The first rankings of the 2016 season from the College Football Playoff selection committee were announced Nov. 1 with Nebraska (7-1, 4-1) ranked 10th. Ohio State (7-1, 4-1), the Huskers’ opponent this week, was ranked sixth.
Michigan (8-0, 5-0) led the way for the Big Ten at No. 3. Eighth-ranked Wisconsin (6-2, 3-2) and 12th-ranked Penn State (6-2, 4-1) gave the league five teams ranked in the top 15.
The ranking is the Huskers’ highest in the three-season history of the poll, bettering the No. 13 ranking Nebraska had after week 11 of the 2014 season. The Huskers were one spot ahead of eventual national champion Ohio State that week, just the second set of CFP rankings ever released.
Joining Michigan in the top four were No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Clemson and No. 4 Texas A&M.
Overall, this is the fifth CFP ranking for Nebraska. The Huskers were 15th in the first ever selection committee rankings released in 2014, climbed to 13th the following week after beating Purdue to move to 8-1, slipped to 16th after an off week, then dropped to 23rd after the 59-24 loss to Wisconsin in Madison. Nebraska dropped from the rankings the following week after a 28-24 home loss to Minnesota and was not ranked in any poll during the 2015 season.
See the full set of rankings here.
