One of UCLA’s fellow Big Ten members has made a very interesting decision.
According to a report by Eric Olson of the Associated Press, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule is set to cancel the team’s spring game over fears that the nationally televised event would be used by other programs across the country to scout and potentially poach his players.
“The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore,” Rhule said at his press conference on Saturday. “It’s just an absolute free open common market. I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world and have people watch our guys and say, ‘He looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.’”
Rhule does have a legitimate complaint and reason for canceling the annual tradition, as his program lost six players after its 2024 spring game.
Rhule’s concerns are very real as the NCAA refuses to combat clear cases of tampering including players transferring from one program to another without entering the portal as well as players entering the portal but refusing to open up their recruitment.
The NCAA’s continued lack of action to address major issues that are only in existence because the NCAA remains one of the most corrupt organizations in sports continues to be a stain on anyone associated with the organization.
UCLA should be concerned for its targets as well, considering the current financial status of the program and its NIL initiatives.
There is literally a simple solution to this problem, and that is to make the portal a two-week window that begins right after the national title game and wraps up by early February at the latest.
For Nebraska, while it is understandable to have such concerns, canceling the game, a yearly tradition, is a terrible move. Do not televise the game, only sell tickets to people with Nebraska area codes, prohibit filming and/ or just understand that in the current landscape of college football, “the game is the game” and do your best. No one is requiring Rhule to play his starters.
It is not a good look to cancel the spring game, especially in a football-crazed environment like Lincoln, Nebraska. While the reasons are valid and the NCAA needs to step in, it says more about Rhule than anything if he proceeds with this course of action.
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