Nebraska selected to play in Pinstripe Bowl vs. Boston College on Dec. 28
Nebraska’s bowl drought is officially over. The Huskers were selected on Sunday to play in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 28 against Boston College (7-5) in Yankee Stadium.
It snaps the nation’s longest power conference bowl-less streak.
Nebraska’s last appearance in a bowl game came during the 2016 season when Nebraska played Tennessee in the Music City Bowl in Nashville.
“Our team is looking forward to the opportunity to spend the bowl season in New York City and play in the Pinstripe Bowl,” Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule said in a statement. “This is a great connection between two iconic brands in Nebraska football and Yankee Stadium, and it will be a memorable experience for our players. I have great respect for the Boston College program and the success Coach (Bill) O’Brien has had in his first season.”
The Pinstripe Bowl will offer Nebraska (6-6) a nationally televised Saturday game on ABC. It will kick off at 11 a.m. CT and be the first of three bowl games that day aired on ABC.
It will be the Huskers’ first game on ABC since the 2022 football season at Michigan. The Big Ten ended its television agreement with ABC/ESPN following the 2022 football season.
Since the Big Ten began its agreement with the Pinstripe Bowl in 2014, Nebraka will be the 10th different team to play in the game in 11 years. The 2020 Pinstripe Bowl was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Big Ten owns a commanding 8-1 record in the Pinstripe Bowl since 2014, with the only loss coming in 2015 when Duke beat Indiana 44-41 in overtime. The league has won the last seven games, including Rutgers’ 31-24 win over Miami in 2023.
The trip to New York will have a historical value for Nebraska fans
The last time Nebraska played in a bowl game in Yankee Stadium was the 1962 Gotham Bowl against Miami.
Coincidently, that game ended a bowl drought dating back to the 1954 season, the same amount of time between the current bowl-less streak.
The 1962 Gotham Bowl was Bob Devaney’s first season at Nebraska, and it launched one of the greatest runs in college football history.
Interestingly, 1962 was the final year of the Gotham Bowl, which lost over $100,000 staging the 1961 game. NU waited on the runway to take off for New York, ensuring its $35,000 check from the Gotham cleared to cover their expenses.
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The Gotham Bowl lasted only for two seasons, with the Huskers playing the Hurricanes in 1962 and Baylor playing Utah State at the New York Polo Grounds in 1961. Event organizers tried to play a 1960 Gotham Bowl but failed to find an opponent for Oregon State.
Jim Turner, who kicked in the 1961 Gotham Bowl for Utah State, told the Associated Press in 2003 what he remembers most about the game: Some strange marketing and promotional ideas they had for the two teams.
Turner said one promotion featured Utah State players in their uniforms marching through Time Square for an appearance on the NBC “Today” show with host Dave Garroway.
The 1962 Gotham Bowl featured numerous obstacles
Problems other than money set the 1962 Gotham Bowl back. ABC canceled its television broadcast after issues from the 1961 game. There was also a newspaper strike in New York during the game, which prevented any publicity that the Gotham Bowl could’ve gotten from the local media.
Weather was also a factor. Freezing rain fell on game day, and just 6,166 fans attended.
“I really feel bad about getting you guys into this mess today,” Devaney told his team before kickoff. “I know it’s a terrible day, and this won’t be much fun, but it kind of reminds me of the old back-alley fights we used to have when I was a kid in Michigan. There’s nobody here to watch, but the toughest son-of-a-bitch is going to win!”
Even with terrible 14-degree conditions, the fans were treated to a great game, as the Huskers edged the Hurricanes 36-34.
All-American Miami quarterback George Mira threw for 321 yards, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Nebraska from winning its first bowl game in school history.
NU’s last game in New York City was the 1962 Gotham Bowl, but the Huskers did make three appearances in the Kickoff Classic, which was played in East Rutherford, N.J., from 1983 to 2002, and they’ve played at nearby Rutgers three times since 2015.
