The Tennessee Volunteers were left at the altar on Friday by the Nebraska Cornhuskers after the latter canceled their matchups with UT in the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The last-minute cancellation had Danny White publicly frustrated (understandably so), given the challenge he and the university will face in finding a suitable 11th-hour replacement.
According to one former Nebraska player and prominent online presence, it was a game that made no sense for the Cornhuskers to play. Barstool Sports’ Will Compton took to Twitter/X to say that a win over the Vols doesn’t move the needle enough to be worth playing.
First, it’s a bit amusing to say a “Tennessee W” does nothing for them, both in the presumption that Nebraska would win (Tennessee would surely have been favored this year and quite likely next year, too) and implying it wouldn’t move the needle. Tennessee has consistently been a top 25 program under Josh Heupel. Top 25 wins – at least in most years – matter when it comes down to the playoff cutting block.
However, Compton is right in that Nebraska plays a 9-game schedule in one of the two toughest conferences in the country (calling it the hardest is pushing it). The Cornhuskers are going to play their fair share of big games in conference play, so the opportunity for big wins will come there. And, after how things shook out last year with the playoff field, avoiding three losses with the committee also appears to matter significantly (although each year will be unique in its late-season circumstances and team resumes). If that’s the groundwork the committee is going to lay, might as well play three directional-state universities in the non-conference and minimize the damage.
Still, there is the talk of a scheduling agreement with the Big Ten and SEC in the near future where their schools play each other annually in addition to 9-game conference schedules, so the challenge Compton talks about might be coming to stay for Nebraska anyways.
Regardless, it was poor form for Nebraska to bail out at the last minute, even if Compton thinks it was a move the Big Red should have made.