The Athletic is Reporting that Nebraska Football Should be Better and That is Great News
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The good news? Nebraska can swing with the big boys. The bad news? They are underperforming based off of their estimated NIL spending.
The Athletic published a report that estimated the NIL spending of 68 college football programs based off of investigative reporting with over 70 sources which included “coaches, general managers, personnel directors, athletic directors, agents and more.”
They put Nebraska’s estimate at $31-35 million which puts them right at or above the following programs: Georgia, Oklahoma, Clemson and Penn State. It also puts them right below Michigan, Florida, South Carolina and Auburn.
When looking at Nebraska’s peers in the Big Ten, they are currently sixth out of 18 based off of the report.
I think that this is great news for Nebraska football. As the article indicates, it is college coaches that will always underestimate the spending because it helps to “temper expectations and stop players from asking for more money.” Contrast that with Athletic Directors who generally overestimate the spending because it shows that they are doing a great job fundraising for the program.
Based off of the AP Top 10, the highest performing program based off of NIL spending is actually Georgia. That surprised me.
Like I said above, this is good news for Nebraska. That means that they have the resources available to them to compete with the upper echelon of the Big Ten and the top 15 or so of all of college football.
We very well could see the results of that spending this season. Nebraska went out and brought in at least 12 transfers who are currently either starting or are directly contributing in 2026:
- Owen Chambliss
- Dexter Foster
- Owen Stoudmire
- Jahsear Whittington
- Anthony Jones Jr.
- Kwazi Gilmer
- Dwayne McDougle
- Paul Mubenga
- Anthony Colandrea
- Brendan Black
- Tree Babalade
- Victor Evans
The big one of course is quarterback Anthony Colandrea who could end up being the “steal” of the transfer portal for the Huskers.
The caveat I of course have to state is that at this point Nebraska has not played the greatest competition. The other side of that is that they have done exactly what they should be doing against teams like Ohio and Bowling Green.
This week against North Dakota could be their stiffest test. After North Dakota, Matt Rhule and his coaches will have plenty of opportunities to show that the program is on the rise.
I would rather have a higher ceiling than a lower floor.
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