Nebraska fans looking for another reason to circle Saturdays on the calendar just got one from Yahoo.
The company launched its College Fantasy Football platform on Thursday morning, bringing fantasy play to the college game alongside its existing football, baseball, basketball and hockey leagues. College fantasy has been tried before, but it has never really taken off. Yahoo’s version is taking a different route, limiting the player pool to Power 4 teams - the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, SEC and Notre Dame - in an effort to keep the numbers from getting skewed by softer matchups.
That setup gives Nebraska a few names worth watching, even if the Huskers don’t exactly stack up as a fantasy gold mine across the board. Anthony Colandrea is the headliner.
He may not draw the same attention as quarterbacks such as Arch Manning or CJ Carr, but Yahoo sees him as a strong fantasy option because of what he can do with both his arm and his legs. Colandrea ran for over 600 yards and 9 touchdowns while throwing for well over 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns, and that production has him ranked as the 21st-best fantasy quarterback.
He’s placed ahead of Oregon’s Dante Moore and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin.
The running back room doesn’t get nearly as much love. Yahoo’s rankings leave Nebraska’s backs well down the board, though Jamal Rule comes in at No. 73 and could be a sleeper in deeper leagues if he wins the job.
At receiver, the picture is just as cloudy. Nebraska’s wideouts aren’t viewed as major fantasy assets, largely because it’s unclear what kind of production the group will generate and who will emerge as the top target. Still, Yahoo’s best bet is Nyziah Hunter, who checks in as the No. 53 wide receiver.
Yahoo’s platform also adds a wrinkle that should catch fantasy players’ attention: users can roster not just an entire defensive unit, but an entire offensive unit as well. And Nebraska’s offense is getting a strong vote of confidence there. The Huskers are ranked as the No. 13 offensive unit in the Power 4.
The defense, though, has more to prove. Nebraska opens the season with the 59th-best defense in Yahoo College Fantasy Football, leaving only nine teams behind it.
In Other News...
Jamarques Lawrence Return Hopes Just Got New Life At Nebraska
An Ohio judges injunction against the NCAA has added a fresh wrinkle to the eligibility picture for players trying to squeeze out one more season, including former Nebraska guard Jamarques Lawrence. The ruling gives 24 players a path to five seasons of competition and adds another legal precedent to a growing set of challenges around how the NCAA plans to handle its new five-year framework.
For Nebraska, the timing is notable because the NCAA is still working through how it will codify the rule and which players it intends to leave out. Lawrence does not automatically get another year out of the Ohio decision, but the case gives his side something to point to, much like the recent Douglas County District Court ruling that granted Omahas Isaac Ondekane an extra year after his own injury-related argument. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Rhule Has Nebraska Back In A Conversation Fans Missed
The old Big Eight and SEC powers that ruled the 1990s have spent much of the last decade-plus trying to reclaim that place in the national conversation, and Nebraska is once again at least part of that discussion. Tennessee has already shown under Josh Heupel that a once-proud brand can climb back into the playoff picture, while Nebraska and Virginia Tech have been working through coaching changes and the longer grind of rebuilding. For Cornhuskers fans, just hearing their program mentioned alongside those names again is a reminder of how far the conversation has shifted.
A recent prediction on a college football show pushed the idea even further, imagining Nebraska, Virginia Tech and Tennessee all reaching the College Football Playoff in the same season. It is the kind of thought experiment that says as much about where those programs have been as where they might be headed, and for Nebraska it lands in a season where Matt Rhule has at least restored some stability after years of losing. The Big Ten path is still a steep one, but the fact that the Huskers are being discussed in a playoff context at all feels like a sign of progress. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Rhule Just Got A Telling Big Ten Reality Check
Matt Rhules standing in the Big Ten took a noticeable hit in USA TODAY Sports latest coach rankings, where the Nebraska head coach dropped to No. 9 after sitting at No. 5 a year ago. The slide comes after a season that still had plenty for Nebraska to hang its hat on, including a 6-2 start and a second straight bowl appearance, but the finish left a different impression as the Huskers again spent too much time trying to patch holes up front.
USA TODAYs evaluation points straight at the trenches, where Nebraskas line play on both sides of the ball remains the clearest test of whether Rhule can push the program higher. The offense and defense both had stretches that undercut the bigger picture, even with Emmett Johnson producing a standout rushing season, and the late-season issues gave the ranking a harsher edge. Nebraska now turns the page toward Sept. 5, when it opens 2026 at Memorial Stadium against Ohio on FS1. [Read more 🡒]