Among these 20 incoming freshmen, which 6 do you feel will make the biggest contribution to the team this year?
My top 6 are indicated with a number next to their name and how I rank them in terms of contribution, the remainder are listed in no particular order.
Pure speculation.

Alvano (1)
Princewill (2)
Lenhardt (3)
Maciejczak (4)
Fields (5)
Coleman (6)
Van Poppel
Bootle II
Syncere
Noonan
Gottula
Vincent-Jackson
Nation
Rogers
Sledge
Stewart
Turner
Van Poppel
Lloyd
Knutson
Bell

Former NU shortstop Brice Matthews is now a pro as he officially signed with the Astros today. His contract numbers come a little below his slot value, but don’t think Brice will be complaining.

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I was encouraged by Carriker's Chronicles to rewatch the OSU comeback game. I remember being disappointed with so many Bo teams that petered out in conference season. It's been so long since we've had a collection of dudes on one team th a t I forget what that was like. On that team, we had Burkhead, Spencer Long, Marcel Jones, Enunwa, LaVonte David, and T. Martinez when he was still healthy. I'm sure I'm missing guys too. I don't remember too many other teams after that where we had that many dudes in key spots.

Quick note: I finished up this week’s mailbag late, late last night. That’s scheduled to come your way at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Have a good weekend, everyone! Hope enough people stay up with me tonight for the Preston Taumua announcement! 👀

Good stuff from Ed Foley during his recent interview on Huskers Radio Network.

Ugh. The wife and I were flipping channels and stopped on some all star cornhole with NFL WR. Then that ended and an hour long special came on about Jim Valvano’s speech

That speech always kicks my ass. I am not a huge ESPN fan but I will watch that again.

Donate to cancer research if you have the means.

One of the recruits in the 2023 class whose position was up in the air when they signed was Mason Goldman of Gretna. At 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, he has potential as both an offensive or defensive lineman.

Inside Nebraska confirmed this morning with a source that Goldman, who originally had plans to start as an offensive lineman, will now begin fall camp as a defensive lineman. He made the move about two weeks ago.

That's the second Class of 2023 recruit who has changed positions early in his career. Jason Maciejczak, a big, strong player from South Dakota, originally had O-line in the plans, too, but will begin his career on the D-line.

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Decided to take a look around the summer leagues to see how some future and current Huskers are doing. Hit the link.

Nothing else to talk about around here.

I got two…both involving any gas station/convenience store.

1) Always gonna be the scratch off turds holding up the line. I love the way they pick out tickets like they are John Nash busting a code.

2) The “manager” acting like he/she is busy with some spreadsheet in the backroom you can see or the next register while the line is 10 deep on the one open register. Newsflash…you ain’t Billy Beane crunching numbers. Please just let me pay for my beer and go.

In your opinion, what is the best regular season non-Nebraska game of all time? Topic is brought up because regular seasons are damn close to being meaningless compared to old days.

I’ll kick it off, no pun intended.

#1: 1993 FSU @ Notre Dame

Almost want to pick ‘93 ND at Boston College at #2, but I’ll go with ‘94 Colo at Mich. I did big time mess up and think Vick almost beat ‘01 Miami. Turns out it was a worse Va Tech team.

I know this shows my age and Catholics v Convicts maybe should be in there. Or if you’re up in age, 1966 Mich St v Notre Dame.

WHAT’S YOUR PICK?

This is just crazy.

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Taking my boys (14 and 12). They are active and want to see new things and areas. Looking for recommendations on places to stay and things to do. We will have about a week mid august.

Thank you and GBR

Have to admit I’ve not been following crootin like I have in the past. Who’s N next? 25 looks like it could be special.

Just saw Herbie and the other masots on Michigan Avenue. Told them to tread lightly around the wildcat. He’s into some freaky shit.

Plenty of news involving recruiting and alumni in today’s HHU to send you off into the weekend. Hit the link.

A healthy Zavier Betts — both in mind and body — makes the Nebraska receivers room better. During an interview with Huskers Radio Network, he briefly touched on why he came back.

July 14

1789 - The storming of the destruction of the Bastille by citizens of Paris marked the beginning of the French Revolution.

1798 - Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a crime to publish false, scandalous, or malicious writing about the U.S. government.

1881 - Outlaw William H. Bonney Jr., alias "Billy the Kid," was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner in present-day New Mexico.

1921 - In one of the most controversial cases in U.S. history, anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted of two murders and sentenced to death.

1933 - In Germany, all political parties except the Nazi party were outlawed.

1945 - Italy formally declared war on Japan, its former Axis partner during World War II.

1946 - Dr. Benjamin Spock's "Common Sense Book of Baby & Child Care" was published.

1958 - A military coup overthrew the monarchy in Iraq, killing King Faisal II; Gen. Abdul Karim Kassem becomes Iraq's new leader.

