Report: Nebraska Football Adds Nevada to 2029 Schedule

Nebraska football's "virtually complete" future schedule got a little more complete Friday.

As first reported by Justin Frommer of the Hastings Tribune, Nebraska is adding Nevada to the 2029 slate. That season's nonconference games also include a road trip to Oklahoma and one game still to be determined. The Wolf Pack will receive a $1.6 million guarantee for the game.

🚨 #Nebraska schedule news #Huskers have added a home game against Nevada to its 2029 schedule, the Hastings Tribune has learned through public records.

Teams haven't played since 2007. #Nebraska 2029 schedule:
Sept 1 vs Nevada
Sept 15 at Oklahoma
TBD pic.twitter.com/JgNTOWT46g
— Justin Frommer (@JustinbFrommer) August 8, 2025

The news comes just hours after Nebraska director of athletics Troy Dannen met with the media to deliver a state of the Huskers address and take questions. He was asked about nonconference scheduling.

"With the exception of what we did with Tennessee as it relates to the football schedule, the schedule here – and I haven’t really touched it – is virtually complete through 2032," Dannen said. "A perfect schedule today – until the CFP looks different and says ‘you need to schedule this way’ or the Big Ten does something different – is a home-and-home against an A-4, a bye, a G-6, and an FCS. That’s kind of the way it’s set up. I do not expect to touch the schedule or make any scheduling changes until after the stadium is done and after the CFP decides what its model is going to be.

"It’s like basketball. You have to schedule to get into the postseason. You have to. I don’t care if we haven’t been close to it. That’s where we want to be, that’s how we have to schedule. We’ll schedule what is optimal to get into the postseason."

When the Huskers and Wolf Pack meet on Sept. 1, 2029, in Memorial Stadium, it will be the second all-time matchup between the two programs. Nebraska dominated, 52-10, when the teams played in Lincoln in 2007.

Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Marlon Lucky turns upfield against the Nevada Wolf Pack in the third quarter on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Lucky gained 233 yards rushing on 30 carries, both career highs. | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

Back in 2023, the Big Ten Conference announced future league opponents with home and away designations. That only runs through 2028, so Nevada and the Sept. 15 game at Oklahoma are the only known contests so far for that season.

One conference upgrade for Nevada, but not two

When Nebraska and Nevada last met, the Wolf Pack were members of the WAC. After three straight losing seasons to open the 2000s, Nevada ran off seven bowl-eligible campaigns, including a 13-1 team in 2010 that finished at No. 11 in the AP poll.

That success got Nevada an invitation to the Mountain West. The Wolf Pack put together back-to-back 7-6 seasons in their new league but have never had more than eight wins in a season since joining.

Nevada Wolf Pack defensive lineman Willie Faataualofa celebrates after the game against the Boise State Broncos at Mackay Stadium. Nevada defeated Boise State 34-31 in overtime. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Nevada has had three straight seasons of double-digits losses. This comes at perhaps the worst possible time for them, as the Pac-12 is attempting to rebuild from just Oregon State and Washington State. Five Mountain West programs, none being Nevada, are leaving the league to join the new Pac-12 in 2026: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State.

Other future nonconference opponents

Earlier this year, Nebraska and Tennessee canceled their 2026 and 2027 home-and-home series. The two programs have not met since Tennessee won the 2016 Music City Bowl. Nebraska owns the all-time series 2-1.

General view of Nissan Stadium in the second half of the Music City Bowl between the Tennessee Volunteers and Nebraska Cornhuskers. | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

“We are making plans to embark on major renovations of Memorial Stadium that may impact our seating capacity for the 2027 season,” Dannen said at the time. “The best scenario for us is to have eight home games in 2027 to offset any potential revenue loss from a reduced capacity. The additional home games will also have a tremendous economic benefit on the Lincoln community.”

Tennessee was replaced on the 2026 schedule with Bowling Green, on Sept. 12. The Huskers will also host Ohio (Sept. 5) and North Dakota (Sept. 19) that fall.

The 2027 slate saw the Volunteers dropped for a Sept. 11 battle with Miami (Ohio). Nebraska will also host Northern Illinois (Sept. 4) and Northern Iowa (Sept. 18).

Nebraska Cornhuskers wide receiver Jaylen Lloyd catches a pass against Colorado Buffaloes safety Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig during the second quarter at Memorial Stadium. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The only other full non-con slate is in 2028, where Nebraska will host UTEP (Sept. 2), South Dakota State (Sept. 9) and Arizona.

After 2029, the known nonconference opponents are South Dakota State and Oklahoma in 2030, at Arizona in 2031, Cincinnati in 2033, Oklahoma State in 2034, and at Oklahoma State in 2035.

Nebraska opens this fall with a neutral-site game against Cincinnati in Kansas City on Aug. 28. The other non-league games are Akron (Sept. 6) and Houston Christian (Sept. 13) in Lincoln.

Nebraska Football 2025 Schedule

Aug. 28 (Thursday) vs. Cincinnati (Kansas City) 8 p.m. ESPN
Sep. 6 vs. Akron 6:30 p.m. CDT BTN
Sep. 13 vs. Houston Christian 11 a.m. FS1
Sep. 20 vs. Michigan 2:30 p.m. CBS
Oct. 4 vs. Michigan State 11/2:30/3
Oct. 11 at Maryland TBA
Oct. 17 (Friday) at Minnesota 7 p.m. FOX
Oct. 25 vs. Northwestern TBA
Nov. 1 vs. USC TBA
Nov. 8 at UCLA TBA
Nov. 22 at Penn State TBA
Nov. 28 (Black Friday) vs. Iowa 11 a.m. CBS

Home games are bolded. All times central.

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