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Since its Oct. 15, 2018, inception, the NCAA transfer portal has become an ever-increasing part of the college athletics lexicon.

In football, there are more than 1,500 players currently in the portal, and the current year is on pace to blow away the previous high water mark for the total number.

The transfer train shows no signs of slowing.

Below is a look at how players in the Big Ten have used the transfer portal and a deep dive on the scholarship players that have used it from Nebraska since Dec. 1, 2019. That date is somewhat arbitrary, but it was picked because it loosely represents the end of the 2019 college season and captures most players that decided to leave after the 2019 season, during the full offseason before the pandemic-altered 2020 campaign or immediately after the 2020 season.

Entries in the portal are not designated as walk-ons or scholarship, so below are the total number of players that have entered the portal for each Big Ten team since Dec. 1, 2019, and the number since Dec. 1, 2020. Numbers are current as of the early morning on Jan. 28.

In the past two months alone, 103 Big Ten players have put their names in the portal.

Some perspective: 37 NU players total have entered the portal since Dec. 1, 2019. Of that number, 24 are scholarship players.

One way to adequately assess the matter is to look at each case individually.

So that's what we did among scholarship players that have left NU since Dec. 1, 2019.

A case-by-case look:

Awaiting trial after having pleaded not guilty to a sexual assault charge stemming from an alleged August 2019 rape. He was suspended indefinitely in August 2019 and expelled from UNL in April 2020. He appeared in one game and caught one pass for 8 yards against Bethune-Cookman in 2018.

Still in the pretrial phase after being accused and charged in the same August 2019 rape as Legrone. He was suspended indefinitely in August 2019 and expelled from UNL in April 2020. He appeared in two games in 2018 but did not catch a pass.

An electric but inconsistent playmaker who arrived on campus just before the 2018 season. He appeared in 18 games over two seasons, but also had legal troubles in California that kept him away from the team for periods of time. He last appeared in a game on Oct. 12, 2019, against Minnesota and was dismissed after the season.

Named NU’s scout team MVP as a freshman in 2016 but then did not appear in a game over the next three seasons. He transferred after the 2019 season and landed at Division II Arkansas-Monticello. The Boll Weevils did not play in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Came to NU as a heralded junior college transfer from Arizona Western and caught four passes for 19 yards over two seasons in Lincoln. He left as a graduate transfer and ended up at Marshall, where he caught just one pass but made it count on a 42-yard touchdown.

A solid special-teams contributor, appearing in 23 games between 2017 and 2018 and then four games in 2019. He graduated in three years, was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and transferred to Kent State in his home state of Ohio, where he played in four games and made 15 tackles.

Arrived at NU after a decorated career at Bellevue West and appeared in seven games as a true freshman in 2017 before redshirting in 2018 and playing in one game in 2019. He transferred in January 2020 and has not resurfaced in football.

Caught one pass for 13 yards while playing four games as a freshman in 2019, but the four-star receiver was well-thought-of by the coaching staff. He transferred to be closer to home and cited struggles with depression and mental health as the driving factors. He signed with hometown Portland State of the FCS, but the Vikings did not play in 2020.

A heralded prospect but was hurt before his freshman season in 2017 and battled knee injuries throughout his three seasons at NU. He appeared in nine games total and caught two passes in 2019 for 14 yards. He medically retired, but then entered the portal and ended up at FCS South Dakota, which did not play in 2020.

The Bishop Neumann graduate transferred to NU from UCF and appeared in six games for the Huskers (five in 2019), including two starts. He graduated and transferred in April 2020 after the pandemic forced spring ball to be canceled and kept him from competing for the starting job. He landed at Rutgers, where he started seven games in 2020 and is in line to return for 2021 and potentially 2022.

The Miami native transferred without ever taking part in a practice, landing at Florida International. A four-star prospect, Gray had offseason surgery on his shoulder and did not participate in Nebraska's spring camp. He said he transferred due to family reasons.

