Who Will Nebraska Add as a Required 10th Power Four Opponent in 2027?

Expansion of the College Football Playoff is now official.

Beginning in 2027, the 12-team CFP will expand to 24. Conference champions from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC will automatically qualify, along with the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of Six. The other 19 spots will go to the highest-ranked remaining teams.

As part of this expansion, a new scheduling rule will go into effect. Power Four teams (and Notre Dame) are now required to play 10 opponents each year from that group. This means that for leagues like the Big Ten, where a nine-game schedule is played, one of the non-conference opponents must be from one of the other three P4 conferences or Notre Dame.

For Nebraska, this means a change will be needed in 2027.

Nebraska's Future Non-Con Opponents

Nebraska has at least one opponent under contract through 2035, with at least one of the required games for each of those seasons except for one: 2027.

The 2027 slate, which originally featured Tennessee out of the SEC, includes Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, and Northern Iowa. One of those games will need to be dropped in order to accommodate the new CFP rule.

An aerial view of the proposed renovations of Memorial Stadium from the southwest. — Memorial Stadium will be going through major renovations during the 2027 season. | Nebraska Athletics

The rest of the schedules through 2035 are fine. Those include P4 opponents Arizona, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma State.

Future P4 Non-Con Opponents

2027: None
2028: Arizona
2029: at Oklahoma
2030: Oklahoma
2031: at Arizona
2032: Notre Dame
2033: Cincinnati, at Notre Dame
2034: Oklahoma State
2035: at Oklahoma State

Who is available?

Most teams, including Nebaraska, schedule multiple seasons in advance. That means the pool of available opponents on a notice of less than a year is limited to those in the same situation.

Here is who has an open spot, or needs a P4 opponent, on their schedule from each league.

ACC

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Miami (already with a P4 opponent: Utah)
SMU (already with a P4 opponent: Oklahoma)
Stanford (already with two P4 opponents: Vanderbilt, Notre Dame)

Big 12

Arizona
Kansas
TCU
Texas Tech

SEC

Missouri
Ole Miss

Most-Likely Opponents

First, if you're looking for a one-year fill-in and not a home-and-home, the first date to look at is that Arrowhead Stadium game in Kansas City. That's slated for Aug. 27, a Friday during the new Week 1 of the season.

Nebraska played against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium to open the 2025 season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Kansas and Ole Miss are the only potential opponents with games that week, which means they would need to cancel with Louisiana Tech or Eastern Illinois to make the game work.

This could be a definite possibility for Kansas. A one-off non-conference game between the former conference foes in Kansas City would suit both sides well.

It would also work well for Missouri. The Tigers don't have a game scheduled for that week, but do have a trio of games under contract: vs. Illinois State, at San Diego State, vs. Florida Atlantic. Buying out the SDSU game for one two hours away against a former conference rival would be a solid way to open the 2027 schedule.

Nebraska and Missouri haven't played since both were members of the Big 12 Conference, a league that now features neither program. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Texas Tech would be another former Big 12 reunion matchup, but the Red Raiders are scheduled for just four home games in conference play. They're likely to try to find an opponent to play in Lubbock, as opposed to holding only six home games for the season

Kansas and Missouri make the most sense, especially if the game replaces Miami (OH) at Arrowhead. Now, the powers that be just need to do what makes the most sense for once.

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