Husker Doc Talk: Nebraska's 2026 Football Schedule and the Fool's Gold of Recruiting Rankings

Also, Dr. Rob is adamant when he says this: Flag football is not football, and the Huskers should've added a real women's sport instead.

Episode 3 of 2026 has dropped! | Doc Talk Sports

Nebraska fans finally get the official 2026 football schedule, and on Episode 3 of the Husker Doc Talk Podcast, Travis Justice and Dr. Rob Zatechka waste no time breaking down what it really means: this thing is a gauntlet.

They debate how much the order of games matters (Rob’s “one game at a time” mindset vs. the reality of how fans live and die with back-to-back matchups), then land on a blunt early takeaway: five wins might be the expectation, and seven should be celebrated considering the slate. The guys walk through the opening stretch (including why North Dakota could be sneakier than people think), the early Big Ten swing at Michigan State, and the brutal middle chunk featuring heavyweights like Indiana, Oregon, and Washington.

From there, the conversation turns into a larger debate about modern roster building, how portal “rankings” can be fool’s gold, why production matters more than stars, and why recruiting services seem to magically boost ratings the second a player commits to a blueblood. It’s funny, cynical, and painfully familiar to anyone who’s followed college football for more than five minutes.

The back half hits two hot-button topics: Mike Ekeler leaving for USC and what it means for Nebraska’s special teams momentum, and then the one that gets Rob fully fired up, Nebraska adding women’s flag football instead of women’s wrestling. Rob doesn’t hold back, and the episode ends with an all-time closing statement: “Flag football is not football.”

Watch on YouTube, drop your takes in the comments, and buckle up… because 2026 isn’t for the faint of heart.

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