Pick Six Previews Slots Nebraska 7th in Big Ten, Expects ‘Matt Rhule Third Year’ Boom
The most accurate Power Four preview magazine over the past decade expects Nebraska football to take a step forward in 2025.
Pick Six Previews, run by Brett Ciancia, projects the Huskers to finish seventh in the Big Ten Conference this fall. The Big Red would be behind Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, USC, and Indiana.
Two Huskers are expected to make the All-Big Ten teams: offensive lineman Henry Lutovsky on the second team and wide receiver Dane Key on the third team. No Blackshirts are listed on the three All-Big Ten defense teams.
Nebraska ranks in the top half of the league in nearly every position group. The wide receivers/tight ends and offensive line are both at five, followed by quarterback and defensive line at seven, before linebacker and defensive back at eight. The running backs fall to the back half of the league, ranked at 11.
Ciancia was in Memorial Stadium for the Colorado game in 2024, which gave him a sense of relief and excitement for success in the Matt Rhule era.
It was the loudest moment I’ve ever experienced in a
college football stadium,” Ciancia wrote of the Tommi Hill interception return for a touchdown. “You could sense a decades-worth of frustration
being exorcised from the Sea of Red.”
Despite ending losing streaks to Colorado and Wisconsin, making a bowl game, and having a winning season, Nebraska was still plagued by losing trends. The Huskers are now up to 27 straight losses to ranked teams and 10-35 in one-score games since 2018.
But Ciancia notes that Nebraska put together a top 25 high school recruiting class and a top 10 transfer portal group. Those additions, especially on offense, should help a side of the ball that was outside of the top 100 in scoring and yards.
