All Huskers

Offseason Rankings for Every Big Ten Football Team; Nebraska Top-6

A ranking of the offseason for every Power 4 football program from ESPN has the Huskers in the top-third of the Big Ten Conference.

Kaleb Henry

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola celebrates during the Illinois game.
Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola celebrates during the Illinois game. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN
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Nebraska football has had a solid offseason.

This week saw an offseason ranking for every Power 4 program from ESPN. The team of reporters focused on three areas for their analysis: retention of key (non-draft-eligible) players, retention of coaches or staff upgrades, and player additions through both the transfer portal and high school recruiting.

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule holds the championship trophy as Cornhuskers players celebrate after the game.
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule holds the championship trophy as the team celebrates its 2024 Pinstripe Bowl win against Boston College. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The overall ranking saw four conferences in the top 10. That list is below, led by LSU out of the SEC.

  1. LSU Tigers
  2. Texas Tech Red Raiders
  3. Penn State Nittany Lions
  4. Oregon Ducks
  5. Clemson Tigers
  6. Oklahoma Sooners
  7. Auburn Tigers
  8. Miami Hurricanes
  9. Illinois Fighting Illini
  10. Arizona State Sun Devils

For the Big Ten Conference, Penn State, Oregon, and Illinois took the top three spots. The next three went to Indiana, Ohio State, and Nebraska.

The key additions listed for the Huskers are wide receiver Dane Key, offensive tackle Elijah Prichett, and offensive guard Rocco Spindler. The key departures are defensive tackles Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher to the NFL and running back Dante Dowdell, who transferred to Kentucky.

Nebraska defensive lineman Ty Robinson (DL30) participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Nebraska defensive lineman Ty Robinson participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

ESPN notes that the biggest coaching move was head coach Matt Rhule's "layered approach to replace defensive coordinator Tony White." That approach saw John Butler take over as DC and the addition of Phill Snow, a defensive coordinator under Rhule with Temple, Baylor and the Carolina Panthers, as associate head coach.

The "what went wrong" section noted the departure of White to Florida State and the losses of Robinson to the NFL and pass rushers Jimari Butler (LSU) and James Williams (Florida State) to the transfer portal. The Huskers also lost leading rusher Dowdell to the portal and did not add any transfer replacements at the postion.

As for "what went right", the retention of quarterback Dylan Raiola and elevation of Dana Holgorsen to full-time offensive coordinator lead the way. On that side of the ball, the additions of wideouts Key and Nyziah Hunter, as well as Spindler and Prichett on the line, have the Huskers looking solid going into 2025.

Nebraska Cornhuskers assistant coach Dana Holgorsen on the sideline during the second quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

"Typically having to hire your fourth defensive coordinator in five years isn't great, especially when you also lose three starters from a dynamite front seven," ESPN reporter Bill Connelly said. "But pilfering your rival's awesome defensive coordinator and keeping all of your offensive stars (while using the portal for receiver upgrades) is a good way to nail the offseason."

The full Big Ten ranking is below.

  1. Penn State Nittany Lions
  2. Oregon Ducks
  3. Illinois Fighting Illini
  4. Indiana Hoosiers
  5. Ohio State Buckeyes
  6. Nebraska Cornhuskers
  7. USC Trojans
  8. Michigan Wolverines
  9. UCLA Bruins
  10. Washington Huskies
  11. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
  12. Michigan State Spartans
  13. Iowa Hawkeyes
  14. Northwestern Wildcats
  15. Minnesota Golden Gophers
  16. Wisconsin Badgers
  17. Maryland Terrapins
  18. Purdue Boilermakers

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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