Nebraska Football National Champions? Yes, in This Fictional Bracket

The Huskers defeat Oklahoma in the final in one of eight ‘serious to borderline absurd’ College Football Playoff brackets

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule rules one of the fictional CFP brackets. | Kaleb Henry

Sports Illustrated writers Pat Forde and Bryan Fischer invented some fun and wacky brackets to get impatient college football fans ready for the season.

The writers put together eight CFP brackets “from serious to borderline absurd,” as they put it.

The story is written under the headline; “College Football Playoff Predictions: Imagining Eight Experimental Scenarios for 2025” … and a subhead of “From our best guess to how the playoff will unfold to borderline absurd brackets, here is how the season could play out under very different circumstances”.

Nebraska is in two of the brackets.

Nebraska gets to the national championship game in both of the brackets.

Nebraska wins the national championship in one of the brackets.

No rings or trophies, sorry. Not even participation trophies. Not even an additional entry on Matt Rhule's résumé.

All in good fun

First, let’s examine Nebraska’s national title … in the Chaos Bracket.

Forde and Fischer write about this bracket: “One of the greatest attributes of college football is that just about any result is conceivable on any given Saturday. That’s the side effect of relying on 18- to 25-year-olds playing a game with an oblong ball and talent that gets dispersed all across the country so unevenly. This is what that looks like in bracket form if all hell breaks loose.”

The SI writers gave Nebraska a nine seed. In their scenario, the Huskers defeated eighth-seeded Notre Dame in the first round. In the quarterfinals, the Huskers defeated top-seeded Texas — this really does sound like “chaos” — then defeated fourth-seeded Georgia in the semifinals.

The championship game was an old Big 8 rivalry game between the Huskers and seventh-seeded Oklahoma. The SI writers on that game: “For those of a certain age, the Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry was the defining game on the calendar back when it was a regular occurrence between top-five juggernauts.

“Conference realignment hasn’t really been kind to either side, but the Cornhuskers delivering the Big Ten’s third straight national title—over a newfound SEC team, no less—would mean quite a bit of chaos would have to transpire in 2025.”

The 12 teams in the Chaos Bracket

1. Texas
2. Clemson
3. Penn State
4. Georgia
5. Ohio State
6. Alabama
7. Oklahoma
8. Notre Dame
9. Nebraska
10. Duke
11. Iowa State
12. Navy

OK, what day is the parade?

Huskers: National runner-up

In The Desperate Fan Base Bracket, the second-seeded Huskers drew a bye into the quarterfinals, where they defeated seventh-seeded Miami. In the semifinals, the Huskers defeated third-seeded South Carolina. The Huskers’ loss in the final was to top-seeded Texas A&M.

Forde and Fischer’s description of the teams in this bracket: “They’ve tasted some success, but not enough — or not recently enough — to satisfy their hungry fans. For all the money they’ve pumped into facilities, salaries and player NIL funds, they’ve spent years watching their rivals celebrate championships. Who wants it most, but has had it least?”

The 12 teams in The Desperate Fan Base Bracket

1. Texas A&M
2. Nebraska
3. South Carolina
4. Texas Tech
5. Penn State
6. Tennessee
7. Miami
8. USC
9. Florida
10. Arkansas
11. Virginia Tech
12. Memphis

The eight brackets



* The Perfect Bracket: Penn State defeats Texas
* Underdog Bracket: Illinois defeats Ole Miss
* Chaos Bracket: Nebraska defeats Oklahoma
* 16-Team Bracket: Texas defeats Penn State
* Revenge of the Pac-12 Bracket: Arizona State defeats Oregon
* Most Spirited Tailgate Bracket: LSU defeats Wisconsin
* The Six Degrees of Nick Saban Bracket: Alabama defeats Georgia
* The Desperate Fan Base Bracket: Texas A&M defeats Nebraska

In 'The Perfect Bracket', Penn State and quarterback Drew Allar win the national championship over Texas. | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Well, that was fun, right? In this fantasy scenario, Big Ten teams win three national titles, the SEC wins four and the Big 12 wins one.

Nebraska’s reality starts in a week — Aug. 28, vs. Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City. Let the chaos begin.

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