I know what you think you are saying BUT I am betting more schools are closer to lincoln than Kearney So that theory really doesn't hold water and I know for sure more students are. Now D2 or soon to be D3 and 6-man, then more are closer to kearney
8-Man Football Changes Coming
- Thread starter ACICOD
- Start date
This. No matter how bad Nebraska football has been in the last 7-8 years, kids want to play in Memorial Stadium. I was at the C1 final between Pierce and Adams Central at Pierce. It did not feel like a state championship game. Just didn't.
I played in Memorial Stadium. I also played 2 semi-final games in my home stadium and one in an away stadium. Every semi-final was more of an adrenaline rush than playing at Memorial Stadium. I think people drastically over estimate how much kids care about it. My opinion, most just flat out don't. Certainly not as many care now as did in 1996 when it started.
Poll high school football players. Ask them how many sellouts Nebraska has now. They won't know. Ask them what positions the players played in the ring of honor surrounding the stadium. They will get 50% or more wrong. Ask them who the starting FS is for the 2025 Nebraska team. Most won't know. Not a knock on Rhule or Nebraska. Just a fact that the state of the program does nothing to draw kids interest.
I agree that PBS does a fantastic job broadcasting the games. As mentioned in an earlier post, I don't have an answer to that. Traveling to multiple locations in one day is probably impossible. There would be games left without coverage.
Compare the crowds and environments on these two games. One is 2020 Westside vs Elk South @ Westside for state title. The other is 2023 Westside vs Elk South at Memorial Stadium for state title. One of them is drastically more intense than the other. I will leave that for viewers to determine which is which.
Last edited:
I don't think current high school kids care about if Nebraska is good or not, I bet if you ask kids point blank,
Would you rather play a state championship game at....
A. Memorial Stadium
B. UNK
C. Home stadium
I would be stunned if the majority of the vote wasn't Memorial Stadium. I played in a state semifinal game at home (2005) and it was electric, I get that. But we WANTED to play in that state championship in Memorial Stadium. We wanted to be on NET. We wanted to walk out of the tunnel. I know it was a different time in Husker history but that stuff still matters to kids.
In my opinion, the kids deserve to play in a big stadium. The kids deserve to "make it to Lincoln". It's the same thing I said about getting out of the high schools for state basketball. That needed to happen. The kids deserve better than playing at Lincoln High after going 24-0 in a regular season.
I agree with a lot of this. Our team didn't care about being on NET, but honestly that is probably because nobody we really cared about was going to be watching it on TV. They were going to be at the game. I think maybe that is one piece that I don't give enough thought to. The overall number of people going to games is decreasing because of the simplicity of livestreaming (regular season) and PBS (finals). For the common fan with no particular investment in the game, why drive there when you can watch from the comfort of your home? Huge asset provided by PBS. But....I also think if you take the broadcast away it instantly boosts attendance numbers. People still want to watch the game.
Never said anything about A-C2. Leave them in Lincoln. They will figure out the broadcasting. Maybe it isn't PBS, who does a great job, but it will be quality whatever is done. Heck, some HS streams are better than what PBS was putting out 20 years ago. Your point of PBS being free for everyone is valid. I guess I pay for NFHS for every other HS championship in the early rounds so if it had to go that way it wouldn't be a deal breaker... I just don't think they will give them back to the high schools. 8 man coaches will want to highlight their game, much the way the Sertoma game is. I think some great changes are coming if it all falls in place.
Great points. If you could convince the lower classes that they could be showcased better at UNK then that’s possible. It may seem more like being left out. Also not sure if the NSAA would be ok with cutting the Memorial Stadium games to 4 over two days. May not be worth the expense to rent it out. You could do
I am not an overall fan of having morning state championship games in football but it is done presently and even earlier in the other sports. So maybe you can get all 8 games in two days
Could rotate time slots for fairness. 8man gets a prime time slot on Monday night? I think all 6man and 8man games on one day would need to be done for field dimension purposes
Monday
9:00am - D6/D3
12:30pm - D6/D3
4:00pm - D1/D2
7:30pm - D1/D2
Tuesday
9:00am - C1/C2
12:30pm - C1/C2
4:00pm - A/B
7:30pm - A/B
I am a big fan of this schedule. You would need to modify awards ceremonies and shorten warm-ups on field but I think you could definitely make it work. Maybe utilize the hawks indoor facility if the University would allow it. Needs to be a conversation the NSAA has atleast!
