The Huskers Belong with the Blue Bloods

The subject of college football blue bloods is a hotly debated topic.

Some schools are guaranteed a top spot on the list, no matter the criteria. Michigan is the only program with more than 1,000 wins. Ohio State leads in win percentage. No program can top Alabama’s 18 national titles, while the Oklahoma Sooners lead the sport with 50 conference titles. Notre Dame is a lock for anyone’s list, as is their rival, the USC Trojans.

Beyond those six schools, there is some room for debate. Texas, Penn State, and Nebraska all rank in the top 10 for both winning percentage and all-time wins. All three major Florida programs – Florida, Florida State, and Miami - have had dominant runs in the sport, producing some of the best teams and players in the history of the game. This week, Andy Staples of On3 released a new list of 12 blue bloods. Missing from the list were the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

NEW: College Football Blueblood Programs via @Andy_Staples👀https://t.co/HRh4oSW6C3 pic.twitter.com/pOGJDo9fEq
— On3 (@On3sports) August 11, 2025

As someone who loves to quantify football data, I wanted to tackle this issue myself. The Elo rating system serves as a great way to compare college football teams against each other. As every game produces a change to both teams’ Elo rating, this metric can demonstrate a team’s performance over time. Taking a team’s average Elo rating over the past 600 games (approximately 50 years) can tell us what programs have had sustained success in the sport and belong among the elite.

Rank	Team	Elo Rating (Avg last 600 games)
1	Alabama	1,913
2	Ohio State	1,906
3	Oklahoma	1,903
4	Nebraska	1,878
5	Michigan	1,860
6	Florida State	1,847
7	Florida	1,833
8	Georgia	1,817
9	Penn State	1,815
10	USC	1,808
11	Notre Dame	1,792
12	Texas	1,783

College Football Blue Bloods

Alabama, Ohio State, and Oklahoma are the only three programs that have maintained an average Elo rating of over 1,900 during their last 600 games. Understandably, all three are on the Andy Staples list of blue blood teams. Despite its struggles over the last decade, the Nebraska Cornhuskers currently rank fourth over their last 600 games. They are my highest-ranked team not on the On3 list.

Among the schools that On3 ranked as blue bloods, that I do not have in my top 12: LSU ranks 13th, Miami at 14th, and Tennessee at 18th.

Nebraska’s high blue blood ranking is strengthened by its dominance in the 80s and 90s. This is due to the Huskers owning the greatest 600-game average Elo rating in the history of the sport. Nebraska’s legendary run started with the Colorado game in 1963 and ended with the Big Ten Championship game in 2012. The Huskers had an average Elo rating of 1,953 over these games.

Oklahoma is the program with the second-greatest peak, spanning over much of the same period as the Huskers from 1971 to 2019. The biggest threat to the Huskers’ record is their current conference rival, Ohio State. After hoisting the College Football Playoff trophy to end the 2025 season, the Buckeyes set their new program high-water mark and in fourth place all-time at 1,906. If Ryan Day keeps his team in playoff contention, the Buckeyes will continue to climb the rankings of the best 600-game stretches in the sport's history.

Modern Blue Bloods

This same methodology allows us to rank the “modern” blue bloods. Shortening our game window from 600 to 300 gives us a window into what programs have been performing over the last 25 years. It’s not surprising that Alabama leads the modern era thanks to the dominance of Nick Saban over the previous 25 years. The contemporary era formula adds LSU, Clemson, Oregon, and Wisconsin to its top 12.

It's not surprising that the Huskers rank much worse as “modern” blue bloods, coming in at 27th following their win against Boston College. However, the Huskers also own the sport's peak 300-game stretch. No program has maintained a higher average Elo Rating than the Huskers from the 1977 Kansas game through its loss in the 2002 Rose Bowl against Miami.

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Bill Callahan — Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan leads his team onto the field in 2007. | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

However, the 300-game record the Huskers may fall in the next few seasons. The current active 300-game leader, Alabama, ranks second on the all-time list. Their streak started with the Tide’s 2001 Independence Bowl win against Iowa State. While I don’t expect Kalen DeBoer to compete for titles every season, the Crimson Tide will likely be better than they were pre-Saban. The Tide could take away the top spot from the Huskers by the end of the decade.

While no program should be immune to falling off the list of blue bloods, it’s unfathomable to think that the Huskers are currently at that point. The peak of Nebraska football was so high that despite Mike Riley and Scott Frost’s best attempts, the Nebraska football program is still among the best over the last 50 years.

If Matt Rhule can get the Huskers back to 10 wins per season, Nebraska’s place amongst the blue bloods will continue for years to come.

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