Nebraska's Derby: Can the Huskers Harness Dark Horse Potential in 2025?

April 3, 2025 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

Nebraska has long been a staple of the Big 10 conference (since 2011), and an iconic team in football before that. As a natural consequence of its historical status in the sport, the team generates its fair share of attention—even during sluggish seasons. There have been plenty of those over the last ten years, to be sure.

The Huskers have ended nine of their last ten seasons with losing records. But while fans have gotten used to disappointment, the team finally managed to pull things together in 2024, even if only for a little bit.

They ended the season 7-6. Almost all of their wins came at home with the only road win at a Purdue team that finished 1-11.

Ok. This isn’t the sort of record that lights the world on fire. But for those fans who had gotten used to losing, it may inspire a little bit of hope for the future.

Do they have what it takes to make a run in 2025? We’ll answer that question by providing an overview of their prospects and looking at some direct matchups.

Can They Go The Distance?

Potentially, the Huskers could be in for a strong start. That said, they could just as easily lose all four of the hypothetical matchups we just described. College football—particularly this far out from the season, is a little like horse betting online.

You can make your guesses. Read up on the competitors. At the end of the day, though, there is always the chance for a big upset.

The Huskers enter the season with an arguably favorable schedule and a promising lineup. That’s good news for fans. The team still needs to convert. While they have all the makings of a strong dark horse contender, it’s hard to go from a narrow winning record to conference champions in one year. Can they do it? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure—we’ll have lots of fun finding out.

Overview

Nebraska ended its 2024 season on a high note with a win at the “Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.” Maybe not the most prestigious bowl event on the calendar but a fun showdown.

Last year’s contest saw them face off against Boston College at Yankee Stadium on a cold day in December. Rahmir Johnson helped lead them to their win, earning MVP recognition in the process.

While this performance was exciting, it’s not enough to necessarily insinuate a huge 2025 season. Fans should remember that Nebraska was only a touchdown or two removed from another losing season last year.

Still, the Huskers have given us what might be at once the most desirable—and painful—emotions that a sports fan can experience. Hope.
And for it’s worth, there’s stuff to like. For one thing, they’re looking good at both ends of the field. They just picked up a five-star defensive lineman in the form of William Nwaneri from the transfer portal. This, along with their already steady offensive lineup puts them in a good position for next year.

They will be shifting around their roster in the offseason. Most of the defensive front is out. They are also going to need to replace two of their offensive starters. Right now, it’s too early to say what the team will look like when it is time to play in the fall.

Obviously, major roster shakeups can cut both ways. We might see a decent team get stronger. We might go the other direction.

That said, they’ll go in with a somewhat soft schedule. To make it back to the bowl season in 2025, they will need to cut down only one Big 10 team. A trip to the  College Football Playoff in 2025 will be much more demanding as the Huskers would likely need to win at least 10 games over-all.

For a better understanding of how their season could go, let’s take a look at a few early matchups.

Husker Season Start

The Huskers have every chance at winning their first 3 or 4 matchups. Their season begins with a face-off against Cincinnati. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Ohio but got moved to Kansas City. A favorable move for Nebraska as the venue is only a three hour excursion from its Campus in Lincoln.

Fans should expect a win for this initial face-off, along with their home opener the following week vs. Akron. The Zips have only won 11 games TOTAL over the past six seasons, and just 7 times over the last 5. Enough said?

From Akron to HCU, an opponent they have literally never lost against. While there is a first time for everything, it’s reasonable to expect their (hypothetical) winning season to continue.

For game four, the Huskers should expect a bit of friction as they get to play at home against fellow Big Ten school, Michigan. This is not the soft match-up that the previous three games most likely will be. Still, Michigan is losing quite a few starters going into 2025. That, plus the fact that it's at Memorial Stadium on the Nebraska campus, could be enough to give the Huskers the edge.

A bye week follows before 8 more consecutive games against conference foes begin in October with another winnable contest when Michigan State comes for a visit.

Below is a look at the entire schedule.

2025 Nebraska Schedule

8/28 Cincinnati (at Kansas City - Arrowhead)
9/6 Akron
9/13 Houston Christian
9/20 Michigan
10/4 Michigan State
10/11 at Maryland
10/18 at Minnesota
10/25 Northwesten
11/1 USC
11/8 at UCLA
11/22 at Penn State
11/29 Iowa