Bill Moos has begun the conversation with the people who matter about the possibility of Iowa being Nebraska's permanent opponent for the Black Friday game.

"I have talked to both the Big Ten and to my counterpart at Iowa about the prospects of really starting to develop a true rivalry between our two schools," the Husker athletic director told Nebraska247 on Wednesday. "And especially in football, that game on an annual basis, whether at their place or ours, be on that Friday following Thanksgiving."

That situation got complicated this past fall when the Big Ten released schedules for the 2020-21 seasons that have the Huskers scheduled to play Minnesota the final weekend of the season, with Iowa playing Wisconsin.

It was a break from what has been, and a Big Ten official offered public comments soon after that news signaling the possible plans of having the four schools of Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota rotate their final week opponent every couple years.

Then-Husker athletic director Shawn Eichorst seemed accepting of that idea, saying, "I'm happy with playing anybody at the end."

But since Moos became athletic director, he has been strong in his stance of pushing for Nebraska-Iowa to be a rivalry game. He also has spoken of the importance of keeping Nebraska playing on the day known as Black Friday, something the program has done annually since 1990. The Huskers played Oklahoma for six years on that date, then Colorado for 15 years, and Iowa for the past seven.

Moos told Nebraska247 back in November how important traditions are to him. “One thing that is tough is that we don’t have a rival,” Moos said then. “We’re trying to create some, but the great thing about back in the day is that it was Nebraska and Oklahoma, two super powerhouses in the old Big 8 and Big 12.”

While the Huskers are scheduled to play Iowa on Black Friday the next two years, the regular-season finale games the next two years against Minnesota were originally slated for Saturday. Moos plans to have discussions about trying to play those games on Friday.

When it comes to the idea of the Huskers and Hawkeyes settling into regular final week foes, Moos has found the key parties involved to be receptive to having that discussion.

"I've really just entered into those conversations, and we'll continue to have them during the next month or two."