The scene was so familiar, yet so breathtaking.
On Wednesday night, a sea of red-clad fans packed Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska to watch their beloved Cornhuskers compete. At a school with a 389-game football sellout streak dating back to 1962, it’s hardly an unusual sight, captivating as it may be.
But the 92,003 gathered in Memorial Stadium weren’t there to watch Nebraska’s football team. No, they were there for the Huskers’ women’s volleyball program.
The crowd for Nebraska’s three-set sweep of in-state foe Omaha — dubbed “Volleyball Day in Nebraska” by the university — set a record for the largest live audience for a women’s sporting event ever, topping the 91,648 who watched Barcelona beat Wolfsburg in a UEFA Champions League semifinal at Camp Nou in Spain in April 2022.
The success of the event was the product of a series of factors.
Nebraska’s women’s volleyball program is one of the most decorated in the sport’s history, claiming five national championships (including two in the past eight years). The Huskers are a strong contender for a sixth title this year entering the season ranked No. 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. That sustained success has built a large and committed following: They have sold out 306 consecutive home matches in the 8,000-seat Devaney Center, which also hosts the university's programs in men's and women's gymnastics; women's swimming and diving; and track and field programs.
While some of those variables are unique to Nebraska, the enthralling overhead shots of a sport other than football filling up a nearly 100,000-seat stadium raises a natural question — who else, particularly in the Big Ten, might be able to pull off something similar? The conference is home to some of the largest schools in the country, a number of which have successful non-football athletic programs with both overwhelming success and popularity.
Here are some possibilities:
There’s no better starting point than another red Big Ten school with a dominant women’s volleyball program. The Badgers won their first national championship in 2021, defeating Nebraska in the title game, and have made the national semifinals in three of the past four years. They enter the 2023 season as the No. 1 team in the country. Last season, they came just shy of selling out every game at the 7,229-seat UW Field House and drew 16,833 to the Kohl Center for a match against Florida that broke an NCAA regular-season attendance record.
Camp Randall Stadium would make for a nice and logical next step.
The Nittany Lions have the most women’s volleyball championships of any Big Ten school, with seven. They averaged just shy of 3,000 fans per match last season. Filling 106,572-seat Beaver Stadium would be a big ask, but it would be a fun moment for a proud program with a dedicated following.
The Hoosiers are one of the most storied programs in men’s basketball history — and they play in a state synonymous with the sport, to boot — but they’ve never played at Memorial Stadium, which seats 35,000 more fans than Assembly Hall. Given that college basketball season doesn’t start until early November, accommodations would likely have to be made to ensure the weather wouldn’t be too cold and even then, there’s always the risk of rain. Then there’s the question of whether it’s worth it to move a game away from one of the most hallowed venues in college basketball.
Such an arrangement would raise many of the same concerns and logistical hurdles for the Spartans as it would the Hoosiers. Michigan State is regularly among the top 15 teams in the country in home men’s basketball attendance. The Spartans have played before on an aircraft carrier. So why not 100-year-old, 75,000-seat Spartan Stadium?
The same caveats apply for the Hawkeyes’ women’s basketball team. A game would likely either have to be moved to an earlier (and warmer) date, though Iowa’s wrestling program did stage a dual meet at Kinnick Stadium on Nov. 14, 2015 that drew a record 42,287 fans. It likely won’t ever happen, given that she’s eligible for next year’s WNBA Draft, but could you imagine watching Caitlin Clark pull up from deep in front of tens of thousands of fans in a football stadium?
Actually, you can! Clark and the rest of Lisa Bluder's Hawkeyes will host DePaul in a scrimmage at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. local) on Sunday, Oct. 15 in the "Crossover at Kinnick" event. There will be no issues with turnover from a football game the previous day either, with Iowa playing a road football game at Wisconsin on Oct. 14.
IOWA HOOPSCaitlin Clark, teammates seek to pack football stadium for basketball game
The Nittany Lions have the third-most championships in NCAA history, with 11 — all but one of which have come since 2011. Under coach Cael Sanderson, they’re the sport’s modern-day dynasty. Iowa has shown that a wrestling-mad region will turn out to watch an accomplished program in huge numbers. It might not be enough to come close to filling the gargantuan Beaver Stadium, but it would make for a wonderful scene.
The Hoosiers are men’s college soccer royalty, claiming eight national championships: second-most of any school. Their success over decades has earned them a large and loyal following. Last season, they averaged more than 2,000 fans per game and are among the top 10 teams in attendance on an annual basis.
The Golden Gophers’ men’s program has played before at Huntington Bank Stadium, but their women’s program hasn’t (though it has played outdoor games at Parade Stadium, a few miles from the university’s campus in Minneapolis). Minnesota has won six women’s hockey national championships, tied for the most of any program in the sport’s history.
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