Now that the Nebraska football team is a quarter of the way through its schedule, just what's ahead for the Huskers is coming more into focus.
While things can still change, especially as teams play more Big Ten conference games, the thing that is coming into focus the most is just how hard the rest of NU's schedule will be. It's time to take a look at the remaining eight games and really figure out how difficult things will be when the Huskers get back to playing games next weekend.
Ranking Nebraska football's remaining 2025 opponents
The UCLA Bruins are obviously the easiest team left on Nebraska's schedule based on the early part of the season. They don't even have a full-time head coach anymore after the firing of Deshon Foster. The offense has been bad. The defense has been bad. The Bruins have been bad. Granted, the Huskers lost to them last year, but that should only serve as more incentive to beat UCLA.
If UCLA weren't in that top spot of easiest opponents, the Wildcats would be. While David Braun had a magical season in his first year at the helm, things have taken a turn since he was made the full-time head coach. Northwestern takes on UCLA this weekend. Should the Bruins come away the victors, this list could switch.
The Golden Gophers aren't exactly looking like a juggernaut this season. They opened the season well enough with two wins, but their loss, a 27-14 blowout defeat to Cal, shows a team that has plenty of flaws. Nebraska fans should never take PJ Fleck lightly, but this ranking is more about the fact that the other teams on the schedule seem to be better than what Minnesota can offer.
Yes, the Iowa Hawkeyes offense is getting better. Yes, they are 3-1 on the season. However, the team continues to look like one that, if Nebraska limits its mistakes, it should be able to beat. It could in fact, beat the Mark Gronowski-led team quite handily as long as it's dialed in. That game, where Rutgers gave them everything they could handle, also shows an Iowa defense that isn't as solid as it has been in the past. If John Butler can fix the run defense, Kirk Ferentz's crew shouldn't pose a big problem. And since the game is the last of the year, Butler will have plenty of time.
We've officially reached the stretch of the Huskers' schedule where things get scary. The Maryland Terapins have been surprisingly good. Of course, their big win of the season is against a Wisconsin school that appears to be in freefall. Still the Terps look like they've found a quarterback and their defense has been better than expected.
Next week's opponent certainly didn't enter the season looking this formidable. However, a second year of Aidan Chiles at the helm has the Spartans' offense humming. That's why they get ranked this high. There's also the worry about how the Huskers come off of bye weeks. The good news here is that the passing defense has been outstanding. However, Chiles can certainly hurt the Cornhuskers with his mobility.
Lincoln Riley has his team's offense cooking so far in 2025 as 33 points is the least amount its scored so far this year. USC has long been looked at as one of the teams that could knock the Huskers out of the playoff race. That's still very true, if Nebraska can get itself into the playoff race in the first place.
The Nittany Lions are the No. 3 team in the country. Until they prove otherwise, they get the honor of being named the toughest team the Nebraska football program has to face this season. Granted, Penn State hasn't been tested at all. They will be this weekend against Oregon. It's not out of the question they could drop on this list depending on how this weekend goes.