After spending an uncomfortable time wandering in the wilderness following Bo Pelini's firing, Nebraska finally returned to the postseason last year -- and won. I don't know about you but I sense that Nebraska fans might now realize how hard it is to win consistently in college football and how lucky they were to get Bob Devaney and Tom Osbourne back-to-back. (They may never realize that firing Frank Solich without having the next coach in-pocket already was a horrible mistake, but that's okay. We all know it.)
The Big Question: You will hear ad nauseam that Matt Rhule's great breakthrough in each of his previous college stops came in his third season at each school with double-digit wins. Well, this is his third season at Nebraska, so ... playoffs for the Huskers? Or will they get yet another lesson in how hard it is to win consistently?
My Guess at the Answer: The Huskers lost a disturbing amount of upperclassmen to the transfer portal, but with a schedule that avoids Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, and Washington, eight wins feels like the floor for this team.
Key Games:
- vs. Michigan, Sept. 20: I simply don't see a path to ten wins for the Huskers if they drop this game at home. And they've lost a lot of games at home that they shouldn't have. Sherrone Moore won't coach in this game, though.
- at UCLA, November 8: If the Bruins are even marginally better than they were last season, this road trip could be deadly to Nebraska's (admittedly slim) playoff hopes. It's the week after hosting USC and two weeks before a completely unwinnable trip to Penn State.
My Prediction: The Huskers fail to win ten or eleven games but put up a respectable 9-3, then try to forget that they fired Pelini and Solich for doing just that.
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