Entered the transfer portal before his senior season. Had been away from the Husker program since the previous spring due to "personal health matters." The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native is the only pass-catcher at Nebraska to ever have three straight 800-yard receiving seasons. This past season at TCU, he played in three games, including one start in the opener against Iowa State. He finished with five catches for 56 yards while also returning seven punts for 80 yards.

A midyear enrollee from South Dade (Florida) High School, the four-star corner originally signed with the Huskers over Miami and several other national suitors in December 2020. He took part in winter conditioning and the early part of spring practice before the proceedings were halted by the coronavirus pandemic, but he was not present for much of the Huskers' voluntary workouts between June 1 and the start of more formalized work in July. He's now at UCF.

Greene signed with Nebraska last January after he had long been verbally committed to Florida State. He entered the transfer portal in early September and is now at FAU. Inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud at one point considered Greene to be among his top six players.

Won the placekicking job as a true freshman and did a nice job, highlighted by a 3-for-3 outing in a Senior Day win against Michigan State. He missed the 2019 season with injuries, though, and medically retired after the season before showing up in the portal later.

A consensus three-star prospect from Miami (Florida) Northwestern, Delancy made it to the start of the 2020 Husker season, although he did not finish it, heading home in December and eventually landing at Toledo. Delancy saw work on special teams for NU but was not credited with a tackle. He originally chose NU over Louisville, Miami, Missouri and Pitt, among others.

Also from Miami (Florida) Northwestern, the 5-10, 170-pounder transferred from Nebraska in the middle of the season, then announced last month that he had verbally committed to Maryland. He led the team with five catches for 75 yards against Northwestern. After that, though, he played sparingly and left the team in late November.

A fifth-year senior from Lee's Summit, Missouri, he started the first two games of the season for Nebraska and appeared in four overall this fall. All told, he started 23 games at NU. He'll be a sixth-year senior next fall at Western Kentucky, taking advantage of the NCAA's eligibility freeze due to the pandemic.

The South Carolina native entered the transfer portal late last month after recording three tackles in five games in 2020 as a reserve. He made two tackles in the Huskers' season opener at fifth-ranked Ohio State and added another stop against Illinois. He appeared in only one of the final four games. He is now at South Carolina.

The redshirt freshman did not appear in a game for the Huskers in 2020. He was part of a big offensive line group in NU's 2019 recruiting class, arriving as a long, athletic prospect but one who needed to put on considerable weight to be big enough to play in the Big Ten. That proved to be a difficult task early in Anderson's career. He's now at Louisiana.

His departure was the biggest hit of all. After leading Nebraska with 51 receptions for 461 yards and a touchdown in eight games this season as a true sophomore, Robinson transferred to Kentucky. He told ESPN that he wanted to play closer to his home in Frankfort, Kentucky — his mother, Victoria Davis, has multiple sclerosis and recently had to be hospitalized with COVID-19 — and in an offense that better prepared him for the NFL.

The son of former NFL standout receiver Ed McCaffrey, McCaffrey supplanted starter Adrian Martinez in the third game and helped lead a close win against Penn State. But he struggled mightily in a 41-23 loss to Illinois, and NU coaches turned to Martinez to start the final four games. McCaffrey ended the season with one touchdown pass and six interceptions. He entered the portal Tuesday.

The son of former NFL standout quarterback Kurt Warner, Warner also entered the portal Tuesday. One of NU’s five captains in 2020, his playing time diminished significantly as the season progressed. The junior walk-on started off by playing a considerable amount as part of the receiver rotation, but ceded time to Iowa transfer Oliver Martin, South Dakota transfer Levi Falck, freshman Zavier Betts and others as the Huskers transitioned more and more to young and new players.

Came to Nebraska as part of the 2018 recruiting class and appeared in four total games during his three seasons on campus. Three of those came in 2019. He played late in NU’s season opener in 2020 against Ohio State, but then did not see the field the rest of the season.