Nebraska football’s playoff dreams for 2025: Analyst says possible but far-fetched

The Nebraska football team is certainly regrouping and reloading for the 2025 season. But just how good can they be next season? 

The goal for a program at the level of the Cornhuskers is always the playoffs. But considering it just made its first bowl game since the 2016, season, is that aiming a bit too high? Is it realistic to think NU can make the playoffs? One ESPN analyst says that it can’t be ruled out, at the very least.

Earlier this week, Matt Schick appeared on Hail Varsity Radio to talk about the chances of Nebraska football making the playoffs next season. Not surprisingly, he used fellow Big Ten team Indiana as a chief example of why it can be done.

Nebraska football has a shot at the playoffs

“The challenge for programs that haven't done it in a while is your margin for error becomes very, very slim,” Schick started making it clear he didn’t believe NU making the playoffs in 2025 wasn’t likely. “And, you know, just think about what happened to Indiana, where they're 11-1 and there's still a lot of, are we sure about this team? And, yeah, they were somewhat comfortably in, but, I mean, if Ole Miss beats Florida, we might be talking about Indiana on the bubble there. You know, a bunch of things still had to happen for Indiana to feel comfortable about their inclusion. But, to your point, it certainly can be done. And talking to Brett Bielema, even after their win against South Carolina in the bowl game, I asked him how much, you know, they think, why not us? And he said, absolutely. And they point to the Indiana factor.”

“So I would never fault any fan base, going back to the Broncos thing, for thinking that that can be accomplished. It's certainly a giant step. I think Indiana is, is one of those exceptions, not the rules, but certainly allows, allows you to dream big about it. But, you know, when you think about it, you've got Oregon, you've got Penn State, you've got Ohio State. Those are almost your three givens every single year. So can you, as Nebraska, be that fourth team? Because the Big Ten is going to be hard-pressed to get five teams in a 12-team playoff. Can you be that fourth team? That's a tough, tough thing to break up into and something that, you know, is going to be, you're at the mercy of, of health, a bounce here or there, and most importantly, your schedule.”

So the bottom line? Nebraska football has a shot at the playoffs next season. It’s just really, really unlikely.