Friday Five: High scores, big hires and projections to ponder
As revenue sharing nears, Nebraska has made some noise over the past week across multiple fronts from the Directors’ Cup to the broadcast booth.
We’re just days away from a new era in college athletics.
On July 1, revenue sharing officially becomes part of the college athletics landscape, with schools allotted $20.5 million to split between student-athletes. That pool also covers new scholarship costs for programs like baseball and wrestling, which are expected to see significant increases. For now, it’s unclear how many athletes will receive checks or what the distribution looks like beyond football. What we do know though is that things are about to change.
In the meantime, here’s what else is happening around Nebraska Athletics.
Nebraska earns its best Directors’ Cup finish since 2010
Troy Dannen’s first year as athletic director ended with a bonus and a notable climb up the standings.
Nebraska finished 21st in the 2024-25 Learfield Directors’ Cup, the Huskers’ best finish since placing 17th in 2010. It marked a one-spot improvement over last year and triggered a $180,000 bonus for Dannen, per the terms of his contract.
The Huskers received major contributions from wrestling (national runner-up), volleyball (Final Four) and football, which scored points for the first time since 2016. Nebraska finished just ahead of Alabama and one spot behind NC State.
Texas claimed the Cup for the fourth time, while fellow Big Ten members USC, UCLA, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon all landed in the top 20. Among other Nebraska programs, Creighton finished 95th, Omaha landed at 210 and NAIA member Doane cracked the top 20 nationally.
Nebraska football has a new radio voice
There will be a new sound in the booth this fall.
Nebraska and Playfly Sports announced Monday that Kyle Crooks will be the new voice of Husker Football. He takes over play-by-play duties from Greg Sharpe and will co-host Sports Nightly as part of his role as Director of Broadcasting.
“It’s a dream come true to broadcast the great moments ahead for the Cornhuskers,” Crooks said in the release. “I can’t wait to get to Lincoln and meet Husker Nation.”
Crooks brings a strong background to Nebraska, having spent eight years calling games for Florida across multiple sports. His national work includes college football broadcasts and SEC tournament coverage, and his career began with stints at Fairleigh Dickinson and USC Upstate.
He joins an experienced Nebraska broadcast team that includes Damon Benning, Jessica Coody, Kent Pavelka, John Baylor, Matt Coatney, Ben McLaughlin, Nick Handley, and Nate Rohr.
A nonconference bracket break for men’s basketball
Nebraska men’s basketball now knows its first opponent in the Hall of Fame Classic: New Mexico.
The Huskers will tip off against the Lobos on Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. CT in Kansas City. The game will stream on Peacock and NBC Sports Now. The Huskers will face either Kansas State or Mississippi State the following day.
This marks just the second meeting between Nebraska and New Mexico. The first was a 2009 NIT matchup in Albuquerque.
New Mexico enters as a two-time NCAA tournament qualifier and a strong mid-major opponent. Nebraska’s current nonconference schedule now includes three high-major opponents (Creighton, Oklahoma and Kansas State, or Mississippi State) and one high-quality mid-major in the Lobos.
Volleyball sets its stage for Big Ten Media Days
Nebraska announced its representatives for Big Ten Volleyball Media Days, and the group includes two returning starters and a first-year head coach.
Junior outside hitter Harper Murray and senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick will join coach Dani Busboom Kelly in Chicago later this summer. Nebraska is scheduled to appear on the event's opening day:Monday, July 28.
This will be Busboom Kelly’s first appearance since replacing John Cook. Murray and Allick follow a list of former Husker attendees that includes Kenzie Knuckles, Madi Kubik, Merritt Beason, Lexi Rodriguez, Lindsay Krause and Kennedi Orr.1
The Big Ten launched Volleyball Media Days in 2022. All 18 conference schools will be represented over two days of programming at the Big Ten Network studios.
Two Huskers are headed to the World University Games
Nebraska swimmers Gena Jorgenson and Beatrix Tanko will represent their countries next month in Berlin at the 2025 FISU World University Games.
Jorgenson, a senior from South Dakota, qualified for the U.S. team with a fifth-place finish in the 1,500-meter freestyle at nationals. She also placed sixth in the 800 free and seventh in the 400 free, with all three times setting school records.
Tanko, a junior from Hungary, qualified for her home nation’s squad after a dominant performance at the Hungarian national championships. She won gold in the 50 fly and added silvers in the 50 free and 100 fly.
“Gena and Beatrix have worked hard for this honor,” head coach Pablo Morales said. “We are definitely looking forward to watching them compete at a global championship.”
Bonus: Las Vegas bowl projection?
CBS Sports dropped its early bowl projections for the 2025 season and included Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31 against Arizona State.
That would be quite the matchup for the Big Red, considering it would be a New Year’s Eve game against a 2024 playoff team.
CBS Sports also predicts Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State to make the expanded College Football Playoff, with Michigan, Indiana, USC and Wisconsin also earning bowl nods.
Is it too early to talk about bowl games? Yes. Are we going to anyway? Absolutely. It’s the middle of summer, after all.
Technically, Busboom Kelly is included in this list too.
This is a lot to ask, but if you have time, could you please assemble the list of number of scholarship athletes by sport in 2023 or 2024? I don't know when it started to get weird. If not I totally understand, thank you either way.