Nebraska’s athletic department has already stacked up a busy year, and Monday brought another big piece of hardware into the picture. Axelina Johansson was named one of three track and field finalists nationwide for the 2026 Bowerman Award, the sport’s top annual honor for the most outstanding college male and female athletes.
Johansson’s season has been loaded with headline-worthy accomplishments. She won both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Shot Put titles, set the indoor collegiate record at 19.72m (64-8 ½), and followed that by breaking the outdoor championship meet record with a mark of 19.97m (65-6 ¼). She also holds Nebraska’s indoor and outdoor school records.
The senior’s résumé keeps growing. Johansson is a seven-time First-Team All-American, the 2026 Honda Award for Track and Field winner, the USTFCCCA Women’s National Field Athlete of the Year, a 2026 World Championships Bronze Medalist, and a six-time NCAA medalist. She is also the first Nebraska athlete ever to reach finalist status for The Bowerman since the award began in 2009.
On the football side, analyst JD Pickell sees a different kind of possible difference-maker for Nebraska in 2026. His take on Anthony Colandrea isn’t centered on polished structure or perfect execution from Dana Holgorsen’s offense. Instead, Pickell believes the new Husker quarterback’s value may show up when things fall apart.
“You have to find ways to take some ground. And to me, that ground you would take is when the play breaks down, they call the right blitz, and you have the wrong protection,” Pickell said on a recent podcast.
“Can Anthony Colandrea create something out of nothing? And it sounds kind of cliché, but I just, I think it's the truth.
And it's quite frankly, something that Dylan Raiola wasn't doing for you.”
There’s also an eligibility storyline floating around the volleyball program. With the new five-for-five rule change now in place, Bergen Reilly was asked whether she might use the extra year. For now, she says she has not made a decision and isn’t in any hurry to do so, even if Husker fans would clearly love to know what comes next.
In Other News...
Wisconsin May Be Walking Straight Into Nebraskas Worst Nightmare
Wisconsins search for its next athletic director has apparently led it back to a name Nebraska fans know all too well. Shawn Eichorst, now deputy athletic director and COO at Texas, is being targeted for the job, a development that immediately brings up his run in Lincoln and the choices that set the Cornhuskers on a far rougher path than anyone there expected.
Eichorsts Nebraska tenure is remembered for the decision to move on from Bo Pelini and hand the program to Mike Riley, followed by a string of staff moves and football decisions that drew heavy criticism. For Wisconsin, the appeal may be obvious on paper, but for Nebraska followers the idea of another Big Ten rival placing its future in Eichorsts hands is the kind of reminder that old wounds in college football rarely stay closed for long. [Read more 🡒]
Dylan Raiola Is Reopening An Old Nebraska Wound At Oregon
CBS Sports put Oregons quarterback room at No. 1 in the country, and part of the reason was familiar to Nebraska fans: Dylan Raiola is now in Eugene, where his presence gives the Ducks a level of depth most programs would love to have. The former Cornhuskers move has already become part of the national conversation around Oregons offense, with his experience and upside helping sell the idea that this is more than a one-man operation.
For Nebraska, the sting is less about the ranking itself than what it says about the talent now sitting elsewhere. The Huskers were not included among CBS Sports top 10 quarterback rooms, while Raiolas transfer only sharpens the contrast between the two programs entering the season. Oregon looks loaded at the position, and Nebraska has to watch from a distance as one of its old wounds gets reopened in a very visible way. [Read more 🡒]
Fred Hoiberg Just Delivered Nebraska A Huge Summer Boost
Summer workouts have given Nebraska a much-needed encouraging update on two rotation pieces, with Fred Hoiberg offering a clearer picture of where Connor Essegian and Pryce Sandfort stand as the Huskers build toward the new season. For a program trying to turn offseason progress into real momentum, getting important contributors back on the floor matters almost as much as anything else in July.
Sandfort is still being managed carefully after offseason surgery, but the expectation is that he will be fully ready by the start of the season, while Essegian is already back in full participation. With both players tracking toward meaningful roles again, Nebraska can spend the rest of the summer focusing less on rehab and more on how the pieces fit when the games finally count. [Read more 🡒]