With the book on the 2025 football season closed and shelved, Huskers fans top two spring sports are fully in swing:
- Husker basketball which, on the strength of school record 17-0 start and counting, has taken over the normally #1 spot from-
- Husker football portal signings/spring practice.
(Apologies to Huskers baseball, softball, wrestling, track & field and all our other spring athletes – but it is what it is, y’all. And we love you. By the way, might softball be positioning themselves for a post-season run to remember which could move them into the #3 spot above? But I digress – I’m already rambling in paragraph one.)
Anyway, Rienk Mast was named to the Sporting News
midseason 3rd-team All-American squad. And I figured if the Sporting News can start handing out hardware, then why not us? However, an honor as prestigious as this shouldn’t be left to the lunatics on staff here, oh no, no way in hell. So we decided to put it to an even wilder band of frothing at the mouth crazies – the Corn Nation readers. Results are below.
In addition, we also asked you to tab your favorite pick out of the transfer portal to date. The three greatest needs going in were multiple players at quarterback, defensive line and offensive line to both shore up those spots and make a young roster older for 2026. I put one name from each on the ballot and you made your pick.
- Rienk may have gotten the AA recognition, but, like multiple opposing coaches in post-game comments including Tom Izzo, 49% see Sam Hoiberg as the glue who holds it all together. His 5.67 assist/to ratio ranks 3rd in the nation and his on-court energy sets the tone.
- No one is forgetting about Rienk Mast, however. 35% picked him and several in the article comments mentioned not just his numbers but his leadership as well. They also mentioned how difficult it was to single out one player for the award on a machine where everyone is clicking and contributing.
- Such as mad bomber Iowa-transfer Pryce Sandfort selected by 16% of the voters. Games like Illinois where he came out firing from the opening tip to pave the way for a huge road upset aren’t soon forgotten.
- I asked readers to comment if they felt anyone else should be considered and Braden Frager came up a couple of times. While they didn’t champion him for MVP, they mentioned his contributions off the bench. He shows some similarities to freshman Eric Piatkowski on the ‘90-’91 team who could also jump in mid-game to drain a trey on one trip and blow by his guy for a dunk on the next.
- By the way, Sam, we have no trophies or plaques for you. However, we will treat you to your Floor Burn Burger – or any other dish you prefer at Muchachos at the time & day of your choosing. Just DM me at the Corn Nation Twitter/X account. Unless there are still rules about athletes accepting burgers – I can’t keep up.
- (In that case, still DM me. We’ll keep it a secret.)
- As much as we desperately need the help on both lines, we literally had one scholarship QB – T.J. – on the roster at the conclusion of the Las Vegas Bowl – Dylan R./transfer, Gramstad/out of eligibility, Davila/transfer, Dayton R./decommit.
- The staff then went out and snagged two portal transfers and a HS recruit. Therefore, it wasn’t a shock to see 40% of Corn Nation tab UNLV’s Anthony Colandrea as their #1. In addition to almost 3500 yards passing, he brings the element of mobility which Rhule wants from his quarterback room going forward.
- Next at 32% is Iowa State’s Brendan Black who will fill one of the guard spots which opened up following the departures of Henry Lutovsky and and Rocco Spindler who paved the way for Emmett Johnson’s record-breaking season. Replacing experience with experience at one of those spots is massive for 2026.
- Finally at 28%, is Iowa Western’s (we finally remembered them again!) Anthony Burburija who may be the biggest pick-up of the group both figuratively as well as literally. Defensive line was the weakest position group on the team in 2025 as the staff failed to bring in experience from the portal last spring to bridge the gap between the young talent getting a chance to size up and mature. Burburija has the talent and potential to start disrupting immediately.
