Roster limits could give Nebraska football an edge on Big Ten rivals

Roster limits are coming to college football. As much as Nebraska football fans and their head coach, Matt Rhule, might not like it.

Right now, the limit is essentially 120 for the Huskers and even that isn’t easy to get down to. Nebraska football has the richest program of walk-ons in college football. There’s tradition and history there, as well as a pride in the football program that makes kids turn down other scholarship opportunities to walk on for the Huskers.

Unfortunately, I don’t expect walk-on players to be a thing at Nebraska anymore because the 105-man roster limit means all players can be on fully funded scholarships. While some schools might choose not to fund 105 football scholarships, you can bet Nebraska football won’t be among them.

The Huskers are probably already paying more than the equivalent of 105 scholarships with all of the walk-on (NIL deals) they have done. Just in the 2024 class, Nebraska added a few players who didn’t join on scholarships.

Some Big Ten teams might not fund 105 scholarships

In the future, every Nebraska football will be on full scholarship. However, according to Sean Callahan, citing sources, Iowa and Wisconsin might not follow suit.

According to Callahan, Iowa is planning on having 85 scholarship players and 20 other spots for walk-ons. Wisconsin is thinking about 95 scholarships and 10 walk-on spots.

If Callahan’s reporting is correct, that gives Nebraska a big advantage. Nearly 20 percent of Iowa’s roster would be walk-ons compared to Nebraska’s which would be zero. Now, the Huskers have shown you can find quality walk-ons, so maybe Iowa thinks the drop-off won’t be that big.

But I’d be very surprised if Iowa and Wisconsin followed through on that. Yet, it’s a chance for Nebraska to flex its muscles a bit. The baseball team could fund 34 scholarships if it wanted and it will need to if it wants to compete with the big boys down south.

The Huskers have all the resources to do it though and frankly, if you’re going to fund NIL, why not fund the extra scholarships? It only makes sense and if Iowa/Wisconsin do choose to not fund 105 scholarships, it should only make it easier for Nebraska to surpass them in the Big Ten pecking order.

Which the Huskers are probably going to do anyway, thanks to Dylan Raiola — the kind of quarterback Iowa and Wisconsin can only dream about.

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