The athletic - 5 teams that can make a jump

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1)USC obviously
2) Clemson (14th last year after 6 consecutive top 5 finishes) not sure there is a place to step up to. They’re probably the 2nd best program in the country right now
3) Texas A&M (4th and 25th rankings the last two years) so unless they win a national title they aren’t taking a step up)
4) Nebraska - LOL
5) Florida - probably right

What I am saying is.
The athletic had some promise and they have already become ESPN.
every 8th grader in the country could write the article

theathletic.com

College football in 2022: 5 teams ready to make the leap and 5 teams that could take a step back

Five college football teams that could take a big step forward in 2022, and five that could take a step back.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
 



Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
Don't get the love the media seems to always have for NE. QB is mostly unproven and OL is still a weak spot. D is very solid so I guess these guys think that will lift them to a level they haven't seen in nearly a decade!
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Agree in general but in this case if the premise of the article is teams that could improve a lot, Nebraska is a pretty safe pick considering all the close games they lost last year.

Haven't read the story, if they are talking contenders for the CFP, that would be a different story. But won't be shocked to see Nebraska win more games next year.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
Don't get the love the media seems to always have for NE. QB is mostly unproven and OL is still a weak spot. D is very solid so I guess these guys think that will lift them to a level they haven't seen in nearly a decade!
Click to expand...
Clicks. Nebraska gets love because they still have an extremely large, diehard fan base. Talk about them and your traffic increases.
 


That's pretty much what college football (media) is: couple big handfuls of "have" programs, and everything trying bend over backwards to appease them and their fanbases.


If your fanbase can't deliver clicks and views, then it doesn't matter how much you win, they don't want you.
 

You would think that at some point, the pundits would pause and say.....

"You know, every year we predict that Nebraska is going to be an improved team. But it never seems to happen. So why do we keep predicting it every year?"
 

I think they will take a jump. Off a cliff. I have faith that they can lose at least 1 more 1 score game than last yer.
 

Some guy said:
1)USC obviously
2) Clemson (14th last year after 6 consecutive top 5 finishes) not sure there is a place to step up to. They’re probably the 2nd best program in the country right now
3) Texas A&M (4th and 25th rankings the last two years) so unless they win a national title they aren’t taking a step up)
4) Nebraska - LOL
5) Florida - probably right

What I am saying is.
The athletic had some promise and they have already become ESPN.
every 8th grader in the country could write the article

theathletic.com

College football in 2022: 5 teams ready to make the leap and 5 teams that could take a step back

Five college football teams that could take a big step forward in 2022, and five that could take a step back.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
Click to expand...
Winning the SEC West would be a step up.
 



Some guy said:
1)USC obviously
2) Clemson (14th last year after 6 consecutive top 5 finishes) not sure there is a place to step up to. They’re probably the 2nd best program in the country right now
3) Texas A&M (4th and 25th rankings the last two years) so unless they win a national title they aren’t taking a step up)
4) Nebraska - LOL
5) Florida - probably right

What I am saying is.
The athletic had some promise and they have already become ESPN.
every 8th grader in the country could write the article

theathletic.com

College football in 2022: 5 teams ready to make the leap and 5 teams that could take a step back

Five college football teams that could take a big step forward in 2022, and five that could take a step back.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
Click to expand...

Well, sooner or later Nebraska has to take a step up. In the 13 seasons prior to this past season, Purdue had 11 losing seasons and the two winning seasons were only 7-6. Last year they finally had a solid season. Nebraska does look like they landed a solid class of transfer players.
 

cjbfbp said:
Well, sooner or later Nebraska has to take a step up. In the 13 seasons prior to this past season, Purdue had 11 losing seasons and the two winning seasons were only 7-6. Last year they finally had a solid season. Nebraska does look like they landed a solid class of transfer players.
Click to expand...
But this right here tells you a big part of Nebraska's story the last few years:

Purdue, Wisc, Gophers, and Iowa all finished at least 9-4 (Iowa 10-4) in 2021. And NW has been off/on. Bertie will make Illinois competitive.


