The two open with a brief discussion of the Super Bowl and move onto the state of football from the top level to high school.
Sam McKewon will be providing mailbags throughout the offseason, culled from questions on social media and the Husker Extra text chat system.
This mailbag covers the injury and potential of Berke Buyuktuncel, whether two Huskers headed to the NFL Combine were underutilized and just how many innings Jordy Bahl will pitch for Nebraska this season.
What is the latest news on when Berke Buyuktuncel will be able to play?
Nebraska's sophomore starting forward missed the Maryland and Northwestern games with a rolled ankle, and he will miss NU's game at Penn State. The Huskers should be able to survive in Happy Valley. PSU is not a rebounding juggernaut.
Michigan, which visits Feb. 24 and features two 7-footers, is a rebounding juggernaut. Buyuktuncel's participation in that game is crucial. He'd be two weeks out from his initial injury -- enough time to bring down the swelling and improve the mobility of the ankle.
Buyuktuncel, averaging 7.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, generally serves as Nebraska's "X" factor. He moves with real fluidity for a 6-foot-10, 244-pound guy, for one thing. And that "X" factor can work for or against the Huskers.
In recent weeks, before his injury, Buyuktuncel keyed Nebraska in wins over Oregon, Washington and Ohio State. After this season, he has two years left and could take a big leap in efficiency.
Can NU build around him? Nebraska's had guys like these before, and the window's never quite lined up the way it could with Buyuktuncel.
"Isaiah Roby (6-8, 230), probably the most talented of these big, versatile Huskers, never really had "his" team -- he left for the NBA after his junior season, during which James Palmer and Glynn Watson ran the show.
"Andrew Drevo (6-9, 250) was the No. 2 scoring option on Barry Collier's best team in 2003-2004, led by Nate Johnson and Jake Muhleisen. Crafty. Not of Buyuktuncel's potential.
"Christian Standhardinger (6-8, 210) drove Doc Sadler up the wall with his attitude and some of his unique shot decisions, but he had many "wow" moments before leaving the team halfway through his sophomore year after just 22 game appearances. (He eventually landed Hawaii where, in two seasons, he scored 1,000 points.)
"It took Wes Wilkinson (6-10, 220) and Brandon Ubel (6-10, 235) until their senior seasons to fully develop their games, and the same was true of 6-9, 245-pound Derrick Walker, who probably helped save coach Fred Hoiberg's job with his passing, defense and post moves in 2022-2023, even if a 3-point shot wasn't in his repertoire.
Buyuktuncel may have more natural athleticism than all but Roby, and his shot's prettier than Roby's was. (Even if it doesn't go in as often.) He'll be an "X" factor here in March -- and perhaps NU's biggest offseason storyline. Pairing him with Rienk Mast could make Nebraska very dangerous.
What does it say about Nebraska's offense and its (in)ability to maximize players' potential that two guys with underwhelming stats, Isiah Neyor and Thomas Fidone, were invited to the NFL combine?
Let's break this down individually.
With Fidone, yes, he was a little underutilized at Nebraska this season. Or poorly utilized, especially in the red zone.
Fidone has giant hands, perhaps some of the biggest in Husker history. Why didn't he get more targets in the end zone, or on jump balls down the field? Why did NU have Fidone running two-yard routes in the flat when he's clearly more dangerous when extending a defense? You when a catch radius play no factor? On a little toss outside the hash marks.
The Council Bluffs Lewis Central graduate averaged 10.4 yards per catch this season -- same as last year, when he was returning from a knee injury. Fidone was capable of more explosive plays.
He caught 61 passes in two years -- for a tight end, pretty good! -- while averaging 10.4 yards per catch. Iowa's George Kittle, by comparison, caught only 48 career passes in college -- but he averaged 18.4 yards per catch. Fidone may not be the blocker Kittle was, but he has similar receiving skills to all the luminaries at Iowa. Fidone's time at Nebraska is a byproduct of bad luck -- two knee injuries in back-to-back years -- and Fidone being caught, before Dana Holgorsen started calling plays, in one of the least-productive offenses in Husker history.
Now -- was Neyor underutilized? No. He got 63 targets -- third on the team behind Jacory Barney's 76 and Jahmal Banks' 72, and ninth-most among all Husker pass catchers since 2018. Neyor caught 34 of those targets for 455 yards, and that doesn't count all the 15-yard penalties he racked up when the guy covering him was called for defensive pass interference. Neyor played the second-most snaps of any pass catcher behind Banks.
