Athlon: Huskers Third in Big Ten West

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
3. Nebraska

It’s a close call between Nebraska and Northwestern for the No. 3 spot in the early power rankings. Even though the Cornhuskers finished 2015 with a 6-7 record, advanced metrics by Football Outsiders placed coach Mike Riley’s team at No. 36 overall nationally. Improving on last season’s six wins is realistic for Nebraska next fall, especially if it finds a way to eliminate some of the turnovers (-12 margin in 2015). Quarterback Tommy Armstrong has to take better care of the ball, but a full offseason working with coordinator Danny Langsdorf should help. Armstrong could use more help from the ground attack, and sophomore Devine Ozigbo could be part of the solution after rushing for 87 yards against UCLA in the Foster Farms Bowl. Defense is Riley’s biggest concern. Starting tackles Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine are off to the NFL, and this unit ranked 11th in the Big Ten in yards per play allowed (5.88).
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If we finish lower than 2nd in 2016 I will be not impressed. I can stomach 2nd if we lose outright to the division winner in a competetive game.

 
Maybe its because I haven't seen Nebraska football in about a month. But, I suddenly have great hopes for Riley and Co. in the upcoming years. Maybe I have forgotten this past season already, but I think big things are coming our way.

 
We finish 3rd in the west, this fan base will implode. We finish 3rd in the West, that means OSU, Michigan, MSU, Wisky and Iowa ahead of us. Possibly NW as well.................

Middle of the road again..... No thanks.

I am optimistic (based on UCLA), but at this time, we are what we are. A .500 team that self destructs and is its own worse enemy.

 
lo country said:
We finish 3rd in the west, this fan base will implode. We finish 3rd in the West, that means OSU, Michigan, MSU, Wisky and Iowa ahead of us. Possibly NW as well.................

Middle of the road again..... No thanks.

I am optimistic (based on UCLA), but at this time, we are what we are. A .500 team that self destructs and is its own worse enemy.
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It's a January pecking order prediction. Every team is 0-0. Last year we were a better than .500 team that overthought things and got in its own way.

 
Why do people get all worked up over a January prediction as to what someone thinks is going to happen 8-10 months from now?

And...no....nobody will be satisfied with a 3rd place finish in our division.

 
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Iowa 1st NU 2nd alone or tied.

NW and Wiscy both have tougher crossover games and Wiscy loses a lot of key pieces.

 
BigRedBuster said:
Why do people get all worked up over a January prediction as to what someone thinks is going to happen 8-10 months from now?

And...no....nobody will be satisfied with a 3rd place finish in our division.
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Even if we are in a position to win every game? Because that's the stated goal now... or at least level of satisfaction.

 
Sargon said:
Iowa 1st NU 2nd alone or tied.

NW and Wiscy both have tougher crossover games and Wiscy loses a lot of key pieces.
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Just based on their coaching turnover and recruiting history during the past few years, I think Wisconsin is headed for a major collapse. I'm not at all impressed by their current HC, either. Chryst has never done anything remotely impressive as an HC and was up and down as an OC.

If NU doesn't win the west this year, that's pretty disturbing. It arguably has the easiest path among the legitimate contenders:

Iowa plays Michigan and home against PSU (I actually don't view the latter as a tough game, because PSU is not well coached) and Iowa's non-con is paper thin.

Wisconsin plays at Michigan and home against OSU.

Northwestern plays at MSU and home against OSU.

Nebraska plays at OSU and home against an awful Maryland program that's in transition.

Worse than 2nd would mean at least three and probably more like four conference losses. That would be abysmal against this schedule.

 
If we finish 3rd behind Iowa and Wisconsin, that means we're likely a 7-5 team. Iowa and Wisconsin will both struggle to reach 9 wins.

 
Fun fact: Only once since joining the Big Ten has Nebraska finished with less than 3 losses or higher than 3rd in our division.

So for all the talk about fishing 3rd or 3 losses being abysmal, it's basically been the status quo over the last 5 years.

 
BigRedBuster said:
Why do people get all worked up over a January prediction as to what someone thinks is going to happen 8-10 months from now?

And...no....nobody will be satisfied with a 3rd place finish in our division.
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Eichorst will. A record of 7 wins or more will be regarded as "marked improvement" and will be said and played over and over again in an attempt to convince fans that we're headed in the right direction.

 
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