Nebraska Likely to Cancel CFB Spring Game amid Transfer Portal Tampering, Rhule Says

Nebraska's spring game will likely be canceled moving forward due to transfer portal concerns, according to head coach Matt Rhule.

"The word 'tampering' doesn't exist anymore," Rhule said Saturday, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "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.'"

In the week following the Cornhuskers' 2024 spring game, six players entered the portal (via ESPN).

Nebraska's spring game has always drawn one of the largest crowds in the country. Despite coming off a 5-7 season in 2023, 60,452 fans showed up to Memorial Stadium and watched the Huskers' 2024 spring game.

While injuries in the contest are also a concern, Rhule confirmed that he's primarily focused on potentially exposing his players to other schools.

"I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities after that," Rhule said, via ESPN. "So you go out and bring in a bunch of new players and showcase them for all the other schools to watch? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen confirmed that the school will still have an event to celebrate the players and prepare for the fall season on April 26, but it won't have the format of a traditional game.

"I am not going to call it a spring game," Dannen said during his radio show on Husker Sports Network (h/t On3.com's Sean Callahan). "And do not call it a spring game because I do not expect it to be a game. I don't know what it's going to be just yet. Really, that's going to be Matt [Rhule's] call."

"I expect something that's not going to be televised, but something that will be a celebration of our athletes and get to see some skills and see what they got, and go from there," he added.

The Huskers are coming off a 2024 campaign in which they finished with a 7-5 record and defeated Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl.

They started the year by winning five of their first six games, but they faltered down the stretch of the season. Before Nebraska's bowl victory, the team had dropped five of its prior six contests.

As the Huskers attempt to take another step forward in 2025, Rhule doesn't want to risk other schools trying to land his players in the transfer portal following another spring game.