Shatel: Volleyball Day in Nebraska may be the biggest Title IX statement of all time

Jun 12, 2024

Recapping Nebraska volleyball's scrimmage and previewing the 2023 season

First downs and second guesses:

They’re calling it Volleyball Day in Nebraska. But what they'll be doing Wednesday at Memorial Stadium is about a lot more.

BUD CRAWFORD AT VOLLEYBALL DAY

Nebraska coach John Cook said he’s extended an invitation to Terence "Bud" Crawford to be honored at the event — and possibly lead the team out of the tunnel.

One problem: the Omaha native and Husker fan is currently out of the state.

“We’re waiting to hear,” Cook said. “He knows. He’s out of town. We’re waiting.”

There’s been talk about the boxing champ appearing at a Husker football game. But volleyball might get him first.

INTERNATIONAL EVENT

NU has issued credentials to media outlets all around the world.

And several national outlets, including the New York Times, are scheduled to be here to cover the event.

I remember when the New York Times used to cover Husker football games.

USING FOOTBALL LOCKER ROOM

The Nebraska volleyball team will use the Husker football locker room.

And will have their pregame meal served there.

ON-FIELD PRACTICE

All four teams will get to practice in the stadium on Tuesday, with Nebraska going from 6 to 8 p.m.

MEMORIAL STADIUM TREATMENT

There will be a pregame flyover including two F-16 jets and a KC-135 in formation.

The Tunnel Walk.

Fireworks.

Light show.

And a postgame concert.

BAKER, PETITTI WILL ATTEND

As Cook says, “The head of the NCAA (Charlie Baker) is coming in. Tony (Petitti) is coming from the Big Ten. Those guys ain’t coming here for a match.”

Good to see the coach is on a first name basis with the Big Ten’s new commissioner.

TV BROADCAST

The game will be shown live on Big Ten Network.

But certainly you could expect it to pop up on ESPN’s SportsCenter and probably some nightly news shows on Thursday.

GRANDEST TITLE IX STATEMENT EVER

Then there will be the fans — an expected crowd of 91,000.

It will be interesting to see how many show up. But it looks like there’s a break in the weather. And it will have all the ingredients of a football gameday, including no school, early tailgating and postgame traffic.

That’s the best part about this Volleyball Day in Nebraska.

It’s the grandest Title IX statement ever.

Think about it. Nebraska volleyball has been a Title IX success story, from their charter flights to their donor seating to making revenue and now NIL takes that compare favorably to most men’s sports at Nebraska.

But as always with Title IX, the comparisons stop with football. It’s the giant that will always dwarf everything else.

What if, for one night, NU volleyball — arguably the No. 2 sport on campus — got to walk in football’s shoes?

What if volleyball could be as big as football? What if the ladies could get the full experience? The stadium. The crowd. The state and national spotlight. All of it.

That’s what we’re seeing on Wednesday night.

And the world of volleyball and women’s sports is buzzing.

“I’ve heard from everybody,” Cook said. “It is the talk of the volleyball world. It’s been that way for several months. This is an unbelievable opportunity for women’s sport and volleyball.”

Does that make Cook nervous?

“Not now,” he said. “Maybe we will (be). We want to put on a good show.”

In the biggest way possible, they’ve already won.

I try to stay out of politics.

But I admire athletes — in this case Jordy Bahl — who speak on issues based on their convictions, whether you agree with them or not.

That's not for everyone. It's even rarer for college athletes.

The most intriguing area of Husker football for me is the special teams.

I see it as an X factor. An overdue X factor.

A lob-wedge punt that pins the other team inside the 10. A blocked punt. And punt return that sets up the offense at midfield. Field position wins the 50-50 games.

Both offense and defense will occasionally need assistance.

To me, this will be the story of the season.

It’s a five-hour flight, covering 2,296 miles, from San Francisco to Charlotte, N.C., for all those wondering.

I get what the ACC is doing by adding Stanford, Cal and SMU.

It’s about increasing the payout from ESPN.

It’s about stability in case Florida State or Clemson or Miami leave.

But it still seems crazy as hell.

It’s also about the College Football Playoff Committee and the automatic bids for conference champions when the playoff goes to 12 in 2024.

Many think that, with the Pac-12 going away, the number of automatic bids will drop from six to four.

The ACC wants one of those four.

I still can’t help but think about Stanford baseball, a College World Series program, spending five hours on a plane.

You wonder if they’ll have to stay two weeks on the east coast and get two series in.

If I’m MECA, I'd try to find a way to get Stanford and a couple ACC schools to stage their league games in Omaha. Why not?

This week means a return of my favorite Big Ten trophy: the $5 bits of broken chair trophy for the Nebraska-Minnesota game.

The broken chair has its origin from the fan bases and is not recognized by either school. That alone makes it great.

Now consider that fans from both sides have raised tens of thousands of dollars each year to support Team Jack (Nebraska) and the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. This year, Gopher and Husker fans have raised nearly $14,000 for those great causes.

With P.J. Fleck and Matt Rhule being friends, they need to get behind this.

It’s prediction time. Oh boy.

Big Ten East: Michigan.

Big Ten West: Illinois.

Big Ten Champ: Michigan.

SEC: Georgia.

ACC: Florida State.

Big 12: Texas.

Pac 12: Washington.

Heisman Trophy: Blake Corum, Michigan.

Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. Ohio State.

Rose Bowl: Michigan vs. Washington.

National champ: Ohio State over Michigan.

Get local news delivered to your inbox!

Sports columnist

Recapping Nebraska volleyball's scrimmage and previewing the 2023 season