Nebraska Football Opponent Akron Handed Bowl Ban

The second opponent for the Huskers this fall is ineligible for postseason play.

Memorial Stadium during pregame for Nebraska vs. Akron in 2018. The game was halted for lightning and eventually canceled. | Nebraska Athletics

The home-opener for Nebraska football this fall will be against an opponent who already knows they won't be playing in a bowl game.

Akron has been handed a postseason ban after posting a failing Academic Progress Rate score for 2023-24. The Zips had a 914 multi-year APR score, which is below the 930-threshold required to remain eligible for postseason competition.

Sep 21, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Akron Zips head coach Joe Moorhead directs his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

Only three football programs received postseason bans for their latest APR rate, with Akron being the only one in FBS. The two FCS programs are Mississippi Valley State and UAPB. Florida A&M, Missouri State, Murray State, and Utah Tech all received practice time reductions for low APR rates.

According to Reddit, only four programs in the last decade have fallen below the threshold to be eligible for postseason play. New Mexico State and LSU did so in 2023, but a COVID waiver was still in place. Idaho was the last program to receive a postseason ban.

For comparison, Nebraska posted a 976. The Huskers have stayed above 960 since the 2010-11 release. NU had low numbers in the mid-2000s, scoring as low as 932 in 2004-05.

Sep 18, 2004; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Bill Callahan on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Heinz Field. | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

Akron is carrying the fourth-longest bowl drought among FBS programs. The Zips have not played in a bowl game since 2017.

The Zips have not posted a winning season since 2017, when they went 7-7. Since then, Akron is 15-63, including a trio of 2-10 seasons before going 4-8 in 2024.

Nebraska and Akron were last scheduled to play in 2018. That game was supposed to be the beginning of the Scott Frost era but was instead delayed due to lightning and eventually canceled outright.

Sep 1, 2018; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Scott Frost leads the team onto the field for the game against the Akron Zips at Memorial Stadium. | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

The Huskers and Zips are slated to play at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 6. This will be the second game of the season for Nebraska, after opening on Aug. 28 against Cincinnati in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium.

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