Nebraska football appears to be on the way back.

While there have been rumors all week as to when the Big Ten might officially hold a vote to "return to play" this October, NU President Ted Carter let the cat out of the bag at least a few hours before the conference intended.

In a video posted by KETV, Carter can be seen and heard talking to Bob Hinson, director of the National Strategic Research Institute about an unrelated matter.

The pair were getting ready for a news conference about a rather scholarly subject, but Nebraska's Carter apparently couldn't help himself.

"We're getting ready to announce the Huskers and Big Ten football tonight," Carter said quietly, apparently not realizing that the phalanx of microphones near where he was standing was on and recording.

Nebraska spills the beans

Carter's slip of the tongue came amid several days of waiting for the official word. This weekend, it was made public that the conference had several meetings to discuss whether or not it would come back and play football this fall, rather than in the winter or spring, as had been previously planned.

The Big Ten first canceled fall football in August, much to Nebraska's chagrin. It later came out that the conference presidents held an official vote on the matter. It later came out that the conference presidents held an official vote on the matter but, after a reported 11-3 vote, the season was put on hold.

Sources around the conference later said the official tally had Ohio State, Nebraska, and Iowa as the only schools wanting to move forward immediately.

Analysts around the country have been hammering the Big Ten as the college football season has officially kicked off and the conference has sat out. Now it appears one of the top dogs at Nebraska has provided some relief to those who were wondering if an announcement would come at all.

Optimism abounds outside Nebraska

Earlier on Tuesday, SI.com reported that one college football analyst was especially optimistic about the potential return of the Big Ten football season. He appeared in a recent Big Ten Network video where he talked about why he thought its leadership had reversed course.

“I would say the general sentiments remains optimism that the Big Ten will play this fall and will attempt to play at some point in October, with October 17th still targeted as the preferred date to try and attempt to get things going.

The sentiment of optimism has not changed. Will the timeline change? Perhaps."

With Carter's "hot mic" mistake, it appears fans are finally going to find out, one way or another. Those who listened to the exchange were quick to point out that it would be hard to fathom that the president would be talking about the topic with someone unless he thought there was good news on the way.
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