Warming up elsewhere is plausible. Creighton has a field house that teams use for state soccer. Each team is limited to 20 minutes on the game field I think.
That said, 9:00 AM state title game....oof. I know we do it for basketball, but man. Imagine the CFP National Title game being played at 9:00 AM.
9am would be awful. Have to get the kids to the stadium at 7am. Have to get them up and eat breakfast before that even. That would be tough. Kearney does a great job of hosting the D6 championship. Great hospitality, the big locker rooms, stands feel full. It was a great experience for us last season
I'd be fine with Kearney hosting 6 and 8 man and NCN televising it. Actually like the idea of Kearney hosting it and making it special.
As far as the NSAA paying rent for two days and only four games, being that it's the two 8 man games they would be losing I don't think it's that big of a loss.
As far as the NSAA paying rent for two days and only four games, being that it's the two 8 man games they would be losing I don't think it's that big of a loss.
Would 8man schools be ok with that? I wouldn’t want a class to feel slighted. I agree though, letting Kearney make it special would be cool. Would have it still be at UNK on that Friday? Two you make it 2 days? Maybe make all C2-A games just on that Monday or Tuesday at Memorial then you’re only paying rent for 1 day. Although, if I’m a coach, I’d still prefer not to play morning games.
100% agree. Lets not forget anyone playing from the West is on mountain time so you are telling them they are playing for a state title at basically the same time they get to school everyday. So now you are probably saying 5am wake up/breakfast/travel to stadium to be there by 6am. We've went to the state wide seeding to make sure we are fairly getting the best teams to the championship. To do all of that and then force them to play that early seems like a contradiction of what we are working toward.
again Like I said POLL the current players would they rather play in Lincoln or Kearney and 75% or higher would say UNL
walking out the tunnel is a great experience and still is to this day
walking out the tunnel is a great experience and still is to this day
Based on current format and looking at how Iowa does it, I don't see why we cant start at 10:15 am and still get in 4 games. I wouldn't bring in portable goal posts, but rather move teams up to kick PATs if necessary that way the transition from 8 man field to 11 man field is just pulling up the sideline tape. It is done all the time on other fields. Modify awards ceremony and limit warm-up time. 3 hrs. 15 minutes for each game.
Day 1
10:15 am D3
1:30 pm D2
4:45 pm D1
8:00 pm B
Day 2
12:00 pm C2
3:15 pm C1
6:30 pm A
Seacrest would be a great place to host all 11man State Championship games. Great field, great parking, great fan setup for high school football. You could play A,B,C1,C2 there and let Kearney host four games over 2 days there. What a great championship week that could be! I coached in Memorial Stadium and it was fun, but when the place is empty for even class A, it just doesn't have the same effect.
It would be "The Citadel of College Football". And it wouldn't be close. Too many times we adults project our feelings on kids. The chance to tell your kids, grandkids or whatnot that "I played there" when it's on TV, is priceless for these guys. I was worried that it would feel empty and rattly way back in the day, but it doesn't. If I had MY druthers we'd have a nice 12-20 k domed stadium like Iowa and the Dakota's have to play them in. But Memorial is by far, the best option if we're not going to play it at home sites. As for hoops, they just need to move it to Omaha and go back to a 3 day. It would be far cheaper for families, even with the mostly extra travel, and I, personally, wouldn't have to deal with the Lincoln entitlement syndrome with their unbelievably jacked up prices.
Love this schedule! Iowa plays games all day long in the dome. Great day of football for fans. Crazy thing is, a simple decision like this will take years to get through the red tape of the NSAA.
