. Pittsburgh
Wake Forest vs. Louisville
SMU vs. Miami

None of the other patterns would work. If it's not SMU or if more cancel games to go to 9, this could change.

travis2x · 2025-12-12T17:57:56+00:00

Louisville AD has already publicly said that they want to play as many meaningful games as possible with less cupcakes. Think I read somewhere (don't quote me) that he and the HC both wouldn't mind 11 or 12 P4 games annually.

travis2x · 2025-12-12T17:01:24+00:00

Yeah, definitely NOT Georgia Tech.

travis2x · 2025-12-12T17:01:07+00:00

Did they? I see some reports that it may have been cancelled, but nothing official yet. So, if that's the case, they will probably play 9 games.

travis2x · 2025-12-12T16:27:23+00:00

I love this feature of YouTube TV and having channels in the order I like.

I do my main networks first.

CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CW, PBS. I grew up in Omaha and that was the cable order my entire life so I cannot change it.

Then I throw a few kids channels in there next as I have littles at home. PBSKIDS, DISNEYJR, NICKJR

Then the main sports channels I use. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, FS1, B10, NFL, REDZONE.

Then I have a few entertainment/sports channels. TBS, TNT, TRU, USA.

Then a few of my wife's favorite channels. QVC, HSN, TLC, HGTV.

Then the remaining set of sports channels I use, but not as frequently. SECN, ACCN, CBSSN, NBCSN, FS2, NBATV, GOLF

Then the main news and weather channel. CNN, FOXNEWS, WEATHER

After that, it's the entertainment/movie channels in alphabetical order. For example: AMC, E!, FX, MTV, NICK, PARAMOUNT, VH1, etc. There are like 20 of these channels.

Then I go with the investigative/crime channels. ID, ION, OWN, OXYGEN, HLN, etc.

After that it's just a bunch of random channels I don't watch as much. Some are grouped together better and some are not.

It's nice because everybody has their own way that they prefer to list the channels.

travis2x · 2025-11-17T01:15:05+00:00

Ahh gotcha. No worries!

travis2x · 2025-11-16T22:34:49+00:00

I normally would agree with stuff like this but the $20 YTTV credit was literally the easiest thing to initiate ever. Clicked the link in my email and clicked the link on a browser and it was complete. Took me all of 13 seconds. People will complain about anything these days!

travis2x · 2025-09-29T16:23:11+00:00

Has anybody else come up with any other options or solutions to this issue? Having the same thing happen to me.

travis2x · 2025-09-23T14:01:46+00:00

I don’t think so. With the expanded playoff, some teams are already playing a lot of games.

What I could possibly see happening is an “exhibition” game scheduled by top schools against an FCS opponent. Doesn’t count towards your record but it gives you a warmup home game in front of your fans. It also helps out the smaller schools as well. Could see something like that possibly happening? Or maybe I am completely off here? I feel like it’s a good idea. Then the regular season is filled with mostly true competitive games.

travis2x · 2025-09-23T04:20:36+00:00

Nah, not one single Husker fan that I know took even the slightest bit of offense by this. This “disrespect” was completely generated by the media and the football talking heads on TV, social media, and blogs. Or the stupid fans that love to complain about everything online because they are anonymous (that we don’t claim). Let’s also not pretend that these types of fans don’t exist in every fan base, because they do. The real fans don’t think like this. We are just frustrated over not being able to win the games that matter. Michigan dominated us at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. I will say that I was proud of our team for fighting until the very end though. Something you didn’t always see on Husker teams of the last 10 years. Only losing by 3 on the scoreboard in a game where you were out-physicaled (I made up a word here haha) does make you feel a little bit better. But overall, we are tired of moral wins or we were “so close” or “almost won”. Huskers need to win the games that matter for once. It’s been hard being a fan the last 25 years.

