Nebraska will have home-field advantage at Arrowhead Stadium for its college football season-opener against Cincinnati. Huskers fans caused a massive traffic jam across the state of Kansas.
It started early in the morning and continued into late afternoon.
Fortunately, college football fans who did arrive to Kansas City on time were treated to early entry. Basically the entire city of Lincoln made the trip.
Why is the Nebraska playing college football against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium?
Great question. Nobody really knows the answer.
This unusual cross-conference matchup was originally scheduled to be played at Cincinnati. It was part of a home-and-home agreement between the two schools that was impacted by the pandemic in 2020.
The Bearcats later announced their plans to host the Cornhuskers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Aug. 23, 2025. That plan switched to Arrowhead Stadium in December 2024.
Technically speaking, it will be a home game for Cincinnati and Nebraska will be designated as the away team. The crowd is not going to reflect that reality.
Cornhuskers fans are rolling deep to Kansas City.
Arrowhead is located 209 miles to the northeast of Lincoln, Nebraska. Cincinnati, Ohio is located 754 miles east of Lincoln.
It takes approximately eight hours and 30 minutes to drive from Cincinnati to Arrowhead. It takes just three hours (and some change) to drive from Lincoln to Arrowhead.
Not only is the commute much shorter for Huskers fans, they are a lot more passionate.
The University of Nebraska has sold out 403 consecutive home football games dating back to 1962. This away game at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs will not count toward that record but it might get close!
People started to report slowdowns on the highway from Lincoln to Kansas City before 10 a.m.
There has been a steady flow of traffic throughout the entire day.
One Nebraska fan left Lincoln at 11:00 a.m. She was still more than an hour from her hotel in Kansas City as of 3:00 p.m.
Nebraska State Patrol tried to suggest alternate routes but it was far too late. Traffic was at a standstill.
Cornhuskers fans who did finally make it to Arrowhead Stadium were met by closed gates. They could not get in to the parking lot so they set up a tailgate on the side of the road.
Their peer pressure ultimately proved successful. Arrowhead opened its gates 30 minutes early because the line of cars waiting to get in was already so long.
Only time will tell whether Nebraska can live up to expectations in 2025 but home-field advantage for an away game against an inferior opponent seems like a great place to start. Good luck to everyone still on the road!