"I could care less": Matt Rhule reveals being at a lucky point in life after getting fired from the NFL

If Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule is watching when Ohio State and Texas cross paths in August, he'll be taking heed as to why his Cornhuskers wouldn't take part in such a marquee non-conference matchup. With the bumps and bruises that come with a Big Ten slate, Rhule doesn't think it would benefit his crew to take on another heavyweight opponent.

Rhule went into further detail on the matter during an appearance on "The Triple Option" podcast with Urban Meyer and Rob Stone on Wednesday.

"Why would you ever? Why would you ever play one of those games?" Rhule said. "And (if) we're being completely honest, like, Coach Meyer, I'm at a lucky point in my life where, at my fourth job and after getting fired in the NFL, I kind of say what I feel nowadays. I could care less.

"Why in the world would a Big Ten team who's already playing nine conference games, why would you ever play one of those games? ... There were some SEC teams that, last year, only played three away games in another team's stadium. Three. We're in a league where, some years you have five home Big Ten games (and) some years, you have five road." (Comments begin at 39:00)

Why does Matt Rhule think powerful non-conference games aren't helpful?

Matt Rhule feels as if he can predict the future, mainly because he's seen the results of the past, and also the most recent schedule.

"They proved to us this year when they did all the seeding and all that stuff that early-season wins didn't mean a thing," Matt Rhule said. "That, really, it was, at the end of the day, what you looked like in the last month of the season. ... It's really how good your offense is. If you're scoring points and blowing people out late in the year, you're gonna make it into the playoffs.

"We beat Colorado. That was the same weekend, Coach, that Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois. And so that was a huge win for us. That was a huge loss for them. They made the playoffs, obviously we did not."

Matt Rhule also pointed out that Oregon and USC would've been considered huge non-conference clashes in the past. Now, those schools are in the same league, making Nebraska's schedule all the more arduous. Tougher games mean more potential losses which in turn mean higher odds of being left out of the all-important College Football Playoff.

However, a partnership could be ahead between the Big Ten and the SEC, the two most powerful conferences in the sport. They've already begun trying to shift the postseason format even more than it has been after expanding to 12 teams.