Nebraska coach Matt Rhule revealed why the Cornhuskers backed out of their future nonconference games with Tennessee football in 2026 and 2027, and he gave a blunt answer.
Rhule, appearing on “The Triple Option” podcast with Urban Meyer on Thursday, said Nebraska has no incentive to play tough nonconference games since it plays a nine-game conference schedule in the Big Ten.
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Nebraska bought out the contract that had been set for 19 years, replacing the two games against Tennessee with matchups against Bowling Green and Miami (Ohio). Cornhuskers athletic director Troy Dannen said in the announcement the reasoning for canceling the games was due to wanting more home games after future stadium renovations.
“Why would you ever play one of those games?” Rhule said. “And we’re being completely honest, Coach Meyer, I’m at a lucky point in life where in my fourth job and after getting fired in the NFL, I kind of say what I feel nowadays, I could care less. Why in the world would a Big Ten team who’s already playing nine conference games, why would you ever play one of those games?
“… I love the SEC, I’m not anti-SEC, but there’s some SEC teams last year that only played three away games in another team’s stadium. We’re in a league where some years you have five home Big Ten games, and some years you have five road. You go on the road five times in the Big Ten with no like, Florida-Georgia on a neutral site.”
Rhule didn’t hide Nebraska’s intentions with dropping the home-and-home series against Tennessee, as the Cornhuskers’ move comes down to College Football Playoff seeding. Losses hurt a resume, regardless of if the game was against a highly ranked team or not.
Rhule has been quick to go against the status quo this offseason amid college football trying to navigate the modern era with roster building and name, image and likeness (NIL). Rhule and Nebraska canceled their spring game this season, as a hope to stay healthy but also not give teams free chances at looking at players they hope to poach in the transfer portal.
With so many strong teams now in the Big Ten, Rhule doesn’t see the point of increasing Nebraska’s strength of schedule with the chance at numerous quality wins in conference play.
“They proved to us this year when they did the seeding and all this stuff that early season wins didn’t mean a thing,” Rhule said. “That really was, at the end of the day, what you looked like in the last month of the season. That’s what it all proved to us. And when I say what it looks like, it’s really how good your offense is. If you’re scoring points and blowing people out late in the year, you’re going to make the playoffs.”
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Matt Rhule explains reasoning for Nebraska-Tennessee game fallout
