In a landmark moment for college athletics, the College Sports Commission (CSC) secured a major victory this week in an arbitration hearing over denied NIL deals for Nebraska football players—the first such win in the CSC's history as it nears its one-year anniversary this summer. But as any sports fan knows, the game isn't over until the final whistle blows.

Nebraska Athletics Director Troy Dannen recently broke down the next steps in the process, offering clarity on what's ahead and addressing the potential involvement of the state's attorney general. A neutral arbitrator ruled in favor of the CSC, upholding the denial of $7.5 million worth of NIL deals for 18 Nebraska athletes through partnerships with PlayFly, the school's multimedia rights partner. The good news? The university can now resubmit those agreements—and Dannen confirmed that process is already underway.

Here's where it gets interesting: Nebraska state law explicitly states that associations cannot punish athletes for signing NIL deals. That's why many are wondering whether Attorney General Mike Hilgers could step in. Dannen explained that the situation hasn't reached that point yet, as there's still a strong chance the deals will go through. However, he predicted Hilgers would take action if the deals are ultimately denied.

"Obviously, Nebraska has a state law, and that state law says no athlete shall be penalized for accepting a valid NIL deal," Dannen said Wednesday on Sports Nightly. "You could argue, 'Well, why doesn't the attorney general step in?' Well, we really haven't gotten to the point of the process yet where that law would kick in. So we need to exhaust the alternatives that are available to us, and that's what we're doing right now is resubmitting those deals."

He added, "I would tell you, if those deals are rejected, my anticipation is the attorney general would step in and say the law says you can't penalize them [and] they can accept these deals. But we do need to fulfill everything to get to the point where that law would even be viable for the attorney general to step in."

Under the rules of the House v. NCAA settlement, the 18 Nebraska athletes' deals were subject to the NIL Go clearinghouse because the agreements involve a third party. For now, all eyes are on the resubmission process—and whether the attorney general will eventually take the field.