2020 Nebraska - An Independent Season?

I've been trying to really think about this through the eyes of a player.  I know I'd desperately want to have my fall season and compete.  But what would an independent Fall season really mean for me:

1. It would create a lot of uncertainty for my eligibility. 

2. Would we actually be competing for anything, or are these glorified scrimmages?

3. Is the risk of injury in a non-competitive season worth possibly missing a conference season in the Spring?

4. Will there be people in attendance in the Spring?  

5. With no Spring Ball and a messed up Fall Camp, are we ready to jump in with Oklahoma, Texas, etc...

Once you get past the extreme disappointment and frustrations, I don't get why a player would want to play "scrimmages" if it could cost a year of eligibility.  Maybe it wouldn't cost them a year of eligibility since the games will be in the same academic year?  Who knows...?

 
NM11046 said:
Yes I'll agree to that.

So you will then agree that should said player contract covid (however it is contracted) that those that he lifts with, spots for, runs with, eats next to, trains with, sleeps with, high fives with, yells at, blocks against, runs stairs with, runs by, throws a football too, rides an elevator with are at increased risk of also contracting the virus?  Especially when we know it is passed via respiratory droplets - athletics are not a safe place to be, and high impact, high touch, close quartered athletic endeavors are really increasing risk.  Unneccessarily.

If baseball players are passing it around what do you think happens on a football field?

I am completely bummed about this and will miss my football, but this is the right decision.  
Click to expand...
You mean the players doing what they have been doing for the past 30 days? 

 
knapplc said:
HIPAA (not hippa or hippo) prevents medical professionals from sharing medical information without the patient's knowledge.

It has nothing to do with employers or athletic departments. Those are bound by general privacy policies or laws, depending on the jurisdiction.
Click to expand...
The training departments are carrying out the tests in conjunction with outside testing programs, and would be part of a players medical file, so  if pressed on this, schools could find themselves in violation of HIPPA. 

 
funhusker said:
I've been trying to really think about this through the eyes of a player.  I know I'd desperately want to have my fall season and compete.  But what would an independent Fall season really mean for me:

1. It would create a lot of uncertainty for my eligibility. 

2. Would we actually be competing for anything, or are these glorified scrimmages?

3. Is the risk of injury in a non-competitive season worth possibly missing a conference season in the Spring?

4. Will there be people in attendance in the Spring?  

5. With no Spring Ball and a messed up Fall Camp, are we ready to jump in with Oklahoma, Texas, etc...

Once you get past the extreme disappointment and frustrations, I don't get why a player would want to play "scrimmages" if it could cost a year of eligibility.  Maybe it wouldn't cost them a year of eligibility since the games will be in the same academic year?  Who knows...?
Click to expand...
But you are basically a national celebrity all season long due to being one of the only shows in town. Think of the exposure with few other games. Hopefully, if we opt this way, are boys are ready for the big stage.

 
Archy1221 said:
The training departments are carrying out the tests in conjunction with outside testing programs, and would be part of a players medical file, so  if pressed on this, schools could find themselves in violation of HIPPA. 
Click to expand...


They would more likely be in violation of FERPA, not HIPAA. HIPAA covers a narrow range of health care providers, health plans and/or healthcare clearinghouses.  University athletic departments are none of these. 

It's a minor issue, like the difference between you're/your, but it's informative to know which is applicable.

 
internetman said:
wait you think ND State, SD State, IA state and KState all playing Nebraska in Lincoln would bring in 30 million? lol. what
Click to expand...


If Nebraska went rogue, I'd assume they'd go full rogue and put their games on PPV.  You telling me you couldn't wrastle up 300k people to pay $100 for the 'Football Freedom Package'?

 
Xmas32 said:
If Nebraska went rogue, I'd assume they'd go full rogue and put their games on PPV.  You telling me you couldn't wrastle up 300k people to pay $100 for the 'Football Freedom Package'?
Click to expand...


You'd have a far easier time getting 1.2 million people to pay $25 for those games, but I think that'd happen. Especially if it was available via streaming service.

 
knapplc said:
They would more likely be in violation of FERPA, not HIPAA. HIPAA covers a narrow range of health care providers, health plans and/or healthcare clearinghouses.  University athletic departments are none of these. 

It's a minor issue, like the difference between you're/your, but it's informative to know which is applicable.
Click to expand...
Why would COVID testing be apart of an educational file? 
 

does the athletic department have its own lab? 

 
Xmas32 said:
If Nebraska went rogue, I'd assume they'd go full rogue and put their games on PPV.  You telling me you couldn't wrastle up 300k people to pay $100 for the 'Football Freedom Package'?
Click to expand...


well to be fair. Iowa state and KSU still are having a season (as of now). 

SDSU and nebraska fans overlap more than you'd like to and there are like 17,000 fans at NDSU games. I understand the wild grasping at straws many are doing here but come on. 

 
knapplc said:
A few things:

UNL makes BANK in the Big Ten. It's not only an athletic conference, it's a highly collaborative academic conference. The Big Ten Academic Alliance (formerly the CIC) opens doors to billions of dollars in grants that Nebraska would otherwise have no access to. If that was the only benefit to being a member of the Big Ten, it would be a no-brainer to stay.

