University of Nebraska head football coach Bo Pelini has been a hot topic of debate over the past season. After an audiotape was released early in the season of him talking about the “fair weathered fans” Nebraska has, in which he used many expletives. Since then there has been some speculation as to whether or not he’d make it through the whole season. The Huskers have had their ups and downs all season, losing to UCLA, Minnesota, and most recently Michigan State, which knocked them out of the Legends division title, giving them three losses on the season, and ended Nebraska’s conference title hopes.

Bo Pelini is definitely on the hot seat, and if Sean Eichorst wasn’t just one year into his job as the Athletic Director, then Pelini may already have been done. This plays into Pelinis favor, as Eichorst is still too timid to make such a drastic change to the program that generates the most revenue for the college.

Pelini is having probably his roughest year as head coach, and needs to win the rest of their remaining games against Penn State and Iowa to maintain his record of at-least nine wins a season.

If Nebraska does win out, they will most likely find themselves playing in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, against long time rival Oklahoma. This will be a key game in the decision whether Bo Pelini is still able to call Lincoln home come next spring. Nebraska hasn’t won a bowl game since 2009, and fans are starting to get anxious. Since beating Arizona 33-0 in the Holiday Bowl in 2009, after which their was much anticipation about the program, even being ranked number 8 in the 2010 preseason AP poll. At one point early in the 2010 season, The Huskers even received a first place vote. Since then however, Nebraska has been outscored 51-94 by Washington, South Carolina, and Georgia. A loss in another bowl game would make it difficult to see the merit in keeping Pelini, but there are many factors weighing in this decision.

A loss in Nebraska’s upcoming bowl game may not seal Pelini’s fate. It would certainly, however, increase the pressure for Pelini to produce the next season. I wrote about a year ago about Pelini being on the hot seat, and if he didn’t win the bowl game this season, he may be out of a job, which may be true, considering Nebraska’s history of being blown out of the water in big games, most recently, the UCLA debacle, where Nebraska blew a 21 point lead, and lost by 17 points, which set the pace for the whole season. After constant let down in big games, it is imperative that Pelini fixes Nebraska’s ongoing problem of big losses.

With all this said, Pelini’s job is safe for now, especially after Ron Kellogg III’s Hail Mary pass to win the game against Northwestern saving Pelini from a potential four-loss season. If Nebraska can win out, including their bowl game, Pelini’s job will be secure into next season. He will still keep his job even if they lose their bowl game, as long as they compete well.

But time will tell if Eichorst decides that enough is enough. Bo has a young team, and that will probably help his cause to keep him around. But if next season is the same as this one, I’d imagine that boosters would start to call for a change. But Pelini shouldn’t put his house up for sale, for now.