Long before Bill Moos took over as Nebraska athletic director in October, he says he understood Husker fans’ affinity for NU playing football games on Black Friday.
He’s made the tradition a priority, which perhaps helps explain why Nebraska will continue to play the day after Thanksgiving far into the future.
Since joining the Big Ten in 2011, Nebraska has played Iowa on Black Friday. That series will continue in 2018 and 2019. Then, following a break in 2020 and 2021, the Husker-Hawkeye series will resume on Black Fridays indefinitely, Moos said Monday on the “Sports Nightly†radio show.
He said he wants Iowa to become a rivalry game to be played on Black Friday far into the future.
“Once we came to the Big Ten, we didn’t have a traditional rival, so that’s going to be in the works,†he said. “That will be scheduled long after I’m gone, and I mean from the face of the earth.â€
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Meanwhile, Moos said Nebraska’s 2020 and 2021 games against Minnesota will be played on Black Friday, as opposed to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in those years — which was the schedule plan originally released last fall by the Big Ten.
That plan would have ended Nebraska’s run of playing on Black Friday, a tradition that dated to the 1990s.
Last fall, former Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst and former Husker head coach Mike Riley publicly stated their preference to stop playing on Black Friday. However, Iowa remained interested in keeping that date.
When the Big Ten announced 2020 and 2021 schedules last September, Iowa’s season-ending opponent was Wisconsin. Those games reportedly could move to Friday.
But starting in 2022, it will be the Hawkeyes and Huskers again on Black Friday.
Moos said he likes the Black Friday games, because many people aren’t working on that day, which equates to more exposure for the Husker brand.
“That’s a whole big key of getting ourselves back into that national picture,†he said. “I’m glad that one’s in place.â€