It’s always interesting to hear the “20 years” trope from Neb fans, B1G fans, and CFB fans at large. And yeah it’s no secret that the past 20 years hasn’t yielded the kind of results Neb fans would hope for. But since I had the time this morning, I thought I’d take a deeper look.
So here we go. Last 20 seasons. 2003-2022.
Neb
- 141-109 record for a .56 winning pct.
- 6-6 in Bowls.
Iowa
- 164 - 89 record for a .65 winning pct.
- 9-8 in Bowls, with a 2020 Bowl cancelled due to Covid.
Safe to say this is Iowa’s best 20 year modern day stretch. 1 Co-B1G title with two B1G title game appearances. This yielded a 9% better winning percentage and 6 more bowl appearances/invites than Neb’s worst 20 year modern day stretch.
Now, the last 6 years have obviously been the worst stretch of Nebraska football since the moon landing. So for the sake of conversation, and since it’s peak off season, let’s look at how these various B1G programs fared between 2003-2016.
Neb
- 118-64.
- Bowls 6-6. No Major Bowls.
- 7 top 25 finishes. 0 Top Ten.
Iowa
- 115-66.
- Bowls 5-7. Major Bowls: 1 Orange win. 1 Rose loss.
- 5 top 25 finishes, 4 in the top 10.
Penn St
- 114-63.
- Bowls 5-5. Major Bowls: 1 Orange win. 2 Rose losses.
- 6 Top 25 finishes, 4 in the top 10. (2007 finished 25 in Coaches, unranked in AP).
Mich
- 112-65.
- Bowls 3-8. Major Bowls: 1 Sugar win. 3
Rose losses and 1 Orange loss.
- 8 top 25 finishes (2012 they finished 24th in AP, unranked in Coaches). 3 in the top 10. (2011 they finished 9th in the coaches poll and 12th in the AP.)
So from 2003-2016 Neb kept pace for wins and losses, bowl appearances and ranked finishes. The biggest areas they lagged were top 10 finishes and Major Bowls.
However… I think it’s worth noting that between 2003 and 2010, Neb played in 3 Big 12 title games. The B1G did not play a title game in that span and had 4 years with co champions. Both Conferences played an 8 conference game schedule. Michigan received a Rose Bowl invite as a co champ and Penn St received Rose and Orange Bowl invites as co champs.
If Neb did not have to play a Big 12 Championship Game, they’d have been co-champs in 2010. Which could have potentially landed them a Major Bowl.
So in all, yes the last 20 years have not been great and the last 6 years has been the roughest. But for the other 14 of this infamous 20 year stretch, it seems we generally kept pace with other B1G schools.