After graduating from high school, Alfson worked and farmed for several years until earning enough money to attend the University of Nebraska, Class of 1941, where he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity.

After one year on the freshman squad, he asked the school's permission to continue practicing, but to not play, so that he could get himself into proper condition as well as to wait for the upperclassmen ahead of him to graduate.

In the latter year, the Cornhuskers went 8–1 during the regular season under coach Biff Jones then played Stanford in the 1941 Rose Bowl.

Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor, his professional career was cut short as he began naval training in January 1942.

In 2005, Alfson was posthumously recognized as an honorable mention in the state of Nebraska's top athletes of all time, as selected by the Omaha World-Herald.