Nebraska

Whole identity pivots from Raiola to Colandrea's mobility and experience; Holgorsen says he'll call it fearlessly once he learns what the roster does best. WR room (Barney, Hunter, Gilmer) is the strength; OL was rebuilt through the portal around Pritchett at LT. Backfield is young and unproven — staff passed on a portal RB.

Butler was fired after giving up 77 points over the final two regular-season games; Aurich arrives off SDSU's No. 5 scoring defense (12.6 ppg) and converts the front to four-down. DL retention (Van Poppel, Nwaneri, Lenhardt) is the core, but the entire LB level walked (McCullough, Watson-Trent, Javin Wright graduated) and was rebuilt through the portal — new scheme plus new second level is the unit's risk.

Rhule signed a two-year extension through 2032 ($87M total, ~$63M buyout) amid Penn State speculation, then watched 2025 end 7-6 with three straight losses. Year 4 is 5-7 / 7-6 / 7-6 so far — extension or not, this is a prove-it season and he reset half the staff to force it.

16-man portal class graded around B+ by beat coverage — heavy on trenches and linebacker, deliberately older and more experienced. Losing Raiola is the headline subtraction, but the staff treated it as a pivot, not a crisis; the misses were running back and one more DL body.

Both specialists return: Cunanan (16-of-19 FG, 61-of-64 total kicks in 2025) and punter Wilson (opponents held to 23 punt-return yards, fewest by a Nebraska punter in 30 years). Ekeler left for USC; Maher promoted to coordinator with Humphrey as co-coordinator, so continuity in the unit that was a 2025 strength.

5.5 is the lowest of the Rhule era — tied for 12th-best projected record among Big Ten teams, so the market sees a bottom-half B1G team. Local media is friendlier (roughly 7 wins if the QB swap and new defense hit), but no offseason hype bump this year.