1976 - Jimmy Carter won the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in New York City.

1980 - The Republican National Convention opened in Detroit, where nominee-apparent Ronald Reagan told a welcoming rally he and his supporters were determined to "make America great again."

2004 - The U.S. Senate scuttled a proposed Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, with 48 senators voting to advance the measure -- 12 short of the 60 needed -- and 50 voting to block it.

2009 - Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff arrived at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina to begin serving a 150-year sentence for his massive Ponzi scheme.

2013 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a TV interview, called for tougher European and global rules on data protection amid fallout from recent revelations about U.S. surveillance programs.

2015 - World powers and Iran struck a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

2016 - Terror struck Bastille Day celebrations in the French Riviera city of Nice as a large truck plowed into a festive crowd, killing 86 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State extremists; the driver was shot dead by police.

2020 - Researchers reported that the first COVID-19 vaccine tested in the U.S. revved up people's immune systems as scientists had hoped; the vaccine was developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc.

2022 - Ivana Trump, the first wife of former President Donald Trump and mother of his three eldest children, died in New York City at age 73.

2022 - The National Galleries of Scotland said a previously unknown self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh was discovered behind another of the artist's paintings when experts took an X-ray of the canvas ahead of an upcoming exhibition.

Birthdays
23 - Maia Reficco (actress)
28 - Jasmine Brown (model)
29 - Alexis Skyy (model)
34 - Sean Flynn (actor)
34 - Alisha Wainwright (actress)
35 - Conor McGregor (MMA fighter)
36 - Dan Reynolds (singer)
36 - Sara Canning (actress)
36 - Elena Gant (reality star)
37 - Peta Murgatroyd (dancer)
37 - Dan Smith (singer)
38 - Aryana Sayeed (singer)
38 - Phoebe Waller-Bridge (actress)
44 - Scott Porter (actor)
45 - Roger Clark (actor)
47 - Dorit Kemsley (reality star)
48 - Jamey Johnson (singer)
52 - Loni Love (comedian)
53 - Missy Gold (actress)
57 - Matthew Fox (actor)
62 - Jackie Earle Haley (actress)
63 - Jane Lynch (actress)
63 - Kyle Gass (singer)
71 - Stan Shaw (actor)
71 - Jerry Houser (actor)
77 - Vincent Pastore (actor)
91 - Rosey Grier (football player/actor)
95 - Nancy Olson (actress)

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Today in Sports History - July 14

1934 - The New York Times declares Babe Ruth's record of 700 career home runs "would stand for all time."

1951 - The first sports event to be shown in color, on CBS-TV, was the Molly Pitcher Handicap at Oceanport, New Jersey.

1967 - Eddie Mathews of the Houston Astros hit his 500th career home run.

1968 - Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 500th career home run.

1969 - President Richard Nixon signed a baseball from the Baseball Hall of Fame that had the signatures of nine other U.S. presidents.

1981 - The All-Star Game was postponed because of a 33-day-old baseball players strike. The game was held on August 9.

2019 - Novak Djokovic defeats Roger Federer to win the Wimbledon final and his 16th career Grand Slam singles title.

I know it’s early and a lot of guys are slotted as "athletes “ but who do you see making switches with the incoming players and 2024 current recruits

I'm not a fan of chiropractors and their methods although others swear by them. My wife started seeing one regarding a recent injury. She saw improvement and was feeling better. It may have been due to her trip to the chiropractor or due to other things she tried including rest from her normal workouts. What gets me upset is that a few weeks later, my wife received a "We've been missing you" e-mail asking her where she's been. Long story short, she's back there today and more money is headed their way.

What's the deal with chiropractors these days? Is the only thing they are shooting for is temporary progress and marketing for patient retention? Shouldn't the goal be to provide a permanent fix and leave the patient alone? Or am I off base on this? Please advise!

Did Arik Gilbert get clearance to play this season? The last I heard his situation is still up in the air.

As a Husker fan, I would like to see him on the field this year. But can someone explain this one time transfer rule to me? Gilbert already transferred once so shouldn't he have to sit out a year? Or is his situation some how different?

The Big Ten is full of college football traditions. See where each of the schools rank.
by Paul Myerberg, USA Today

The Big Ten has existed under a few different titles since 1896, giving member programs well over a century to develop some of the most recognizable traditions in college sports.

While the SEC has owned this century, no Football Bowl Subdivision conference represents the history of college football better than the Big Ten. In fact, the depth of history among Big Ten teams makes it hard in some cases to settle on just one primary tradition.

After choosing which best represents each Big Ten program, let's group the conference into three tiers. Most of these traditions, especially those near the top, are immediately recognizable; it's safe to say a few near the bottom might not have the same reputation.

