The latest trendy topic for college football commenters to bloviate about is how schools should play more neutral-site games, even giving up home games to do so.

Sounds kind of cool. But it’s not happening on anything more than an irregular basis, as anyone who has ever sat down with an athletic director at conference administrative meetings can attest.

Power conference schools playing at least seven home games a year is NON-NEGOTIABLE. Anyone who tells you otherwise isn’t paying attention.

Listen to Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez from earlier this week: “Everyone needs seven home games to balance your budget.”

Or hear Ohio State A.D. Gene Smith: “We all work off needing seven home games. That’s how we’re set up.”

One school in a position to get creative in football scheduling …

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Former Nebraska volleyball player Julie Hermann has been named athletic director at Rutgers, becoming the third current female to lead a department at a BCS school.

Hermann, for the past 16 years, has been the executive senior associate A.D. at Louisville, where she has overseen 20 of that school’s 23 sports.

She grew up in Nebraska City and played volleyball for coach Terry Pettit at NU from 1981-84, earning All-Big Eight honors. She coached volleyball at Wyoming, Northern Arizona and Tennesee before getting into administration.

Hermann becomes just the second female A.D. in Big Ten history. The first was Merrily Dean Baker at Michigan State in the early 1990s.…

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Nebraska learned Tuesday the four Big Ten schools it will play only once next season in men’s basketball, and coach Tim Miles was puzzled with the choices.

The Huskers will face Iowa (road), Minnesota (home), Wisconsin (home) and Michigan State (road) as “single-plays.” The other seven schools are “double-plays,” meaning home and home.

That doesn’t do much to foster geographic rivalry as NU’s three closest schools are single-plays.…

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Iowa missing the Big Ten baseball tournament for the seventh time in Jack Dahm’s 10 years as coach has sparked speculation of a coaching change.

Hawkeye Athletic Director Gary Barta declined to get specific Tuesday about what’s to come.

“I observe daily and evaluate annually,” Barta said. “We’ve got another series left. At the end of the year, we’ll sit down like I do every year with each coach.”

Dahm, a former Creighton coach and player, is working on a one-year contract signed last spring after his previous five-year contract expired.

Said Barta: “Any time any of our programs isn’t in the top half and competing for championships, I have concerns. Again, we aren’t going to talk about it until the season is over.”

Dahm coached for 10 years …

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The Big Ten men’s basketball coaches are still meeting this morning here in downtown Chicago, but early word is that Nebraska and Iowa will face each other just once in the 2013-14 season.

It doesn’t make much sense for those two schools to be “single-play” opponents. Yet it appears that is what is ahead, with the game to be in Iowa City.

Starting in 2014-15, when Rutgers and Maryland join the Big Ten, plans are to keep an 18-game schedule with five home-and-homes and eight single-plays. Currently, schools play seven home-and-homes and four single-plays.…

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Julie Hermann, a former Nebraska volleyball all-conference player from Nebraska City, is one of two finalists to become the athletic director at new Big Ten member Rutgers.

Hermann, who played at NU from 1981-84, has spent the past 16 years at Louisville. She now is executive senior associate A.D. for the Cardinals with oversight of 20 sports. Before entering administration, Hermann coached volleyball at Wyoming, the U.S. National Team, Northern Arizona and Tennessee.

The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reports that Hermann and Sean Frazier, the deputy A.D. at Wisconsin, are the two finalists to succeed Tom Pernetti, who left in the wake of the recent men’s basketball abuse scandal at Rutgers.…

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Nebraska and Iowa will play home games in the 15th annual Big Ten/ACC men’s basketball challenge in December.

The Huskers (15-18) will host Miami of Florida (29-7) on Dec. 4 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Miami, ranked as high as No. 2 last season, lost in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament to Marquette.

Iowa will host Notre Dame on Dec. 3 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes (25-13) reached the title game of the NIT. Notre Dame (25-10) lost to Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Nebraska’s first two games in the Big Ten/ACC challenge were against Wake Forest.…

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There was other Nebraska basketball news on Friday besides selling out the new Pinnacle Bank Arena in season tickets.

Husker senior forward Brandon Ubel is considering an offer to play professionally in Brussels, Belgium, according to coach Tim Miles. There was discussion Friday that Ubel may get other European offers soon.

Nebraska also hosted a potential recruit Friday in 6-foot-9 Mikael Herbert from Finland. Herbert was accompanied by his father, Gordon, who coaches professionally in Germany.

Friday was the final day of the spring semester at NU. Miles said his players will regather soon in Lincoln to work out and play pick-up games. The NCAA also allows eight weeks of summer work with coaches in June and July, which is why Miles doesn’t want his team …

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Nebraska remains strongly interested in men’s basketball prospect Sai Tummala, a 6-foot-7 forward from Phoenix.

But competition just heated up with hometown Arizona State offering a scholarship to the Salt Lake (Utah) Community College transfer.

Recruiting sources and newspaper reports indicate Tummala is considering Nebraska, BYU, Santa Clara, Arizona State and Miami of Ohio. Another interested school, Georgia, appears to have reached its scholarship limit.

Nebraska coach Tim Miles can’t comment on specific recruits.

When reached Tuesday, Miles said the recruiting process continues for NU. Also, Miles said, no progress has been made on hiring an assistant to replace Ben Johnson, who left for Minnesota.

“Like I said before,” Miles said, “I’m going to take my time.”…

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Don’t slam the door on future college conference expansion and realignment just yet.

The trendy instant reaction Monday to news that members of the Atlantic Coast Conference agreed to a “grant of rights” clause for its television and media was that it would halt realignment.

By the schools “granting” media rights to the conference for 14 years, the theory is that it would be too costly for a school to change leagues because it wouldn’t have much of value to “carry” to a new league.

Several old friends in the business of college athletics I talked to Monday said they wouldn’t bet their own money on that.

These people — from conference offices and major-college athletic departments — all agreed that any number of lawyers would be delighted …

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