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Unranked to start the season?

SilentCommit

Sophomore
Jun 19, 2013
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There are some signs that Nebraska could *potentially* begin the season unranked this fall. Phil Steele, SI have them unranked post-spring. I know preseason rankings aren't worth squat, but this seems like a reflection of eroding national perception of the program's strength. There's actually a real chance an unranked Nebraska will open the season against a ranked BYU team, at home. I *feel* like our athletes and team are rankings worthy. Could this just be a sign of uncertainty with a new coach at the helm?
 
I would expect us to not be ranked, honestly. Schedule plays great though. Beat BYU and Miami and we'll be right back in it. Rankings, especially preseason, don't matter much to me.
 
Frankly, with the new playoffs, rankings mean almost nothing anymore. Win your conference and you've got a very high likelihood of making the final 4. The previous need to be in the preseason top 15 to be in position for the BCS game is basically thrown out the window these days.

Win games - the rest takes care of itself.
 
Ranking the least of my concerns going into next year. Develop players and wins games. Everything else will fall into place.
 
Frankly, with the new playoffs, rankings mean almost nothing anymore. Win your conference and you've got a very high likelihood of making the final 4. The previous need to be in the preseason top 15 to be in position for the BCS game is basically thrown out the window these days.

Win games - the rest takes care of itself.
win you conference and have zero or one loss on the year. one loss and you still might not make it
 
win you conference and have zero or one loss on the year. one loss and you still might not make it

Correct - one loss does not guarantee you a spot, but that would be the case whether you started the preseason ranked 10 or unranked.

That's why I don't believe a preseason ranking means much of anything anymore.

I was also excited last year to see the sizable movement from week to week in rankings. This indicated the old rules of "you have to drop 7-8 spots following a loss" or "you can't leapfrog someone who didn't lose, even if they played a nobody" are thrown out the door - as they should be.
 
There are some signs that Nebraska could *potentially* begin the season unranked this fall. Phil Steele, SI have them unranked post-spring. I know preseason rankings aren't worth squat, but this seems like a reflection of eroding national perception of the program's strength. There's actually a real chance an unranked Nebraska will open the season against a ranked BYU team, at home. I *feel* like our athletes and team are rankings worthy. Could this just be a sign of uncertainty with a new coach at the helm?

I think it is more of a reaction on the talent we lost and the question marks about their potential replacementts.
 
Nebraska is back and here to stay!


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Remember, every week the voters start fresh. The old days of being ranked too low is over.
 
The Huskers have a new coach. That's why they're unranked.

There really is no reason to analyze much more. The Huskers are returning 17 starters. If Bo was still here they would probably be ranked in the preseason.

Think about that absurdity. Would you rather return Bo and be ranked or roll the dice with another coach and be unranked?
 
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The Huskers have a new coach. That's why they're unranked.

There really is no reason to analyze much more. The Huskers are returning 17 starters. If Bo was still here they would probably be ranked in the preseason.

Think about that absurdity. Would you rather return Bo and be ranked or roll the dice with another coach and be unranked?
craps-08-300x336.jpg
 
The Huskers have a new coach. That's why they're unranked.

There really is no reason to analyze much more. The Huskers are returning 17 starters. If Bo was still here they would probably be ranked in the preseason.

Think about that absurdity. Would you rather return Bo and be ranked or roll the dice with another coach and be unranked?

We have a winner.
 
Based on how I've seen the team perform the last few years and a new head coach that wasn't a "big name", I wouldn't rank Nebraska either if I were a voter. Besides that, I'm more concerned with how Nebraska will fair against BYU than being ranked in the preseason.
 
There are some signs that Nebraska could *potentially* begin the season unranked this fall. Phil Steele, SI have them unranked post-spring. I know preseason rankings aren't worth squat, but this seems like a reflection of eroding national perception of the program's strength. There's actually a real chance an unranked Nebraska will open the season against a ranked BYU team, at home. I *feel* like our athletes and team are rankings worthy. Could this just be a sign of uncertainty with a new coach at the helm?


Eroding? The Grand Canyon has had less eroding in the last 15 years than the Husker program. Hopefully the "ing" part is done and we can start to rebuild.

Like others have said, rankings is the furthest thing from my mind right now.
 
Eroding? The Grand Canyon has had less eroding in the last 15 years than the Husker program. Hopefully the "ing" part is done and we can start to rebuild.

Like others have said, rankings is the furthest thing from my mind right now.


I disagree. The tarnish has worn off a bit, but a massive "erosion" applies to programs like Colorado or even Miami. Those programs were once elite and now consistently finish with losing records.

Nebraska won 9 games per year in spite of coaches like Bo Pelini.
 
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You lost me at "tarnish has worn off a bit" and Colorado was once elite. If tarnish is wearing off then something has more shine. And Colorado was never elite.
The point was National Perception....not the Husker homer-fanbase perception. The magical 9-win threshold holds little water when compared to the consistant beatdowns received on the national stage.
 
No reason NU should be ranked preseason. If you had taken Ameer off last year's team, that's a pretty bad team. This year he'll be a Lion and they'll return a bunch of starters from a team that lost 3 of its last 4 and needed overtime to beat a crappy Iowa team when he was banged up.

Until they prove otherwise, there's no reason for anyone other that us fans to have faith that this is anything more than a program that hovers in that 17 - 30 range in the rankings.
 
2008-2014, preseason to end of season:
  • unranked - unranked
  • 22 - 14
  • 8 - 20
  • 11 - 24
  • 16 - 23
  • 18 - 25
  • 18 - unranked
Pretty obvious once Callahan recruits were out of the program but wait, PeLLLLini was showing progress! Sick
 
No reason NU should be ranked preseason. If you had taken Ameer off last year's team, that's a pretty bad team. This year he'll be a Lion and they'll return a bunch of starters from a team that lost 3 of its last 4 and needed overtime to beat a crappy Iowa team when he was banged up.

Until they prove otherwise, there's no reason for anyone other that us fans to have faith that this is anything more than a program that hovers in that 17 - 30 range in the rankings.

Every team loses starters to the NFL. Championship and ranking-worthy teams lose many more than we have. Yet, they somehow manage to stay ranked.
100% agree with your concluding sentence.
 
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let's just beat one good team and then worry about it. Not sure I even remember the last good team we beat, maybe Missouri in the Helu game?
 
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