Nebraska's players report for Fall Camp today and there is no shortage of storylines. We set the stage in this week's 3-2-1 column.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEK
1 - Frost's much anticipated Year 4 begins on Friday
And so it begins. Football is back as we know in Nebraska, but is it?
The Huskers will officially open up Fall Camp on Friday, with Fan Day and Media Day taking place today. In all, NU will have 25 practices over 29 days, eight in which can be in full pads, nine in half pads, and eight in helmets only.
However, the elephant in the room remains COVID-19 and the testing protocols that will be put in place.
As of today, it's my understanding that every school will be able to operate under their campus and local county guidelines.
However, as we know with COVID-19, things can always change - especially when dealing with the Big Ten Conference.
Just getting off the ground though on Friday will be a victory in itself after everything that has happened over the last year.
My question, though, is what will the protocol be for a player that tests positive? My feel today is it will match the CDC guidelines and be 10 days vs. the 21 days the Big Ten operated under a year ago.
Something else to watch is Lincoln/Lancaster County, which just took their COVID-19 risk dial from the green to the low yellow for the first time since May. The local leaders are going to have a big say in a lot of this at every Big Ten school it appears.
2 - Everything is on the table for the future of college football
Oklahoma and Texas are heading to the SEC as early as 2022. The Big 12 is in shambles. The Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC have the potential to add anywhere from one to four new members to match the SEC, who will be at 16 teams in the near future.
Like it or not, Super Conferences are coming. How will the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC react to the SEC's move that could change college athletics forever?
When talking about the Big Ten, what we don't know is how much bigger they want to get? It's assumed they will only take prestigious AAU members, so that limits the pool of new potential members quite a bit.
What the Big Ten has going for it is money. Just about any ACC, Pac-12 and Big 12 school will listen if it means a $55 million+ annual payout.
Going West seems like the best-case scenario for the Big Ten, creating a potential pod of PAC-12 schools that would join the Big Ten. Outside of getting Notre Dame, this would be about the only move that would match what the SEC just did by adding OU and Texas.
3 - 116 players will be on the Fall Camp roster
One change we will see on Friday when Nebraska takes the practice field is Super Seniors will not count towards the 110-man roster total.
That means NU will open Fall Camp with 116 players, which gives them plenty of flexibility to have more walk-on players practice with the team over the month of August. The NCAA recently took the Fall Camp roster number from 105 to 110.
If you are not on the 116-man camp roster, you are not able to practice until Aug. 23 - the first day the fall semester begins. Those players will then have to do five days of acclimation before they can go full pads, so it's quite a blow to a walk-on if they are not part of the 116.
TWO QUESTIONS THIS WEEK
1 - Could the SEC's expansion actually slow down the 12-team playoff?
It was assumed we could see the 12-team playoff begin as early as 2023, but with the recent OU and Texas news, it has the potential to slow things down.
The original College Football Playoff contract runs through 2025. Not every conference had a voice in the decision to go from four to 12.
Nobody is saying it won't happen, but the read now is we may not see the 12-team playoff start in 2023, as the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC weren't even involved in those meetings. There's no question the SEC sees this as a power play that could possibly get them four or five of the 12 spots in the playoff field every year.
2 - What player needs to have the biggest Fall Camp for Nebraska?
When you look at Fall Camp for Nebraska, there are a lot of players that need a big August, but there are two for me particularly.
Running back Gabe Ervin and wide receiver Omar Manning are two guys that need to continue where they left off in the spring.
I look at Ervin as potentially the odds-on favorite to win the starting running back job, while Manning is one of the most talented players on the roster and he just needs to practice.
ONE PREDICTION: Big Ten will pass on Kansas and Iowa State
The Big Ten is shopping the market for new teams. Where they go, nobody truly knows.
However, I predict they will not add Kansas and Iowa State from the Big 12. I think, if you are going to do this, you have to add quality teams that help the conference top to bottom.
I don't see the need to add ISU when you already have Iowa. I don't see the need to add KU, based on their football track record. If the Big Ten does this, they will go much bigger than Kansas and Iowa State.
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap-Tuesday's at 7 pm.
