We have entered "Way Too Early" season. Didn't even wait for Monday's national-championship game to be over this time. A few 2020 top 25s arrived early, but once LSU had dispatched Clemson, the flood began.
Unlike a year ago, Nebraska isn't showing up in these rankings this time. North Carolina or maybe Arizona State seems to be this year's trendy pick, though unlike the Huskers entering 2019 the Tar Heels and Sun Devils are coming off winning seasons.
More than a handful of the Huskers' 2020 opponents are showing up in these rankings, however. We already knew the schedule was tough but four of the seven rankings I've seen so far have six Nebraska opponents in the top 25.
Here's a grid showing where Nebraska's opponents are falling in these rankings. (NU home games in italics.)
| TEAM | ESPN | The Athletic | CBS Sports | USA Today | B/R | Sporting News | Athlon |
| Ohio St. | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Penn St. | 9 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
| Wisconsin | 14 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 11 | 14 | 10 |
| Cincinnati | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | – | 20 | 17 |
| Minnesota | 19 | 16 | 11 | – | 15 | 12 | 13 |
| Iowa | 23 | 13 | 21 | 10 | – | – | 21 |
Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin are all part of the "usual suspects" group. No surprise to see those teams kicking around the top 15 and the Buckeyes are a near-unanimous No. 2 behind Clemson. Below that, things get a little interesting.
Stewart Mandel of the The Athletic had Iowa at No. 13, which I suspect will be as high as you see the Hawkeyes in the preseason. Most of the others have Iowa in the back half of the top 25, and two outlets didn't have the Hawkeyes ranked at all. Kirk Ferentz's squad returns a lot overall, but has to find a quarterback and star defensive end A.J. Epenesa won't be back.
Raise your hand if when Nebraska added a series with Cincinnati back in 2013 you were the one who said, "when those teams first play, one of them will be ranked and it will be Cincinnati." There's a good chance that happens. The Bearcats, coming off back-to-back 11-win seasons under Luke Fickell, should start the season in the actual rankings and play Austin Peay, Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio) before facing the Huskers. Western Michigan and Miami were bowl teams in 2019, but if Cincinnati is indeed a top-25 caliber team it will likely head to Lincoln 3-0.
Then there's Minnesota, which shows up everywhere from No. 11 to unranked. The Gophers lose a lot of production from 2019's 11-2 team (which had one of the best returning-production numbers entering last year) and have also lost a couple of coaches, including their offensive coordinator. That all feels like a pretty noisy team when it comes to trying to project how good Minnesota will be, but the Huskers and Gophers don't play until the regular-season finale so it'll all be sorted by then.
In case you're curious, Paul Myerberg of USA Today was the one who had Minnesota outside the top 25 in the "Just missed the cut" category. Myerberg also had Nebraska in that group, which might end up being about as high as you see the Huskers this offseason.
The Grab Bag
- Nebraska basketball’s trip to Columbus to face Ohio State went about as expected. (3 Takeaways)
- Jacob Padilla starts a series on resetting the roster for 2020 with a look at the Huskers’ offensive backfield. (Premium)
- How close is Nebraska to its Big Ten West rivals? Greg Smith looked at that in his latest recruiting notebook.
Today’s Song of Today
Brandon is the Managing Editor for Hail Varsity and has covered Nebraska athletics for the magazine and web since 2012, Hail Varsity’s first season on the scene. His sports writing has also been featured by Fox Sports, The Guardian and CBS Sports.
