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Nebraska Football: ESPN SPI rankings predict difficult road in 2020

By Danny Jaillet

CHAMPAIGN, IL - SEPTEMBER 21: Jack Stoll #86 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers throws the ball during the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - SEPTEMBER 21: Jack Stoll #86 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers throws the ball during the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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The rankings indicate Nebraska  football will face challenges in 2020.

ESPN released their FPI rankings on Tuesday, and let’s just say they weren’t exactly favorable to Nebraska football. The program has a tough road ahead of them.

Before I get into the actual rankings, I’d like to just take a look at how their schedule ranks in terms of FPI. The oddsmakers are predicting a 65.1% chance of winning the opener against Purdue, scheduled for September 5 Nebraska is favored in their first four games, including by a wide margin against South Dakota State. ESPN’s FPI gives them a 90.5% chance to win that game.

It’s the back half of the schedule that gets a little murky. Nebraska is given a 29% chance of winning at Northwestern before playing two games against Rutgers and Illinois, both of which they are given over a 70% chance of winning. However, games against Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, and Wisconsin are not in their favor according to this ranking. Even the season finale against Minnesota gives Nebraska football a slight edge with a 50.2% chance of winning.

In terms of the overall rankings, ESPN put Nebraska football in the 40th spot. They started the 2019 season at the 33rd spot, after finishing at the 58th spot in 2017 and the 50th spot in 2018. It’s safe to say that Nebraska’s 2020 schedule is a bit of a tossup. They could do extremely well at the beginning of it, while struggling at the back end of it.

What I do take away from these rankings overall, is that the program is going to have to grind it out for another bowl win. It’s similar to what they had to do last year, as they had to win the final couple games of the 2019 regular season in order to become bowl eligible. However, they just  could not get it done. To be perfectly honest, I do not put a ton of stock into Nebraska’s individual chances of winning each game. I put more stock into their overall ranking.

Given how hard the second half of the schedule is, Nebraska is ranked properly. Hopefully, they will be able to prove everybody wrong in 2020. At the very least, this tells me that Nebraska will definitely have to work hard in order to get the elusive bowl  win that head coach Scott Frost is looking for. They certainly have the talent to do so, it’s more so about execution.

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