Nebraska football called a 'darkhorse' in the Big Ten conference

There's a lot of hope around the Nebraska football team as it heads towards its second spring practice under Matt Rhule. There's a lot of people who believe that the Huskers are going to end their seven year bowlless streak.

Now there is at least a few analysts who believe that the Nebraska football team will not only go bowling, but could be a bit of a spoiler in the Big Ten conference. They could in fact, be a dark horse of a team that will be in the conference title race longer than anyone else expects.

247Sports recently put together their pre-spring practice projections of how every team in the B1G is going to perform this season. While the Huskers aren't going to have a perfect season, it would seem as though their projections have the Cornhuskers looking as good as they have in quite a while.

Nebraska football called a 'darkhorse' in the Big Ten conference

On this list, the Huskers are expected to go 9-3 and finish in a 3-way tie for third place in the Big Ten. It should surprise nobody that Dylan Raiola plays a very big part in why 247Sports believes Matt Rhule will finally turn the program around.

"There is a path to nine wins (or more) for Nebraska this season if the Huskers are able to establish early momentum with a favorable slate by Big Ten standards and get a boost of confidence under five-star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, should he be Matt Rhule's selection to start. The Huskers could be favored in their first seven games prior to a road trip to Ohio State. They only play one opponent ranked inside the preseason top 20. Rhule and his coaching staff need to do everything they can to take advantage of this schedule as a potential dark horse in the conference."

It's safe to say that no one around Nebraska football would be disappointed if this prediction came true.