Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen made an appearance on Huskers Radio Network on Wednesday night.

Among the many topics discussed was the proposed 105-man roster limit that's part of the House vs. NCAA settlement, which has not been finalized yet.

Judge Claudia Wilken said she would deny the $2.8 billion settlement if roster limits are not adjusted. The judge suggested a phasing-in period in order to protect athletes currently on rosters.

However, college programs have already "cut" players and been operating as if they would need to trim their rosters to 105 by the start of the regular season.

Dannen said the settlement "seems like it's close" to being finalized, but there are still plenty of questions left to be answered.

"There are a lot of rules to operationalize that settlement," Dannen said. "You can say there's a 105-person limit on the football roster, but what does that mean? When? When is it 105? What if somebody gets hurt, do you get to replace them? All these questions that go along with it.

"Now apply that times, for us, 24 sports. So, operationalizing whatever happens is going to be a massive challenge. It's not just revenue sharing. It's a lot of rules and regulations going along with it. How do we enforce this? How do we make sure that the third-part piece that's carved out is supposed to be fair market value. How do we ensure that that is indeed happening."

Dannen estimated that about 50% of his day revolves around preparation for what's coming and trying to find ways to best put Nebraska in position to be successful.

Dannen said the settlement needs to be finalized so decisions can be made. He's been a proponent of not having roster limits.

"With the exception of baseball and football, there have not been roster limits in the sports we offer at least, and I'd like to get back to that," Dannen said. "I'm in the minority there, and I understand that. Nebraska is unique in what it's done with its football limit. We'll be over 105, I think, in any way if you grandfather this or phase it in, it's going to allow more players on the roster next year than maybe we were anticipating a few weeks ago."

Dannen said he hopes there's an answer to all this within the next week or at the latest, by the end of next week.

"We have a lot of guys, we saw some guys go in the portal just in the end that I don't think necessarily wanted to go in the portal but need to find a place where they're going to be guaranteed a roster spot," Dannen said. "It'll be nice to give some certainty to our athletes."

Dannen said the field turf inside Memorial Stadium is just about removed except for a few remaining pieces. A new turf field is being installed for the 2025 season.

Nebraska's plan is to install a grass field by the 2026 season if everything goes to plan.

"I've said this one hundred times but I don't think anyone's listened — we will have grass when the stadium is done," Dannen said. "But because a lot of the stadium work will have to be done from the inside, the idea of putting grass in there and tearing it up just isn't too appetizing. So putting a good turf surface in, turf that can be rolled up to bring equipment in, and then rolled back in that transitional phase."

For the first time in about 30 years, Dannen thinks, the grass practice fields have been torn up all the way down to their base, which is also being rebuilt with new irrigation.

"Those grass fields still had a crown in them, and the rocks and things that accumulate over 30 years," Dannen said. "That should be done by June 1st, so when we come into camp we'll have a perfect grass surface for the guys to practice on. We'll have a new turf, the same type of turf that is in the indoor, that's what will be inside the stadium."

Dannen said the stadium renovation project itself is still in its design phase. One of the things that has been revealed during the planning is close to $200 million worth of deferred maintenance underneath the stadium.

"We've built on top, but underneath, particularly the west side, that's still a 1923 structure, so figuring out how to make sure this is a multi-generational 50-year project we don't have to go back in and make $200 million worth of repairs five years after we complete the stadium. So we're in a pretty good place with that."

>> GAIN ALL-ACCESS with an annual or monthly subscription for less than $10/month

>> NEW SUBSCRIBERS get 30 days FREE

>> Sound off on the hot topics on our INSIDER'S BOARD

>> Follow us on Twitter (@NebraskaRivals)

>> Follow us on Instagram (@nebraskarivals)

>> Subscribe for FREE to the Inside Nebraska YouTube channel