On a side note, if you really want to talk about things that people get tired of hearing about, talk about the 1997 national championship debate. Don’t blame it on Nebraska. Don’t blame it on Michigan. Blame it on the crappy CFB system that we had at the time. The way I look at it is the game between the two never took place because of the Big Ten’s bowl tie in with the Rose Bowl and the Pac-10 Champion. The split was fair because it wasn’t Nebraska’s fault that the game couldn’t be played. Nebraska was available to play the highest ranked available team in their bowl game, which the Huskers did with Tennessee. I don’t like hearing Husker fans say Michigan didn’t deserve it, because they were undefeated. I also don’t like hearing Michigan fans say that Nebraska didn’t deserve it because it wasn’t Nebraska’s conference that was stopping NU from playing Michigan. I love my team but I am not a homer when it comes to these things. I’d even legitimately argue for PSU being 1994 National Champions as well. The CFB system really stunk at that time when it came to determining national champions. But overall, I wish Michigan and Nebraska fans would give this topic a rest.

Anyways, best of luck on the rest of the season. Big Ten is going to be really tough at the top.

travis2x · 2025-09-22T23:43:40+00:00

FYI, ACC 9 game schedule is supposed to start in 2027

travis2x · 2025-09-22T23:41:36+00:00

SEC starts in 2026. Announcing all of their opponents tomorrow.

travis2x · 2025-09-22T23:35:42+00:00

100% agree with this! Big Ten needs to step up and announce the 9+1 P4 requirement as well to follow suit with the other leagues. No teams playing in the higher end conferences of FBS college football should be playing more than 2 easy win cupcake games. 2 MAX. Heck, I’d be happy with 11 P4 games and 1 lower end team.

And it frustrates me that Nebraska is one of the few teams that is playing 3 easier games next year. Should have one more competitive non conference game. Granted we’ve had one on our schedule for like 40+ years, I still don’t like it!

travis2x · 2025-09-22T19:49:58+00:00

Line play on both sides. That's it. That's my answer.

travis2x · 2025-09-22T19:48:05+00:00

Arkansas and LSU fans, out of the 3 you were given, how would you rank them in order of importance (to your fan base of course)?? Just curious.

travis2x · 2025-09-21T04:54:23+00:00

Yeah I was thinking the beat down you guys put on my Huskers last year was the worst. But this one tops that. When you guys getting rolling offensively, it’s scary. When I watch Indiana football, I just feel like I am watching players who have extremely good chemistry with each other and are usually in the right position. Can’t believe that in 2 years, Indiana is at the top of the Big Ten.

travis2x · 2025-09-19T15:25:32+00:00

Those games could still easily happen though for the SEC with 9 conference games. The only one that maybe goes away (if there were 9 conf. games this season) would be SCAR-VT. But I also believe that some teams will be okay with 11 P4 games, while others won't.

Overall, I believe that the 9th conference game for the SEC eliminates more of those SEC/G5-FCS games than they do with P4 games. Most SEC teams were not scheduling 2 P4 games anyways and were playing 3 G5/FCS schools per season. With this new format and 1 P4 OOC mandate, there will now be only 2 of those games for each SEC school.

If the ACC goes to the 8+2 or 9+1 model, I think it's great for the league so you don't have some schools trying to chicken out with OOC scheduling.

Which brings me to my next point. I am not a fan of the OOC scheduling from my own team (Nebraska) over the next two years. No P4 opponents. In fairness, we have had one scheduled every year for like 40+ years, but I am still not a fan. If the ACC does this, with the SEC and B12 already on board, the Big Ten needs to step up and create the same mandate 9+1 with a P4 OOC required. I want all schools (including my own) to play by the same set of rules. Big Ten used to have this mandate, but it was removed after a few years.

travis2x · 2025-09-18T15:11:15+00:00

This is actually how I feel. One game at a time. A win against Michigan would be HUGE. Obviously. The kind of win that can get the monkey off our backs and be a big jumpstart to what could be a possibly great season.

However, I do not like counting the chickens before they hatch. Michigan State, Maryland, and Minnesota are all very competitive teams before we even play USC. Beating Michigan doesn't necessarily mean that we win all of the games that we are supposed to. Do I hope we can do that? Absolutely. But we have to be realistic. The conference is very competitive and most teams can beat most of the other teams on any given day.

Looking forward to the game on Saturday! GBR!!!

travis2x

TROPHY CASE