Bring on the Hokies
Last week's announcement that Nebraska would play the Virginia Tech Hokies is welcome news for Nebraska football fans. The two teams are scheduled to meet in Lincoln in 2008 and in Blacksburg in 2009. Nebraska football fans are ready for some marque matchups and some TV exposure with major national interest. Our non-conference matchups have been a little underwhelming during the last couple of years. (Note: While Pittsburgh was expected to be an important matchup, both teams were down when they played each other thus greatly reducing the national interest level.)
Of course the hype and national TV exposure that Nebraska fans crave will return this fall big time with the USC game being nationally televised in prime time from Los Angeles. The USC game moves to Lincoln for 2007 and now we can also look forward to Virginia Tech in the following two years.
Playing non-conference games with major national interest are important for several reasons:
First, the loyal fans deserve some good non-conference games. Yes, it's nice to win easy games but fans want more excitement than playing against I-AA teams. Nothing excites or satisfies the fan base more than winning a tight game against a nationally ranked team.
Second, Nebraska has been mostly absent from the national scene in terms of college football news coverage the last few years. Playing games of national importance should bring back some of those news stories and increase the press coverage. There's been a lot less written about the Huskers recently than during the glory days when national championships were being won. Some of the kids growing up around the nation don't even know that much about Nebraska football these days.
Third, playing high interest games in different parts of the country like the West Coast and the East Coast helps recruiting. The local press in those areas of the country will write stories about the Huskers in the days leading up to the game and the TV gameday coverage in the region is critical. Many of the televised Big 12 games that Nebraska plays never get shown shown on the West or East coast. This kind of exposure for recruiting is much more important to Nebraska than most other teams. Few teams recruit as broadly across the entire nation as does Nebraska. Most other teams are able to satisfy their needs by concentrating on a particular region. Although Nebraska has been doing very well getting recruits from California lately, it has been a while since Nebraska has been able to pull in some top recruits from the East Coast.
Fourth, playing marque games also helps boost alumni donations to the athletic department. Just as it is with recruiting, the national media attention also helps energize the Nebraska alums around the country. While Nebraska athletic finances are in no danger of collapse, the donations have fallen off significantly as evidenced by the shortfalls on the stadium expansion. A good dose of exciting games can only help bring in more contributions and return the program to its previous financial strength.
No doubt there are more reasons to be excited about playing USC and Virginia Tech. Let's hope the Virginia Tech announcement means a return to playing at least one marque non-conference game every season.
Go Big Red,
RedCap
Of course the hype and national TV exposure that Nebraska fans crave will return this fall big time with the USC game being nationally televised in prime time from Los Angeles. The USC game moves to Lincoln for 2007 and now we can also look forward to Virginia Tech in the following two years.
Playing non-conference games with major national interest are important for several reasons:
First, the loyal fans deserve some good non-conference games. Yes, it's nice to win easy games but fans want more excitement than playing against I-AA teams. Nothing excites or satisfies the fan base more than winning a tight game against a nationally ranked team.
Second, Nebraska has been mostly absent from the national scene in terms of college football news coverage the last few years. Playing games of national importance should bring back some of those news stories and increase the press coverage. There's been a lot less written about the Huskers recently than during the glory days when national championships were being won. Some of the kids growing up around the nation don't even know that much about Nebraska football these days.
Third, playing high interest games in different parts of the country like the West Coast and the East Coast helps recruiting. The local press in those areas of the country will write stories about the Huskers in the days leading up to the game and the TV gameday coverage in the region is critical. Many of the televised Big 12 games that Nebraska plays never get shown shown on the West or East coast. This kind of exposure for recruiting is much more important to Nebraska than most other teams. Few teams recruit as broadly across the entire nation as does Nebraska. Most other teams are able to satisfy their needs by concentrating on a particular region. Although Nebraska has been doing very well getting recruits from California lately, it has been a while since Nebraska has been able to pull in some top recruits from the East Coast.
Fourth, playing marque games also helps boost alumni donations to the athletic department. Just as it is with recruiting, the national media attention also helps energize the Nebraska alums around the country. While Nebraska athletic finances are in no danger of collapse, the donations have fallen off significantly as evidenced by the shortfalls on the stadium expansion. A good dose of exciting games can only help bring in more contributions and return the program to its previous financial strength.
No doubt there are more reasons to be excited about playing USC and Virginia Tech. Let's hope the Virginia Tech announcement means a return to playing at least one marque non-conference game every season.
Go Big Red,
RedCap
posted by RedCap at 5:27 AM
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