Where Nebraska Stands in National College Football Rankings in Week 8

Huskers move up in four polls after win at Maryland

Nebraska wide receiver Nyziah Hunter runs for a first down as Maryland defensive back Dontay Joyner defends. Hunter scored two touchdowns in Huskers' victory. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Nebraska moved up in four polls after its 34-31 comeback victory Saturday at Maryland.

The 5-1 Huskers, who cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time this season when the rankings were released Monday, stayed the same in one poll and dropped in two others.

Nebraska’s best position is 20th in ESPN’s SP+ rankings, which actually is one place worse than last week. The Huskers’ worst ranking is 27th in the Coaches’ Poll. The Huskers’ biggest move was also in the Coaches’ Poll, where they moved from 35th to 27th.

Each Wednesday, we’ll take a look at where seven national polls place Nebraska’s football team. Nebraska ranks 23.5 in an average of seven polls, a move up from last week’s average of 26.7.

The Huskers return to action Friday night at Minnesota (4-2), their second consecutive road game. Minnesota has defeated Nebraska in five consecutive games and in six of seven games.

Nebraska’s odds for its final season record remained the same in ESPN’s FPI odds. The Huskers’ final record is 8.6 projected wins and 3.4 projected losses. Nebraska was 7-6 last season.

The rankings we will monitor all season are:

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

Associated Press Top 25

For the first time this season, Nebraska is ranked in this gold standard of polls. The Huskers garnered 149 votes for 25th place. Ranked No. 24 is Cincinnati, also 5-1, which received 184 votes. Of course, Nebraska defeated Cincinnati in the season opener, 20-17.

The Athletic

Nebraska remained at 22, two weeks after landing at 35. In The Athletic’s preseason rankings, Nebraska was 39th.

CBS Sports 136 Rankings

After two weeks at 30th, Nebraska moved up to 25th.

US LBM Coaches Poll

The Huskers are “others receiving votes” at 27th. Last week, they were 35th.

ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI)

The Huskers’ ranking was worse for the third consecutive week. Nebraska has gone from 21 to 22 to this week’s ranking of 23.

Of six FPI odds for the Huskers, their odds decreased in three categories and remained the same in the other three categories.

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

* 99.8 percent chance of winning six games (same as last week)
* 8.6 projected wins to 3.4 projected losses (same as last week)
* 0.4 percent chance of winning the Big Ten (0.5 percent chance last week)
* 8.1 percent chance of making the College Football Playoff (8.4 percent chance last week)
* 0.3 percent chance of making the national championship game (0.5 percent chance last week)
* 0.1 percent chance of winning the national championship (same as last week)

ESPN’s SP+ rankings

The Huskers went from 19th to 20th.

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 23rd. Last week they were 29th.

---