Amid ample pessimism, Bill Moos remains optimistic Nebraska will play a football season in 2020.
In the wake of the Big Ten's announcement Thursday that it's planning a conference-only fall sports season, many folks reacted with skepticism that a football season will even be played at all because of safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.Â
Moos, the Husker athletic director, struck a more hopeful tone Friday.
"I'm optimistic that there will be a season," he told the Journal Star. "What it looks like has been determined now, as far as a conference-only schedule being the plan. But how many games there ultimately will be on the schedule is still being discussed."Â
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Although sources have told the Journal Star that there's plenty of support in the league for a 10-game Big Ten-only schedule, Moos hesitated to speculate on the final number. He indicated that conference leaders want to keep the conversation flexible for now.
"I will tell you this: I'm pushing for 12 games while protecting the division games and ideally putting those games in the middle of the season so if we have to knock off a couple games in the front or in the back, we still have the divisional games in the core of the season.Â
"I would still stand firm on that in a 10-game (conference-only) schedule."Â
Moos' idea of playing 12 league games is interesting if only because Nebraska head coach Scott Frost has expressed reservations about adding even one conference game to the usual nine-game format. Frost says the Big Ten's physical nature exacts a heavy toll on players as a season progresses.Â
At any rate, Moos said he's hopeful Nebraska will begin the season as originally scheduled, Sept. 5 against Big Ten West Division foe Purdue in Lincoln.Â
"I'm sensing that's the direction we're going," he said.Â
He had something else he wanted to emphasize.
"It's important that the crossover piece of the schedule is fair," he said. "If we're going to play 12 games, and we're going to pick up a few, is it fair that us or Iowa or Wisconsin play Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State because we're playing more crossovers all in one season?Â
"I say that as a compliment to those storied programs. Everybody can beat anybody in the Big Ten. But in a conference-only schedule, we're going to be beating ourselves up pretty bad."Â
In its original 2020 schedule, Nebraska was set to play crossover games against Rutgers and Ohio State on the road and versus Penn State in Lincoln. With six divisional games, the Huskers in a 12-game format presumably would have to add three games against East Division squads, with four remaining as possibilities: Michigan, Indiana, Michigan State and Maryland.Â
Moos said he would like to see Nebraska's schedule finalized by the end of this month. Â
"We have concessions to order. We have to decide our ticket plan," he said. "We have all that sitting on hold, but ready to go forward when we get the green light."
Nebraska had been scheduled to play nonconference home games against Central Michigan (Sept. 12), South Dakota State (Sept. 19) and Cincinnati (Sept. 26). NU was set to pay $1.3 million to Central Michigan, $515,000 to South Dakota State and $400,000 to Cincinnati.Â
Moos is sensitive to the financial hit those schools incur as a result of the Big Ten's plan for 2020.
"Depending on what things look like in the future, we want to bring them back at a later date," he said. "But certainly we're very open to discussions about paying the (contractual) guarantees and such. You know, that's only fair."Â
"We may pay them this year," he added. "That's a contract. Bottom line, we felt it was important to notify them immediately of the Big Ten's plan, and that we would be getting back to them to discuss where we go from there, and they were very appreciative.
"We value those games. If we didn't think they were quality programs, we wouldn't have scheduled them in the first place."
Moos emphasized the importance of protecting division games in a season that could be played in fits and starts because of the unpredictable nature of the coronavirus. He said Big Ten leadership seems unified in a desire to emphasize divisional contests.
"If nothing else, we could crown Big Ten West and Big Ten East champions," he said. Â
As far as how many people will be allowed to attend Nebraska games this season at Memorial Stadium, nothing's been finalized, Moos said. Â
"My feeling is — and I've been outspoken on this — that should be decided not by the conference, but by local authorities," he said. "Schools are in different situations. We're in more of a low-population area, which hasn't had the high (COVID-19) numbers. So it's safer coming here than going into a metropolitan area where there's been high-risk numbers.Â
Bottom line, "I feel that decision should be made institution by institution depending on local authorities and what their judgment is."Â