The College Sports Commission (CSC) has officially put the University of Nebraska under the microscope, investigating whether some athletes failed to report income from third-party NIL sponsors. Strikingly, Matt Rhule’s Cornhuskers were put on alert.

According to the new rules from the House v. NCAA settlement, any deal worth over $600 has to be logged in a specific system called ‘NIL Go.’ CSC Head of Investigations Katie Medearis informed Cornhuskers AD Troy Dannen via email that the commission was monitoring an unreported case within the program.

“The College Sports Commission is investigating whether members of one of your institution’s sports teams failed to report one or more third-party Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals in accordance with applicable rules,” stated the email by CSC.

When the news broke, internal emails obtained by Front Office Sports showed that Nebraska’s athletic department was quick to explain what happened.

They basically said the whole thing was a big misunderstanding. According to their compliance officials, the athletes involved had ‘confusion’ about the timing. They weren’t sure exactly when they were supposed to report the deals or whether the money they received would count under the new, stricter post-settlement rules.

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Even though it sounds serious, this doesn’t seem like a case of players trying to defraud the system. It’s more about the growing pains of a very complicated new process. Nebraska’s Senior Associate AD, Patty Peterson, told the commission that as soon as they realized there was an issue, the athletes returned and submitted all required paperwork.

Since they corrected the records quickly, they’ll likely avoid any significant penalties. Nebraska has a bit of a reputation for cutting corners. Look no further than their over-coaching violation during Scott Frost’s run.

Nebraska was caught using a special teams analyst in a way that wasn’t allowed. Basically, analysts are supposed to watch film and talk to coaches. But this analyst was actually giving ‘technical instruction’ to players on the field. As a result, the NCAA hit Frost with a one-year show-cause order and a five-day suspension because they technically had too many coaches on the field.

Another compliance issue arose in 2012 over textbooks. Hundreds of athletes accidentally got free books and supplies that weren’t strictly required for their classes. Even though it was just a few bucks per person, the NCAA called it an ‘illegal benefit.’ The school had to pay a fine and face additional probation, but it was mostly just an embarrassing accounting mistake. This history of compliance issues may be why the CSC is monitoring the program so closely. That might be another reason officials are keeping such close tabs on them.

This investigation is a cosmic reminder that the CSC is actually serious about being the ‘NIL police.’ Since they started, they’ve already blocked nearly $15 million worth of deals across the country because they didn’t think the money matched the work being done. They want to make sure companies are paying athletes for their actual brand value, not just giving them ‘pay-for-play’ bonuses to lure them to certain schools.

The big takeaway here is that being a college athlete is becoming increasingly like running a business. Between the ‘NIL Go’ app and the five-day reporting deadlines, players are having a hard time keeping up with the admin work. While Nebraska seems to be in the clear for now, this investigation serves as a warning. It sends a message to every other school that the commission is watching every dollar that moves through the system.

Notably, Nebraska isn’t the first school to get caught in these new ‘NIL police’ crosshairs.

LSU investigation offers clues for Nebraska’s outcome

Just a few weeks ago, LSU went through the same thing. They were the very first school to be investigated by the CSC for missing the five-day reporting deadline on deals over $600. It caused a considerable stir. But it turned out to be a relatively quick fix once the school got its paperwork in order.

The positive news for Nebraska fans is that the LSU situation ended without any major drama. Once the athletes uploaded their information to the NIL Go app, the commission closed the case within 3 weeks. There were zero punishments. It seems like the commission is currently using these investigations more as a ‘wake-up call.’ They want to show schools they’re actually watching the books, rather than trying to kick teams out of the playoffs.

Even though LSU and Nebraska are the only ones named publicly so far, they definitely won’t be the last. The commission recently sent out warning letters to 20 other Division I schools. They are basically telling them to ensure compliance.

It looks like we’re entering a new era in which athletic departments have to spend just as much time on accounting as on recruiting if they want to stay out of trouble.