The first Nebraska football opponent as a Big Ten institution is the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Nebraska announced that it has completed the 2011 football schedule with the addition of the Mocs to the non-conference slate. The Huskers will open the season against the Football Championship Subdivision team in Lincoln on Saturday, Sept. 3.
The matchup will be Nebraska's first-ever meeting with Chattanooga. The game is the final piece of a non-conference schedule that also includes games against Fresno State (Sept. 10) and Washington (Sept. 17) in Lincoln, in addition to a trip to Wyoming on Sept. 24. The Huskers will open Big Ten Conference play at Wisconsin on Oct. 1.
"We are pleased to have completed our 2011 football schedule," Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne said. "Our non-conference schedule will provide us with some challenges, and we certainly will face a tough schedule of games in our first season in the Big Ten. Overall, it should be one of the nation's most challenging schedules."
Chattanooga finished 2010 with a 6-5 record, including a 5-3 mark in the Southern Conference. The Mocs were ranked in the FCS Top 25 as recently as early November, and their five wins in conference play were the most for the school since 1985.
Chattanooga defeated Georgia Southern who is in the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, while three of their losses came against playoff teams, with a fourth against top-ranked Auburn.
In the past four seasons, the Mocs have played games at Auburn, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida State and Arkansas.
The contest with Chattanooga will be just the second game with an FCS opponent for Nebraska since 2006. This season, Nebraska defeated South Dakota State 17-3 in Lincoln on Sept. 25. The contest will be Nebraska's first football game as a member of the Big Ten Conference, meaning the game will be televised by either the Big Ten Network or one of the league's other television partners.
In addition to the 2011 schedule, Nebraska has 13 other non-conference games under contract between 2012 and 2017. Included in that group are two additional games each with Fresno State and Wyoming, home-and-home series with UCLA, Miami and Tennessee and three games against Southern Miss.
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