Neyor was likely a NIL bargain, too, given he hadn't played much at Texas. NU put Neyor in position to play his way into an NFL job. He wasn't as good as Trey Palmer or Samori Toure but, like them, he may get a shot in the pros.
This could be the best and deepest wide receiver room Nebraska has ever had. Who will start and could we see a 1000-yard wide receiver this season?
Kentucky transfer Dane Key, slot receiver Jacory Barney and a receiver to be determined. Could be California transfer Nyziah Hunter. Could be Janiran Bonner, a jumbo wideout who functions like a second tight end when he's on the move as a blocker or short-yardage receiver. Could be Cortez Mills or Jeremiah Jones, the latter being a genuine intrigue at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds.
Key is NU's biggest get among the immediate impact transfers and that's saying something. He's averaged 623 yards receiving per season over three years at Kentucky, and he's the best candidate to join Stanley Morgan and Trey Palmer as Nebraska receivers with 1,000-yard seasons. Barney might lead the team in catches -- as he did in 2024 -- but he's more of a slick operator underneath a deep zone or against tight man.
Hey Sam, how often can Jordy Bahl pitch for the Huskers?
Well, in theory, she could pitch around 300 innings if Nebraska makes a deep, deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Peaches James pitched 298.1 innings back in 2004. (The great Jenny Voss pitched a school-record 340.1 innings back in 1998, but those iron arm efforts belong to a different era.)
These days, pitchers don't usually go over 250 innings in a season. NU ace Courtney Wallace, two years ago, pitched 222 innings in 48 appearances, an extraordinary effort.
Softball pitchers can bear a lot more innings on their arms than baseball pitchers (underhand vs. overhand) and when Nebraska needs Bahl -- like it will this weekend, facing a slate of elite teams -- she'll be ready.
But there must be -- and already have been -- stretches where NU can win with Emmerson Cope, Kylie Magee and Hannah Camenzind and Caitlin Olensky on the mound. Cope, second on the team in appearances last year, has allowed one earned run in 11.1 innings.
To make NU's single-season top-10 list for innings pitched, Bahl would have to throw 243.3 innings, eclipsing James' 2003 season.
Does she have to do it? NU's Big Ten slate tells me no, that she might have a weekend where her bat produces more runs than the opponent scores against any Husker pitcher. But we'll see. And what matters is: Bahl's performance in May and June.
Will Nebraska finally get that first NCAA Tourney win this year?
When you're in that 6-to-11-seed range, it comes down to matchups. It just does. I watched what everyone agreed was an excellent sixth-seeded BYU team last year struggle with 11th-seeded Duquesne's backcourt at the NCAA Tournament in Omaha, and the Dukes pulled out the upset. That's the same Duquesne team that lost at Nebraska. North Carolina State, 11 seed, rumbled all the way to the Final Four.
Over the 2022, 2023 and 2024 NCAA Tournaments, 6 seeds are 5-7 vs. 11 seeds, 7 seeds are 9-3 vs. 10 seeds and 8 seeds are 5-7 vs. 9 seeds. So, the higher seeds are 19-17. Flip a coin. Or, look at matchups.
Nebraska basketball needs the right matchup. Away from Pinnacle Bank Arena, NU struggles against elite backcourts (like Purdue) or the ultra-athletic, aggressive teams like Michigan State.
That said, Nebraska has played a hard schedule -- 24th nationally, according to KenPom -- that would prepare NU for NCAA play. And the Huskers are resilient, bouncing back from poor stretches of play, even on the road.
Will there be any event to replace the spring game? Would love to see a fan day for autographs, etc.
On April 26, there will be something, yes. What is unclear. Not a full-on scrimmage. Maybe some 7-on-7 to watch the quarterbacks and receivers. Maybe some obstacle course stuff. Maybe linemen catching punts.
At any rate, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule doesn't want whatever it will on TV where it plays on repeat and teams can try to poach Husker players even after the transfer portal closes. Even if Rhule seems a little over-the-top in his reaction to the portal, he's a pragmatist at heart.
Photos: Nebraska men's basketball hosts Maryland