TIER 1: THE BEST OF THE BEST

Iowa - The Hawkeye Wave
This tradition debuted in 2017 following the opening of the university's Stead Family Children's Hospital, which overlooks Kinnick Stadium. At the end of the first quarter, fans turn and wave to pediatric-care patients and families watching the game from the hospital's upper floors. The top floor hosts game-day parties in what the hospital calls its "Press Box."

Michigan - "Go Blue" banner
Michigan's most impressive football tradition is owning the most wins in FBS history. In terms of a memorable gameday tradition, the Wolverines will charge out of the tunnel leading from the locker room and run onto the field under a "Go Blue" banner. Sponsored by the school's alumni association, the practice dates to 1962. The banner has been stolen twice but "no one has been able to take away the fighting spirit of the club or the Wolverines," according to the university.

Nebraska - Sellout Streak
In terms of paid attendance, the last Nebraska home game not to be played in front of a sold-out crowd came on Oct. 20, 1962, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. (That may be a coincidence.) But Memorial Stadium has been full for every game since Nov. 3 of that year, a 389-game span that is by far the longest in the FBS and has lasted through some recent struggles in the program.

Ohio State - Dotting the "i"
Performed to the tune of Robert Planquette's "Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse," the school marching band's iconic Script Ohio formation is capped with a senior sousaphone player strutting to the dot above the "i" in "Ohio" and taking a deep bow to both sides of the stadium. The honored assignment has only been granted to a handful of non-band members, including John Glenn, Jack Nicklaus and Bob Hope.

Penn State - The White Out Game
Every season since 2004, Penn State has designated one home matchup as the annual "White Out" game, where all fans are asked to dress in white. While they've gone 10-8 in these games, the matchup is almost always reserved for the biggest home game on the Nittany Lions' schedule; only four White Out opponents have been unranked when arriving in Happy Valley.

Wisconsin - Jump Around
At the end of the third quarter of home games, Wisconsin fans jump and get down to House of Pain's "Jump Around." The tradition started during a win against Purdue in 1998 and picked up in earnest during the 1999 season. (Fans will also sing along during home games to The Foundations' "Build Me Up Buttercup.")

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TIER 2: A CUT BELOW, STILL VERY GOOD

Michigan State - Zeke the Wonder Dog
Zeke (or Zekes, since there have been multiple) is a Frisbee-catching Labrador that has been providing halftime entertainment off and on at Michigan State home games since 1977. The current incarnation, Zeke IV, took over in 2016. In 1977, the original Zeke was given a varsity letter by then-coach Darryl Rogers, who called the canine "the best receiver in the Big Ten."

Minnesota - "Ski-U-Mah"
The catchy slogan has been in use since being developed in 1884. Originally but incorrectly believed to be derived from the Dakota word for "victory," the celebratory phrase can be found in "Minnesota Rouser," the school fight song: "Firm and strong, united are we. Ran, rah, rah for Ski-U-Mah."

Purdue - A really big drum
It's no the "World's Largest Drum," as the university says, that honor belongs to a 20-feet tall, 7-ton drum in South Korea, according to Guinness World Records. But it's pretty damn big: Purdue's behemoth is 10 feet tall, requires four handlers and still rolls on the original eight-foot frame built in 1921.

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TIER 3: WE MIGHT'VE HAD TO GOOGLE

Illinois - Card Stunts
Over at halftime in the student section, attendees will pick up plastic cards and flip them around to make some sort of design or say some sort of phrase. This isn't great. (For the example of how to do card stunts the right way, read up on Caltech and the Great Rose Bowl Hoax.)

Indiana - "Hep's Rock"
In 2005, then-Indiana coach Terry Hoeppner placed a boulder unearthed from the Hoosiers' practice field in the north end zone of Memorial Stadium. Since then, Indiana players have touched the rock before every home game. In 2010, the rock was renamed after Hoeppner, who died of brain cancer in 2007.

Maryland - State flag unfurling
The school touts the team's pregame walk to the stadium through "Terp Alley" and the postgame singing of the alma mater, but every school does some variation on these shared traditions. In terms of something more unique, the student section will unfurl two pieces of the state flag to the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey." But that's not even the most famous or notable use of that song in the Power Five (see: South Carolina).

Northwestern - Making sportswriters
Northwestern fans are no longer allowed to "Lake the Post," or tear down and toss the goalposts into Lake Michigan. With that out of the equation, the school's best tradition is churning out generations of sportswriters who would go on to cover football teams in the Big Ten and beyond.

Rutgers - Firing the cannon
The school's Revolutionary War-era cannon will fire at key gameday moments, such as when the team takes the field, at halftime and when the Scarlet Knights put points on the board. The cannon was originally donated by the school's 1949 graduating class to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the first college football game, which Rutgers won 6-4 against Princeton.