RJ Young
FOX Sports National College Football Analyst
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’s a take a look at the place Nebraska lands in my Final 136.
Nebraska rating: 30
Final 12 months’s rating: 31
High participant: QB Dylan Raiola: Threw for two,819 yards final season and accomplished 67.1% of his passes, setting freshman program information in each; led all FBS true freshmen in completion share and ranked third in passing yards.
[Nebraska’s 2025 schedule]
RJ’s take: For almost 40 years, I inform the kiddos, you can depend on Nebraska to do three issues: win not less than 9 video games, win not less than one nationwide championship each eight years and run that triple-option that was heaven for Huskers followers and hell for everyone else. So to observe Nebraska slowly climb out of the cellar it went into when it left the Massive 12 for the Massive Ten has been extra humbling than asking one of many aforementioned kiddos what “rizz” is.
Simply final season, Huskers followers celebrated their first journey to a bowl recreation in eight years. And, in that means, the Matt Rhule period is doing what it’s alleged to. Heading into 12 months 3 with a QB who loved a superb true freshman season in Dylan Raiola, a coordinator who’s as ingenious as he’s entertaining in Dana Holgorsen, and a transparent imaginative and prescient for methods to win within the trendy period from athletic director Troy Dannen on down, it’s time for Nebraska to compete for championships.
In 12 months 3 at Temple, Rhule gained 10 video games. In 12 months 3 at Baylor, he gained 11. It’s not out of the query for the Huskers to win double-digit video games this season with a schedule that options solely two groups ranked in my preseason high 25 — Michigan and Penn State — and solely a type of is on the highway. In reality, the Huskers go on the highway simply 4 occasions this season.
Raiola is greater than able to throwing for 3,500 yards with 30 touchdowns. He’s simply going to wish Jacory Barney, Dane Key and Nyziah Hunter to step up and catch these passes. Three starters return to the offensive line, and former Oklahoma linebacker Dasan McCullough might be an All-Massive Ten defender together with former Georgia Southern defender Marques Watson-Trent, who has averaged simply in need of 122 tackles per season every of the final three years. If Ceyair Wright blossoms into the form of security he confirmed himself able to final 12 months with two interceptions, together with one he returned for a home name, we might be speaking about Nebraska reaching the Faculty Soccer Playoff for the primary time.
[Check out RJ Young’s Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here]
Nebraska Win Whole Odds: Over 7.5 (-140) Below 7.5 (+114)
Have a problem with my rankings? Assume your alma mater is just too low, or your college’s rival is just too excessive? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young, and I am going to choose my favourite tweets and reply to them in a future article.
RJ Younger is a nationwide school soccer author and analyst for FOX Sports activities. Observe him at @RJ_Young.
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