LINCOLN, Neb. - The goals, and even expectations, for Husker Football are crystal clear for Nebraska Athletics Director for Troy Dannen - Win.

Be it for the good of the Nebraska Athletics financial model or the good of the state, Dannen urged the importance of stacking wins in a long state of the state press conference on Friday morning.

"Competitive expectations are equal to or greater for this year then they were last year," Dannen said. "You can argue the last 20 years that football hasn't won at a high level and the financial model still works, I don't believe that is infinite. If you're not in it to win it, get out... We've invested a lot of resources in football the last couple years. Invested in resources not to compete where were, but to compete where we expect to be."

Dannen didn’t understate the importance of last year's bowl game winning season for Nebraska, which snapped a streak of non bowl eligibility dating back to 2017.

He called it a major step in the right direction, and had faith the team can take another step in 2025, with the culture being strong.

"To have great success, the culture that needs to be there is there... I don't know if it's always been there, but it's there right now," Dannen said. "I want to win at a level that Nebraska has seen before. You don't go from where we've been to that today."

Dannen said 66,000 tickets have been sold for Nebraska's season opener for the Huskers season opener against Cincinatti