Nebraska Athletics make BANK in the Big Ten. Our revenue skyrocketed since joining the conference. It's allowed us to build up our athletic infrastructure, with new facilities for basketball, track, soccer, volleyball, football, gymnastics, and with planned upgrades to several other sports in the upcoming years. 

The Big XII is a garbage conference. It's not the conference we left, and it's not remotely as prestigious as the conference we're in, nor does it make any money. The Big XII doesn't want us any more than the Big Ten wanted us in 2010. The only reason that enthusiasm has soured on either side is because of Nebraska's own piss-poor performance on the field.  

The Big XII is not the Big 8, and it will never be again. Those days are gone and will never return. Colorado is gone, Missouri is gone, even Texas A&M is gone. And they've replaced those good teams with... West Virginia and TCU?  Ugh.  No, thank you. I'd rather play in a conference with Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota. 

Anyone pining for the way things used to be needs to disabuse themselves of that notion. It's never coming back. Oklahoma chose Texas as their rival and that will not change with the return of Nebraska to the Big XII. Iowa State, Kansas and KSU will still hate us and will work against us as much now as they did during the formative years of the Big XII. They are not our friends and they do not have our best interests at heart. The ONLY reason they want us in their conference is we travel to their stadiums and they get a payday when they host us. Period. 

Go independent?  Eh. Maybe. Again, we'd lose out on access to the CIC, which will hurt the school (and let's remember that UNL is actually a school, not a sports factory). We'd have to figure out a contract that will replace the money we're getting from the Big Ten's GOR, which will be pretty damned hard coming off of three straight losing seasons. We are not a marquee name anymore, so we'd be negotiating from a weak position.  We'd have a greater variety of opponents, but we'd also have pissed off not one but two of the G5 conferences, so scheduling those teams would be a difficult task. This is the least likely and least beneficial option for Nebraska, by far.

So... that's just off the top of my head the problems with leaving the B1G. I'm sure others have more in-depth thoughts. 
Click to expand...
Yeah people that just want to throw away the academic benefits are being shortsighted, I feel.

Nebraska was accepted by the Big Ten because they wanted to improve their football profile and get a conference championship game, and I think they felt Nebraska was just barely qualified academically.  Nebraska has a chance over the next 20 years or so to undergo some serious academic improvement due to the association with other Big Ten schools.  We've only been in for 10 years - upgrading the educational programs takes time. 

Football is very important to Nebraska (both the university and the state). No arguing that.  But it is not the only thing that is important - major universities exist for education and research.  Sports is a branding exercise that schools use to raise funds that we can all enjoy.  However, I think it would be even harder to recruit since right now Nebraska is not exactly a hot school for star high school players.  Without exposure through a major conference TV deal, would most top flight recruits even care.  I know it is fashionable to talk about Nebraska work ethic, but it is pretty hard for a school like Nebraska to compete at the top level by simply using a bunch of kids in a low population state that doesn't generate a lot of highly ranked talent every year.  You have to work ethic, coaching, and talent to consistently be in the top 10.  Missing any of those leads to, well 4-8 seasons.

And I know basketball isn't important to many of you, but how exactly would Nebraska fill 29 games a year without 18 conference games?  That schedule would be ugly.  Unless Nebraska is willing to become a "road" team and give home games to other power conference teams disproportionately.  Otherwise most major conference teams would have little motivation to schedule us in basketball.  May Nebraska basketball and all other minor sports could just join the Summit (or whatever conference UNO is in).

If this was Nebraska football of the 1990s it would be easier to pull off - at that time Nebraska would have been able to possibly strike a deal with a major network, similar to Notre Dame (not for as much money most likely, but probably more net income than the old Big 8/Big XII shares of the day).  However, does Nebraska have that type of cachet today?  This is a team working on three losing seasons in a row.

If Nebraska challenges the Big Ten to try and call their bluff, they may well find themselves on the outside with nowhere to go.  If Nebraska goes independent, who will they play from year to year?  I doubt any Big Ten schools would play them anytime in the near future.  Maybe some of the Big XII schools? Outside of Oklahoma in football and Kansas a couple times in basketball, they don't seem to be straining to play us. How many a year could you expect to play?  So what do you end up with, a lot of games against really weak teams in order to get enough home games to make up for the loss of revenue from the Big Ten TV deal?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
knapplc said:
They would more likely be in violation of FERPA, not HIPAA. HIPAA covers a narrow range of health care providers, health plans and/or healthcare clearinghouses.  University athletic departments are none of these. 

It's a minor issue, like the difference between you're/your, but it's informative to know which is applicable.
Click to expand...
I think it depends on how the tests were communicated and to whom.  The way I understand it, and electronic transfer of health information to/from a health provider is covered under HIPPA.  I very well could be wrong, but it seems to be the case when student services send health information to a students PHP, or any HC referral.  
I would think a positive test would be something anyone would want in their Health care file. 
 

 
krc1995 said:
not for athletic purposes.  For educational purposes.  The link between ferpa and athletes is for disclinary disclosure. 

I know you can google, but you have to have worked with Ferpa to really understand it.   
Click to expand...


I can pull up the court cases where FERPA was cited as the key factor in the release of SA records if you like. 

Honestly, I really don't care. Just write HIPAA instead of HIPPA in the future and we'll call it good.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top