Three Takes on Where Nebraska Football Stands in the Preseason Rankings

The first USA Today Coaches Poll of the season was released last week, and the first AP Top 25 College Football Poll came out just a few days ago. 

In the age of the college football playoff, these early polls certainly don’t hold as much weight as they used to. But I still get excited to see what the voters are thinking at the outset of the season. The polls are at least an interesting snap shot of the national perception of the top college football teams in the land.

With that in mind, here are three takes on where Nebraska football stands in the preseason rankings.  

“Others Receiving Votes.” Nebraska football shows up in both polls in the “others receiving votes” section. Effectively, the Huskers come in at 39th in the country according to the coaches poll, and 34th in the country according to the AP poll. 

Honestly, that’s probably about right. For now. The days of the Big Red getting the benefit of the doubt in the national rankings are long gone. The Huskers will have to climb their way into the polls this season the old fashioned way: by earning it. After the last 10 years of Nebraska football, fans and media alike are in “prove it” mode. If the Huskers make the kind of leap fans are hoping for, and take care of business in the early part of their schedule in particular, they’ll be in the top 25 soon enough.

Manageable Schedule? Penn State starts the season at #2 in the AP poll and #3 in the coaches poll. Michigan is #14 in both polls. That’s it for Nebraska’s 2025 opponents. USC and Iowa are receiving votes in both polls, and Minnesota is receiving votes in the coaches poll. 

In the Big Ten, the Huskers avoid top ten Ohio State and Oregon. They also avoid Illinois (#12 in both polls) and Indiana (#20 in the AP poll and #19 in the coaches poll), both of whom were on the schedule last season. The last decade has taught us that the Big Red can’t be taking any team for granted. But, for a team trying to turn the corner and get back to national relevance in college football, this schedule lines up about as well as you could hope for. 

(Shameless plug alert: make sure to check out my picks of every game on Nebraska’s schedule from earlier this week. First six games can be found here; last six games can be found here). 

Middle of the Pack in the Big Ten. For what it’s worth, and just because it’s kind of fun, CBS put out a ranking of all 136 Division 1 college football teams. According to that poll, Nebraska comes in 35th nationally, and 9th out of the 18 teams in the Big Ten. 2025 opponents Penn State (#2), Michigan (#15), USC (#29), and Iowa (#30) all rank higher than the Huskers, while Minnesota is only three spots behind the Big Red (#38). 

I could make the case that Nebraska belongs higher on that list, but I don’t need to. The Huskers will have the opportunity to prove it on the field.