'Scoundrel' Matt Rhule has Nebraska football on brink of playoffs, analysts believe

With just a few days until the Nebraska football team officially kicks off its march to a bowl game, there are quite a few analysts who still believe a playoff bid isn’t totally out of the question. While most see the chances of the Huskers making the postseason beyond a bowl game slim, two analysts laid out exactly how it might work, as well as why it might work and, it’s pretty damn enticing.

Josh Pate and Joel Klatt recently had a long discussion about the job Matt Rhule is doing in Lincoln and how things might pan out in his second year in Lincoln. The conversation quickly turned to how well Rhule has turned around other programs. And then they laid out how they see it playing out.

Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest factors in Nebraska football having a chance at the playoffs is Dylan Raiola. Rhule snatched the former 5-star prospect out from under the noses of Georgia, and there are more than a few SEC fans who aren’t thrilled about that, apparently.

Nebraska football’s outside chance at a playoff

“Nebraska really should be playing some games in November that have actual, legitimate implications for the playoff,” Klatt started off by saying. “If you look at their schedule, they've got Colorado at home. If they can beat them, they likely would be an undefeated team facing Ohio State. And then even if they lose to Ohio State with one loss, they're sitting in that same boat …that you're playing really meaningful games in November.”

“That's the one where we've sat here in years past and looked at a workable schedule for Nebraska,” Pate responded. “And then you get reality just hit you in the face. Same thing this year. I just believe in them a lot more this year. The whole Matt Rule year two principle is in play, by the way.”

That “Year Two Principle” is the one that says Rhule’s teams are always quite a bit better in Year 2. At least at the college level. 

“So how about that whole flip of Dylan Raiola from Georgia to Nebraska,” Pate added changing the subject a bit. “

“What was funny about that, you would have loved to hear this reverberating through the South. People in the South were up in arms because money was the deciding factor in that recruitment. I don't know if you're aware. I don't know if you're aware, but scoundrel, I think, was a word I heard thrown around in regard to Matt Rule in Nebraska.”

Finally, the analysts made it clear why they think the teammup of Rhule and Raiola looks really good for Nebraska football.

“It reeks of the kind of thing where if you do nothing more than flip your fortune in one possession games, you go from. I'm a seven and five caliber team to 10 to 11 one. If they're 11 and one, they're in. Well, they may be in the conference title game, but even if they're not, yeah, especially if there's chaos elsewhere. You tell me a committee member doesn't get romantic about the possibility of putting Nebraska in the playoff. These are human beings. Absolutely. They were 100 percent. 100 percent.”