Nebraska football is expected to be in the top half of the expanded Big Ten Conferenced this fall.
That’s according to the Preseason Big Ten Football Poll from Cleveland.com. This is the 14th year the outlet has released a preseason poll.
This is the first year that the league has featured 18 teams. With 27 voters, the picks varied for some teams, though Ohio State was the runaway favorite with 21 votes to win the league.
Nebraska is slotted to finish No. 8 in the Big Ten. By all accounts, that would be a good final spot for the Big Red, who never finished above fourth in the West Division over the last seven seasons.
The last time NU finished in the top half of the Big Ten was 2016, when the Huskers went 9-4 overall and 6-3 in league play. That team was third in the West behind Wisconsin and Iowa while three teams in the East posted at least seven conference wins.
Newcomer Oregon picked up six first place votes and is preseason No. 2. The full ranking is below.
- Ohio State
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Michigan
- Iowa
- USC
- Wisconsin
- Nebraska
- Rutgers
- Washington
- Maryland
- Minnesota
- Illinois
- Northwestern
- UCLA
- Michigan State
- Indiana
- Purdue