This isn’t your average college football ranking.
My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it’s my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:
- Who do I think is good?
- Why do I think they’re good?
- What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations?
Here is a look at where Nebraska lands in my Ultimate 136.
Nebraska ranking: 30
Last year’s ranking: 31
Top player: QB Dylan Raiola: Threw for 2,819 yards last season and completed 67.1% of his passes, setting freshman program records in both; led all FBS true freshmen in completion percentage and ranked third in passing yards.
RJ’s take: For nearly 40 years, I tell the kiddos, you could count on Nebraska to do three things: win at least nine games, win at least one national championship every eight years and run that triple-option that was heaven for Huskers fans and hell for everybody else. So to watch Nebraska slowly climb out of the cellar it went into when it left the Big 12 for the Big Ten has been more humbling than asking one of the aforementioned kiddos what “rizz” is.
Just last season, Huskers fans celebrated their first trip to a bowl game in eight years. And, in that way, the Matt Rhule era is doing what it’s supposed to. Heading into Year 3 with a QB who enjoyed a brilliant true freshman season in Dylan Raiola, a coordinator who is as inventive as he is entertaining in Dana Holgorsen, and a clear vision for how to win in the modern era from athletic director Troy Dannen on down, it’s time for Nebraska to compete for championships.
In Year 3 at Temple, Rhule won 10 games. In Year 3 at Baylor, he won 11. It’s not out of the question for the Huskers to win double-digit games this season with a schedule that features only two teams ranked in my preseason top 25 — Michigan and Penn State — and only one of those is on the road. In fact, the Huskers go on the road just four times this season.
Raiola is more than capable of throwing for 3,500 yards with 30 touchdowns. He’s just going to need Jacory Barney, Dane Key and Nyziah Hunter to step up and catch those passes. Three starters return to the offensive line, and former Oklahoma linebacker Dasan McCullough could be an All-Big Ten defender along with former Georgia Southern defender Marques Watson-Trent, who has averaged just short of 122 tackles per season each of the last three years. If Ceyair Wright blossoms into the kind of safety he showed himself capable of last year with two interceptions, including one he returned for a house call, we could be talking about Nebraska reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time.
[Check out RJ Young’s Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here]
Nebraska Win Total Odds: Over 7.5 (-140) Under 7.5 (+114)
Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school’s rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young, and I’ll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.
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