Nebraska Football: Memorial Stadium Attendence Record Could Fall vs. Michigan

We know Nebraska fans show up to games. They've done so in sellout fashion since 1962.

On Saturday, for the first time since 1911, the winningest college football team in NCAA Division I FBS history, the Michigan Wolverines, will pay a visit to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.

The game features two of college football's true blue bloods, both of whom are in the midst of climbing back to the top of the Mount Rushmore of college football.

Surprisingly, the histories of these two programs will take a backseat to the present and future under the lights this weekend. Besides being a classic late-October matchup of two storied programs, it is also the contest that will put one of the two programs in the driver's seat to represent the Legends Division in the Big Ten Championship game.

Those implications could be what catapults this game to the top of the Memorial Stadium record books in terms of single-game attendance.

Even with a seating capacity of 81,091, standing room only guests regularly boost Memorial Stadium's attendance to over 85,000 people for Huskers games. The most that it has ever housed was 86,304 on September 26, 2009 when Nebraska hosted Louisiana-Lafeyette during the NCAA-record 300th consecutive sellout.

That sellout record remains intact, but the single-game attendance record from that day is in serious jeopardy given the importance of this game for both programs involved and the demand for tickets. 

The entertainment aspect of the contest will contribute to the numbers as well as two of the nation's most exciting players—Taylor Martinez of Nebraska and Denard Robinson of Michigan—will line up under center for the two teams. These two and the offenses that they run are expected to light up the scoreboards in Lincoln on what very well could be another record-setting Saturday of Nebraska football.