Nebraska Official Accidentally Leaks Big Ten’s Return to Football on Hot Mic

It looks like the Big Ten Conference will start playing football very soon. According to a KETV7 in Omaha, Nebraska, an announcement on the University of Nebraska football season and the Big Ten season will be announced on Tuesday evening. This comes from Nebraska President Ted Carter, who was caught on a hot mic talking about it before the start of a news conference.

“We’re getting ready to announce the Huskers and Big Ten football tonight,” Carter said to Director of the National Strategic Research Institute Bob Hinson on Tuesday morning. Carter was asked about his comments caught on a hot mic and claimed that he was trying to say there was a lot of work going on to get Big Ten football going and hopes they’ll have a decision soon. Deb Fiddelke, chief communication and marketing officer for the University of Nebraska released a statement on the situation.

“When there is any news to share or confirm regarding any Big Ten board decision, it will be announced by the Big Ten. Chancellor Green and AD Moos will comment at that time.” Fiddelke said. As mentioned by 247Sports, Carter’s hot mic incident came after the University of Minnesota tweeted out an old picture of the football team captioned “When was the last time that the #Gophers started a football season in October?” The tweet led many to believe a big announcement could be imminent. However, it was reported the tweet was nothing more than just that.

In August, the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced football was going to be postponed for the fall with the hopes of playing in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the other Power 5 conferences (ACC, SEC and Pac-12) playing this fall as well as the Big Ten getting more medical information, it’s possible, the conference could return to action in October.

“If the Big Ten starts on October 17 — and they need to make that decision today or tomorrow. You can’t wait any longer to get everybody back within a month — then if you have postponements of significant proportion, it could really upset the apple cart,” ESPN Radio host Paul Finebaum said on the show First Take. “But I don’t think the College Football Playoff wants to delay to wait for anyone else to show up. They have to do it now.”