The mystery of who wears No. 15 for Nebraska football appears settled

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The premise is straightforward. You ask me some questions — or vent your frustrations — about Nebraska Athletics. Any sport. I attempt to answer them.

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Single-digit jerseys came out earlier this week, and neither Dylan Raiola — named Nebraska’s starting quarterback on Wednesday — nor Malachi Coleman were awarded one, so someone had to change.

And that appears to be Coleman. The roster has not been changed yet, but Coleman’s dad, Craig Coleman, posted a photo of Malachi wearing No. 11. And that feels official enough to me.

I hope Raiola paid Coleman handsomely for it — with that donation going to the Fly Like Chi Foundation.

OK, so this is in reference to a mock draft published Wednesday morning by ESPN’s Field Yates. Yates had Tommi Hill as the No. 32 pick, going to the San Francisco 49ers.

“Hill is a star with even more room to grow, as he played wideout early in his college career and is still refining the nuances of the cornerback position,” Yates wrote. “He has a nose for the football (seven pass breakups and four interceptions in 2023) and is fearless, unafraid to make plays near the line of scrimmage in the run game.”

Nebraska hasn’t had a first-round draft pick since 2011 when the New York Giants selected cornerback Prince Amukamara at No. 19.

But maybe this is the year that drought ends. There have been plenty of NFL scouts at Nebraska’s practices during training camp — as is customary — but Yates isn’t the only one high on Hill. After last season, Hill was one of the highest-graded returning cornerbacks in the country. He’s been near the top of prospect lists all offseason.

If he can have another dominant season, the sky’s the limit for him.

Top to bottom, I think the Big Ten is far and away the best volleyball conference, followed by the ACC and then the SEC. The preseason rankings this year reflect that.

Of the 25 schools ranked on Monday, seven of them come from the Big Ten: No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Purdue, No. 10 Oregon, No. 18 Minnesota, No. 21 USC. Four more Big Ten schools received votes in Ohio State, UCLA, Indiana and Washington. That’s 61% of the league.

The ACC shakes out like this: No. 4 Pittsburgh, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Louisville, No. 14 Georgia Tech and No. 20 Florida State with SMU and Miami receiving votes.

The SEC has No. 1 Texas, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 11 Florida, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 19 Arkansas and No. 25 Georgia with Auburn and Missouri receiving votes.

Yes, the SEC has more overall teams, but I’d take three top 8 teams over the No. 1 overall team.

Now, at the top? I’m not giving the SEC credit for Texas’ back-to-back national championships. But, they can get credit for Kentucky’s national title in 2020. I’m also not giving the ACC credit for Stanford’s national titles in 2019, 2018 and 2016.

Since 2010, the national championship breakdown has been this:

Big Ten: six (Wisconsin in 2021, Nebraska in 2017 and 2015, Penn State in 2014, 2013, 2010)

Pac-12: four (Stanford in 2019, 2018, 2016 and UCLA in 2011)

Big 12: three (Texas in 2023, 2022, 2012)

SEC: one (Kentucky in 2020)

So, by that measure? The dead Pac-12 and the Big 12 have achieved at higher levels than the SEC. But, of course, conference realignment makes that all a bit weird with Stanford, UCLA and Texas all in different leagues now than they were when they won.