Possible 2016 College Football Playoff Cinderellas

[Saunders]

4. Nebraska: It's hard to think of Nebraska as a Cinderella in football because it's Nebraska. It's won five national titles after all. Still, even with that illustrious history, it's been nearly 20 years since that last title (1997), and it's been nearly as long since the Cornhuskers even won a conference title (1999).

So whether it feels right or not, Nebraska reaching the CFP would be a Cinderella story at this point. And I haven't even mentioned the fact that the Huskers went 6-7 last year.

What works in Nebraska's favor this year is that it's the second season under Mike Riley, meaning the transition process should be over. Also, the Huskers play in the Big Ten West, where Iowa showed us all last season how quickly you can turn things around in a division without a dominant power. Throw in a schedule that includes some nice resume games (vs. Oregon, at Ohio State) and nothing too incredibly difficult outside of that road trip to Columbus, and it's not entirely out of the question Nebraska finishes the regular season at 11-1 and plays for a Big Ten title. If it wins that title, well, it's never going to be easy to keep a 12-1 Big Ten champ out of the playoff.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/25522091/friday-five-possible-college-football-playoff-cinderellas-in-2016

 

 

[NUance]

[Redux]

That is basically my exact hope for the season. We know damn well we will lose a game somewhere, even if we are a 12-0 caliber team should the stars align just right. I expect that game to be @Wiscy or @tOSU. If we lose to tOSU, rematch for the title game and we take it.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

I'm going to be forever cautionary when setting expectations for the upcoming season. Yes, the transition should be just about complete. Yes, Boyd Eppley and Mark Phillip have had a year of these guys in the weight room. Yes, Nebraska has looked at rugby tackling to improve on what was a pretty good tackling year. Yes, the defense and offense return a lot of key players. Yes, Tommy Armstrong will be in his 4th year as a starter and 2nd under former New York Giants offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf. Yes, Patrick O'Brien is behind Tommy Armstrong, which should give Nebraska QB depth and allow Tommy to run more a la UCLA game. Yes, Nebraska stuck to the ground against UCLA. There are a lot of signs that point to this being a good year for Nebraska...

 

BUT

 

Boyd Eppley even said it himself that we need a few years to re-establish the strength and conditioning program.

 

The defense loses Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine, two players who stuffed the middle last season. Can the next guys up do the same job?

 

Tommy is still incredibly turnover prone, and 3 years of evidence has shown that that probably won't change too dramatically in his senior year.

 

Danny Langsdorf comes from the NFL, which is admittedly a pass-happy league. Will he be more comfortable with a run-focused offense, an offense that includes the QB run game?

 

Both Oregon and Ohio State have more talent than Nebraska, and Nebraska has to travel to Evanston, Iowa City, Madison, and Columbus. Winning all 4, let alone 2, of those games will be incredibly difficult.

 

 

NOW

 

None of this is to say that Nebraska can't pull it off, and if they do, they will be more than deserving of the playoff bid. The parallel the article draws to 2015-16 Iowa is--I think--a little inappropriate. Yes, Iowa showed teams can turn it around in a "powerless" division, but Iowa had an incredibly easy schedule, a schedule not afforded to 2016-17 Nebraska. I'd guess that Iowa wouldn't have an undefeated regular season had they played Oregon, @Wisconsin, @Ohio State, and @Nebraska. I'd feel more confident about 2016-17 Nebraska if our toughest game was @Wisconsin, a game good enough to be called 3rd toughest on Nebraska's schedule this year.

 

I'm looking forward to the season and a step forward, but I don't think the step forward will be as large as some people are thinking. Nebraska will do well to hit that #9win mark this year.

[RedDenver]

Danny Langsdorf comes from the NFL, which is admittedly a pass-happy league. Will he be more comfortable with a run-focused offense, an offense that includes the QB run game?

I think your general point about Langsdorf and the QB run game stands, but I think Langs only spent one year in the NFL.

[Waterloohusker26]

[GM_Tood]