Where Football Polls and Metrics Have Nebraska Placed in Week 13

Nebraska has two games remaining — at Penn State on Saturday, and home vs. Iowa. Two victories will give the Huskers a 9-3 regular-season record. Two losses and the Huskers will finish 7-5. A split of the two games and Nebraska will finish 8-4.

In the polls and rankings we monitor, Nebraska didn’t get much love on its bye week. The Huskers improved in one of the rankings, decreased in three rankings and remained the same in two others.

The Huskers didn’t get any votes in the College Football Playoff rankings for the second consecutive week.

Nebraska’s best ranking remains in the ESPN’s SP+ poll, even with a five-spot decrease. The Huskers were 25th last week, also their best ranking. This week, Nebraska is 30th. The Huskers’ worst ranking is 36th in The Athletic’s ranking of all FBS teams, and the Coaches’ Poll.

Each week, we’ll take a look at where national polls and rankings place Nebraska’s football team. Nebraska ranks 32.8 in an average of six polls and rankings, a slight decrease from last week’s average of 31.3.

The polls and rankings we monitor are:

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

College Football Playoff

Nebraska again did not receive a vote as the third week of rankings were released Tuesday night.

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee ranked two Huskers opponents — USC (15) and Michigan (18) — among the top 25. Iowa, which will play at Nebraska on Black Friday, was 21st last week but received zero votes this week after losing at USC on Saturday.

Five Big Ten teams received votes:

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
7. Oregon
15. USC
18. Michigan

The top four teams, who would get byes if the season were over, are: Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Georgia, which replaced Alabama at No. 4.

Associated Press Top 25

Nebraska was not ranked for the fifth 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. Fourteen teams were among “others receiving votes” in the AP Poll this week but not the Huskers. At No. 39 was Connecticut, a noted basketball school, which earned one point.

Iowa is 31st with 14 points.

The Athletic

Nebraska improved by one spot, going to 36 from 37. The Huskers’ last three weeks: 36, 37, 36. 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 dropped four places, going to 34 from 30.

US LBM Coaches Poll

The Huskers remained in the “others receiving votes” category. Nebraska was 36th with 12 votes. Last week, the Huskers were 35th. Iowa is 30th with 24 votes.

ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI)

The Huskers remained at 31. Nebraska’s nine previous rankings: 21, 21, 22, 23, 31, 34, 32, 31, 31.

Nebraska’s win-loss projection is 7.7 wins and 4.3 losses, the same as last week. The Huskers remained the same in the other five FPI odds.

Here are 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 (same as 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 dropped five spots, going to 30 from 25.

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, their same ranking as last week.

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