CHICAGO — Nebraska coach Mike Riley said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days that he’d rather not play any more Friday night football games after the Huskers visit Illinois this season.
The Big Ten announced last year that the league would expand its Friday night football television package beyond the opening weekend and, though Nebraska is playing at Illinois on Sept. 29, the league received significant pushback from high school athletic associations in various states, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany confirmed Monday.
Riley told reporters Tuesday that he understands the TV aspect of why the Big Ten chose to play games on Friday night, but he doesn’t like playing games on short weeks.
“I do not like to get out of the routine of what we do week to week to get ready for a game” Riley said. “I hate that, as a matter of fact. I’m a real routine guy of a countdown to a game. So changing that is no fun for me. Because you always have a mystery of where your team is physically in what you need to do, and what you need to do in the actual preparation part of it.”
Riley said he “just likes Saturdays for football.”
Riley was asked if he’d like to see Nebraska pull out of Friday night games after this year.
“Yeah, I would,” Riley said. “For those reasons. I like Saturdays. I like the full week of preparation.”
