Nebraska will cut a 2027 opponent for the 24-team CFP

Dannen didn't hedge on Tuesday. Everything Nebraska does with its schedule now is built around next year's playoff.

Brian Christopherson

@Husker247BC

Everything the Huskers are doing now is in anticipation of a 24-team playoff next year. "Our schedule will change next year," Dannen said. The Huskers have talked to all the non-con opponents and will drop one of those to pick up a Power 4 game and may need them to move weeks.

Here's why. The College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams in 2027, so this is the last year of the 12-team bracket. Once there are 24 spots, a non-con schedule with no power-conference opponent on it is a strength-of-schedule problem. Nebraska's 2027 slate is exactly that kind of problem. The Huskers have Northern Illinois, Miami (OH) and Northern Iowa as their 3 non-conference games, and no Power 4 opponent, because the Tennessee home-and-home got canceled on short notice.

Dannen saw this coming. He said earlier that Nebraska would "have to adjust scheduling in a 24-team playoff," and that "an FCS game really is a non-factor" in how the committee weighs a résumé. Read that and you'd guess Northern Iowa, the FCS team on the list, is the one getting cut. He hasn't named it, though. The game that gets dropped depends on who replaces it, and Nebraska isn't the one making that call.

Brian Christopherson

@Husker247BC

"The game in Kansas City may not be Miami of Ohio when it's all said and done. That right now is really in the hands of the Big Ten. Because there are five schools in the Big Ten that do not have that 10th Power Four game next year. So there's a lot of coordination with opponents ... So the Big Ten is working through that right now," Dannen said. Dannen has had three or four conversations about different opponents. He'd like to have it put to bed by Thanksgiving weekend.

So the Big Ten is holding the pen, and that's the interesting part. Five schools in the league don't have a 10th Power 4 game lined up for 2027, so the conference is trying to pair them up instead of letting 5 athletic departments call around on their own. Dannen even said the Kansas City game, which was supposed to be a Friday night opener against Miami (OH) at Arrowhead, might end up being against someone else. Nebraska may also have to move games to different weeks so the new opponent fits.

Evan Bland

@EvanBlandOWH

Dannen says Nebraska's 2027 schedule will have to change to add a 10th power-league team with 24-team CFP change coming. NU will have to drop a current noncon foe between Miami (OH), Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa.

This lines up with what Dannen has pushed for a while. He wants a 9+1 model across the power leagues, meaning 9 conference games plus 1 Power 4 non-conference game, and he has said that requirement is "coming" to the Big Ten. He wants at least 1 Power 4 opponent on every Nebraska non-con schedule after 2027. Apparently 2027 doesn't get an exception either.

What to watch: Dannen has had 3 or 4 conversations about possible opponents and wants it settled by Thanksgiving weekend. Keep an eye on which of the 5 Big Ten schools gets paired with which opponent, and whether Kansas City keeps Miami (OH). Whichever MAC or FCS team loses its Lincoln payday will be the one with a gap on its 2027 schedule.