With the Nebraska football season now just around the corner, more than a few publications are putting out their official Big Ten Conference power rankings. While Husker Corner’s is coming a little later in the summer, one interesting power ranking of note has a Cornhuskers’ rival site putting Matt Rhule’s squad high enough that they could compete for a College Football playoff spot, especially if they outperform these relatively high expectations.
With an 18-team conference it can be quite daunting to really look and see how anyone is goin to finish in the top half or bottom half of the Big Ten. It can also seem like a middle of the pack prediction is a negative, until that 18-team roll call is really finished.
Nebraska lands No. 7 spot in SI-backed list, facing just two higher-ranked foes on 2025 schedule
The Michigan Wolverines on SI recently put out its latest Big Ten Power Rankings and author Trent Knoop slated the Nebraska football team in the No. 7 spot. For now, that’s something most Husker fans can be happy with.
Knoop was short and sweet about why he believes the Huskers can be No. 7 in the Big Ten:
“What was said about Lincoln Riley can be said about Matt Rhule at Nebraska. He's had success at the college level, and QB Dylan Raiola will only get better. Year 2 in Lincoln should be exciting, and the Huskers should improve on their seven wins from last year.”
That reference to the USC coach? It seems like an apt comparison:
“At some point in time, Lincoln Riley is going to have success in the Big Ten.”
The rest of Knoop’s rankings will have plenty of people taking issue, especially since he has the Michigan Wolverines all the way up at No. 4 coming off an 8-5 season:
18. Purdue
17. Maryland
16. Rutgers
15. Northwestern
14. Wisconsin
13. Michigan State
12. UCLA
11. Minnesota
10. Washington
9. Iowa
8. USC
7. Nebraska
6. Indiana
5. Illinois
4. Michigan
3. Oregon
2. Ohio State
1. Penn State
It’s worth pointing out that in this Big Ten Power Ranking, the Nebraska football team plays only two teams placed ahead of them on the list in the 2025 season.