Where Football Polls and Metrics Have Nebraska Placed in Week 12

Nebraska’s victory at UCLA meant positive movement for the Huskers in five of the polls and rankings we monitor.

Nebraska’s 28-21 victory over the Bruins on Saturday night helped fuel a jump of eight spots in the CBS Sports 136 rankings. The Huskers moved to 30 from 38.

The Huskers rejoined the Coaches Poll at 35th after not being ranked the week before.

Nebraska’s best ranking is 25th in ESPN’s SP+ poll. The Huskers were 28th last week, also their best ranking. The Huskers’ worst ranking is 37th in The Athletic’s ranking of all FBS teams. Last week, the Huskers' worst ranking was 38 in the CBS Sports 136 rankings.

Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef started in place of an injured Dylan Raiola and led the Huskers over UCLA. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Each Wednesday, we’ll take a look at where national polls and rankings place Nebraska’s football team. Nebraska ranks 31.3 in an average of six polls and rankings, an improvement from last week’s average of 33.4.

The Huskers (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten) are on a bye week and return to action at Penn State on Nov. 22.

The polls and rankings we monitor are:

College Football Playoff
Associated Press
The Athletic
CBS Sports
US LBM Coaches Poll
ESPN’s Football Power Index
ESPN’s SP+ rankings
Massey Ratings

College Football Playoff

Nebraska wasn’t ranked in the weekly College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday. The Huskers also were not ranked in last week’s initial rankings.

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee ranked four Huskers opponents — USC (17), Michigan (18), Iowa (21) and Cincinnati (25) — among the top 25.

Six Big Ten teams were ranked:

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
8. Oregon
17. USC
18. Michigan
20. Iowa

The top four teams, who would get byes if the season were over, are: Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Alabama.

Weekly updates will be released until the final rankings on Dec. 7, when the 12-team field is revealed.

Associated Press Top 25

Nebraska was not ranked for the fourth consecutive week in the gold-standard AP Top 25 Poll. Its last appearance was Oct. 12, when the Huskers were ranked 25th after defeating Maryland.

Since then, Nebraska has lost to Minnesota and USC, and defeated Northwestern and UCLA. Eleven teams were among “others receiving votes” in the AP Poll this week but not the Huskers. At No. 36 was Memphis, which earned one vote.

Cincinnati (7-2), a 20-17 loser to Nebraska in Week One, moved up three spots to 22 from 25. The Bearcats were on a bye last week. Two other Nebraska opponents are ranked: USC at 17, and Michigan at 18. Nov. 28 opponent Iowa is 29th.

The Athletic

Nebraska went down one place, going to 37 from 36, the only ranking in which the Huskers dropped. For four consecutive weeks in October, the Huskers ranked in the 20s — 22, 22, 29 and 28. In The Athletic’s preseason rankings, Nebraska was 39th.

CBS Sports 136 Rankings

Nebraska improved eight places, going to 30 from 38.

US LBM Coaches Poll

The Huskers returned to this poll in the “others receiving votes” category. Nebraska was 35th with six votes.

ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI)

The Huskers improved to 31 from 32. Nebraska’s seven previous rankings: 21, 21, 22, 23, 31, 34, 32.

Nebraska’s win-loss projection is 7.7 wins and 4.3 losses, a slight improvement over last week’s 7.5 wins and 4.5 losses. The Huskers remained the same in the other five FPI odds.

Here are the FPI odds for Nebraska (with last week’s odds in parentheses):

100 percent chance of winning six games (same as last week; Nebraska is bowl eligible)
7.7 projected wins to 4.3 projected losses (7.5 wins and 4.5 losses last week)
0.0 percent chance of winning the Big Ten (same as last week)
0.0 percent chance of making the College Football Playoff (same as last week)
0.0 percent chance of making the national championship game (same as last week)
0.0 percent chance of winning the national championship (same as last week)

ESPN’s SP+ rankings

The Huskers went to 25 from 28.

As ESPN writer Bill Connelly says about his SP+ ratings: “It’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency … SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing.

“It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.”

Massey Ratings

Massey Ratings are a compilation of 40 different college football rankings. In the consensus of the 40 rankings, the Huskers ranked 30, an improvement of three places from last week’s ranking of 33.

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