By what measuring stick are we judging this ranking, though? By top ten teams from the last time we were ranked around the top ten or top ten teams of the last few years? If it's based on past recollections of top ten teams, no, we don't qualify. but the "New Top Ten" - that we probably qualify for.
In the New Top Ten, parity has made such a ranking nebulous at best. All teams have at least one flashy player, and all teams have flaws. On any given Saturday those flaws could come up to bite a New Top Ten team, and they could plummet from glory quite quickly.
Nebraska circa 2009 was perhaps more flawed than most top ten teams, but certainly on defense we outshined most of the year's top ten teams. 2010 Nebraska has solid reasons to believe that we'll be decent-to-very-good on defense, and with ten starters returning on offense, plus added O Line depth, there's every reason to believe we'll be better on offense.
Does that necessarily mean we belong in the top ten? Of course not. But do we qualify as much as anyone else for the New Top Ten? I believe so.