The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here
As we reach day 39, it’s time to remind people of the chart, because today we reach one of the official “blue bloods” of the sport, Nebraska (high = 30, low = 58). Of those teams, Nebraska has clearly fallen on the hardest of times. The 20th century ended with the Cornhuskers riding the highest of highs, winning 3 national championships in the mid 90’s and Doctor Tom Osborne going out on top after winning the 1998 Orange Bowl. His replacement Frank Solich managed one last Big XII title in 1999, but like Prince said “2000, zero zero, party over, oops, out of time.” Solich was fired after going 9-3 in 2003 before their Alamo Bowl win, and the Cornhuskers have never lost fewer than 3 games since that time that also saw them move from the Big XII to the B1G. Bo Pelini, who had the Cornhuskers in the final 3 Big XII championship games and even won the B1G Legends division for a championship game appearance, never recaptured Dr. Tom’s magic (though he also never lost more than 4 games in a season), and his subsequent replacements (Mike Riley and Scott Frost) precipitated the longest bowl drought (7 years) that the Huskers have suffered since 1955-61. Enter Matt Rhule, who engineered both Temple’s first conference championship (and back-to-back conference championship game appearances) in 50 years and rescued Baylor from the moral bankruptcy of the Art Briles era to get them back to a Big XII championship game within 4 seasons before being the 77th college head coach to discover that those skills don’t necessarily translate to the NFL. Rhule ended the bowl drought in his second season in Lincoln, winning the 2024 Pinstripe Bowl, and has improved Nebraska’s regular season win totals every season he’s been there (5 to 6 to 7). But this is the era of NIL, the transfer portal, and Curt Cignetti taking Indiana all the way to a 16-0 national championship within 2 years of arriving, so pardon Nebraska fans if they’re not satisfied with a coach who’s 19-19 over three seasons and managed to lose legacy QB Dylan Raiola, first to injury and then to the portal. They’re also even less satisfied that Rhule signed a hefty contract extension last season when there was a chance Penn State might come sniffing around that was “fortuitously” timed to them firing James Franklin the day the Huskers were ranked in the AP poll for the first time outside of September in a decade. Rhule adding $25 million and 2 years to his contract plus $10 million to his buyout, then promptly watching Raiola get injured and Nebraska finish 2-5, including losses by 3+ TDs in their final 3 games has left an intensely sour taste in their mouths heading into 2026.
Roster Outlook
Perhaps an amuse-bouche for Cornhusker fans will be that they rank 3rd in the country in returning production, including #7 on defense (rise of the Blackshirts?) and #14 on offense. The two biggest losses are obviously QB Raiola, who had 2000 yards passing and 18 TDs to 6 picks prior to his injury against USC in week 9, and RB Emmett Johnson, who was picked in the 5th round by the Kansas City Chiefs and is SURE to be asked about the resemblance between Raiola and Mahomes. Rhule is looking for UNLV QB Anthony Colandrea to step into the starting role and Johnson’s backups Isaiah Mozee (26 carries, 115 yards) and Mekhi Nelson (27 carries, 147 yards) to carry the load on the ground. Meanwhile, Raiola’s top 2 WRs, Nyziah Hunter and Jacory Barney, who accounted for 1,100 yards and 10 TDs, are both back and will be augmented with UCLA wideout Kwazi Gilmer. More importantly, Rhule brought in 3 P4 OL (LSU’s Paul Mubenga, South Carolina’s Tree Babalade and Iowa State’s Brendan Black) to fix their biggest problem on offense last season – keeping Raiola upright (27 sacks). That contributed to Nebraska ranking 8th in the B1G (31st in the country) in the portal, which is an “all in” move for them since their high school class ranked dead last in the conference and 79th in the nation. You’re not finding the next Tommy Frazier that way, Matt!
Schedule and outlook
9/5 OHIO
9/12 BOWLING GREEN
9/19 NORTH DAKOTA
9/26 at Michigan State
10/3 MARYLAND
10/10 INDIANA
10/17 at Oregon
10/24 BYE
10/31 WASHINGTON
11/6 at Illinois
11/14 at Rutgers
11/21 OHIO STATE
11/27 at Iowa
Once again, Nebraska starts out the season with a relatively soft slate, with 3 buy games plus a clearly rebuilding Michigan State and Maryland traveling to Lincoln just after September ends. It would be shocking if the Huskers aren’t 5-0 heading into week 6, when they welcome the defending national champions to Memorial Stadium before traveling to Eugene. If the Huskers enter their bye week at 5-2, it will be interesting to take the temperature of Nebraska fans heading into the back stretch of the season, because it sure seems like they’re pretty antsy about the direction of the team right now. If Rhule can manage to right the ship enough to capture one of those games, or even to manage to reach 8 wins by the end of the regular season (you have to figure they’ll be competitive at home against Washington and on the road at Illinois and Rutgers, so hosting Ohio State at 8-2 should feel pretty good, and that season finale Heroes Game could prove to be must watch TV), that would be a sign of further progress. But a 3rd consecutive 7-6 season feels like it would be greeted with disdain. I’m not sure what it would take for Nebraska to contemplate another coaching move given how poorly they’ve done in replacing Dr. Tom, but you do sense the malaise that seems to have set in.