That's six tough games, right there. Then the East, depends who you get. Then if they play any tough non-conf games (like OU).
 


MNVCGUY said:
Agree in general but in this case if the premise of the article is teams that could improve a lot, Nebraska is a pretty safe pick considering all the close games they lost last year.

Haven't read the story, if they are talking contenders for the CFP, that would be a different story. But won't be shocked to see Nebraska win more games next year.
Click to expand...
Agree. I don't subscribe so I'm not sure what the writer means, but I assume pieces like this are about division/conference contenders. I don't see NE being better than 4th in the West which, yes, is an improvement over the past few years.
 



As much as I hate to think this, the Corndogs will be better this year. They have been successful loading up on portal players. plus 2 years of good recruiting classes. They will be much better in 2022. Even a blind sow will find an acorn.

Texas A.M. has had top 5 recruiting classes since Jimbo was hired. Also remember they beat Alabama last year.
 

We'll see. I don't think Neb's recruits are world-beats, by rating alone.

They might be an inch taller and .1-.2 sec faster, in combine drills, and might "look the part", more than the usual 3* recruits.

But I'm not convinced that such things automatically convert into good Big Ten players and more importantly Big Ten wins.
 

Frost won at Central Florida because his players really were that much better than the players on the teams he faced.

I don't think he, or anyone, is ever going to be able to pull that type of thing off in Lincoln, Nebraska vs the Big Ten.
 

cjbfbp said:
Well, sooner or later Nebraska has to take a step up. In the 13 seasons prior to this past season, Purdue had 11 losing seasons and the two winning seasons were only 7-6. Last year they finally had a solid season. Nebraska does look like they landed a solid class of transfer players.
Click to expand...
They had a nice haul, but the question what's left for them to join?
 


Pete smith said:
As much as I hate to think this, the Corndogs will be better this year. They have been successful loading up on portal players. plus 2 years of good recruiting classes. They will be much better in 2022. Even a blind sow will find an acorn.

Texas A.M. has had top 5 recruiting classes since Jimbo was hired. Also remember they beat Alabama last year.
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My fear always is they really don't get better but manage to beat the Gophs. I was at the 2018 game, so that loss runs deep with me.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
You would think that at some point, the pundits would pause and say.....

"You know, every year we predict that Nebraska is going to be an improved team. But it never seems to happen. So why do we keep predicting it every year?"
Click to expand...
Nope, I like the pundits giving all the love and expectations they can't live up to.
 

Nebraska almost certainly will be better but that by itself isn't saying a whole lot since they haven't been very good.
 


Nebraska is like the Detroit Lions...every year fans and pundits talk about how "this year they will take the next step" and they never do. It is so weird...
 

Dave H said:
Nebraska is like the Detroit Lions...every year fans and pundits talk about how "this year they will take the next step" and they never do. It is so weird...
Click to expand...

“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

At this point with the football prognosticators, we need a new fill in the blank cliche: “Fool me eight times shame on ______?”
 

PMWinSTP said:
Definitely a down year recruiting for them.
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Yup. They are a team in the middle of nowhere in a state with the far smallest populace in the Big Ten. You don't right that ship now, it continues its march to making a permanent home in the basement.
 

Fan of Ray Christensen said:
“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

At this point with the football prognosticators, we need a new fill in the blank cliche: “Fool me eight times shame on ______?”
Click to expand...
Click-bait with a headline of "Why Nebraska is the sleeper pick to win the Big Ten this year!" still gets substantial clicks.

It's stupid and unfair ... but it's still reality.


Still a lot of people alive now who were alive for Neb's glory days in the 90's, and are locked into loyalty to the Red.
 
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kisarazu said:
Yup. They are a team in the middle of nowhere in a state with the far smallest populace in the Big Ten. You don't right that ship now, it continues its march to making a permanent home in the basement.
Click to expand...
We'll see how the transfers impact them. Don't recruit that heavy in the Midwest.
 

I'm starting to wonder if Nebraska is making all of these lists ironically.
 

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