Nebraska football chances for bowl game improve following Purdue

While there are some Nebraska football fans who are annoyed by how the Huskers performed (especially in the first half) against Purdue, the fact of the matter is that the win on Saturday, coupled with happenings around the rest of the Big Ten has NU on a more solid path forward today.

According to at least one analyst, the Cornhuskers improved their chances of qualifying for a bowl game. Their odds of finishing higher in the Big Ten and beating Rutgers also got a bit better.

Kfordratings has been tracking and predicting how every team at the FBS level will do this year and perhaps it’s a little reassuring that the analyst hasn’t been on the “Nebraska football to the playoffs” train. Kelley Ford has instead mostly been on a “they might make a bowl.”

That’s reassuring because this isn’t someone who routinely overrates the Huskers. However, he does have the chances of a postseason improving, even if it’s incrementally.

Nebraska football on more solid win footing

Following an update after this weekend, Kford has the Huskers’ win projection jumping from 6.7 to 7.1 on the season. In other words, the analyst believes the lowest win total NU gets this year is seven. 

NU also moved up one spot in the projected Big Ten rankings, from 11th to 10th. And they saw their chances of beating Rutgers this weekend go from 57 percent to 60 percent.

What does all of this mean? Not a whole lot since the games still need to be played on the field obviously. But it does indicate the Nebraska football team is getting stronger as the season goes along, analytically.