Nebraska moves into the top 10
- Thread starter chicolby
- Start date
To me, there are seven really good teams and then a dropoff unlike many I've seen in college football.
Top teams:
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Michigan
5. Washington
6. Texas A&M
7. Louisville
-------------------------------------------------
8. Wisconsin
9. Tennessee
10. Nebraska
11. Baylor
12. Ole Miss
http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll
Top teams:
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Michigan
5. Washington
6. Texas A&M
7. Louisville
-------------------------------------------------
8. Wisconsin
9. Tennessee
10. Nebraska
11. Baylor
12. Ole Miss
http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll
This kind of pisses me off. Say we've played a bad schedule, fine. But to say we don't have anything to be proud of? Bad form... We own the 4th quarter of every game we've played, we have had 1 single score game victory, the rest were comfortable wins at the end...
I don't care if you want to bemoan the schedule, but don't be ashamed we are 5-0.
...single win to be proud of? This seems to be the ongoing mantra by quite a few lately.
Exactly... to say we don't have a single win to be proud of is over the top. You would think that after last year's start people would appreciate 5-0 more rather than make excuses or apologize for it.
GBR! Maybe we're unwilling as a fanbase to accept a spot back in the discussion. As uncomfortable as it may be for some, we're here.
We also don't have any losses we have to explain either. There are teams who have wins "to be proud of" by your standard, but also have losses they have to explain too-and that's why they aren't in the top 10. There are 11 undefeated teams left, and we are one of them. That should count for something, and it does. Only three teams with a loss are in the top 10, and those are three teams that lost to other teams in the top 10.
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Don't overreact to my choice of words. Let me restate it, Nebraska doesn't have a big win that looks impressive to voters at this point.
The combined record of Nebraska's opponents so far this year is 10-18 with the best record belonging to Wyoming at 4-2. No team Nebraska has beaten is even receiving a vote in the top 25. These are simply the facts.
Now, don't get me wrong, you can only play the teams on your schedule, but I will say from my unprofessional eye, the way Nebraska has played against these pedestrian teams has not looked like a top 10 team.
It's crazy when I'm defending my negativity toward the team because usually I'm accused of sunshine pumping and drinking the kool-aid, but the fact remains that there isn't a quality win for Nebraska to this point (thanks, Oregon.)
The combined record of Nebraska's opponents so far this year is 10-18 with the best record belonging to Wyoming at 4-2. No team Nebraska has beaten is even receiving a vote in the top 25. These are simply the facts.
Now, don't get me wrong, you can only play the teams on your schedule, but I will say from my unprofessional eye, the way Nebraska has played against these pedestrian teams has not looked like a top 10 team.
It's crazy when I'm defending my negativity toward the team because usually I'm accused of sunshine pumping and drinking the kool-aid, but the fact remains that there isn't a quality win for Nebraska to this point (thanks, Oregon.)
And Tennesse does look like a top ten team? It's been a few years but I believe Nebraska could actually play with any team in the country.
People talk way too much about "looking like a top 10 team". The results matter. If you go through the entire season undefeated, but struggle with some bad teams, are you not deserving of being ranked at the top? I would submit too that we've hardly looked bad against our opposition-of course we haven't looked great the entire game, but who has looked great the entire game?
No problem with this... I know our schedule hasn't exactly been murderer's row.
I just bristled at the idea that we didn't have anything to be proud of. Thanks for he follow up post.
Not sure how there's a big drop-off from A&M to Tennessee. A&M needed like 94 turnovers + overtime at home to escape from Tennessee.
I think there are 6 elite teams and A&M ain't one of them.
If at the end of the season, NU is undefeated, nobody will have any reason whatsoever to question being ranked at the top. It is fair, at this point, to say NU doesn't look like a top 10 team. "Yes," we have taken care of business, but it hasn't been overly impressive. If we can continue to get better, and get healthy, there won't be any reason to worry.
I don't see negativity, more matter of fact. There will be a handful of elite teams that can put the smackdown on most other teams. If you're gonna make a list of the top 25 teams, you'll run out of elite teams pretty quick.
10th seems appropriate enough.
Nothing to argue about here. It is what it is as they say. I stated in another post that this season for Nebraska is shaping up a little like (I know I will get killed for saying this) Iowa last year. They just beat everyone on their schedule up until the end but didn't exactly impress everyone by doing it. So far, the Huskers have done the same with their schedule which has not been overly impressive. No way would I pick us over a one loss Tennessee team right now. It is not even logical.
A&M was also a fumble through the end zone away from putting that game away and it should have never gone to OT.
I agree of all "elite" teams, A&M appears to be the biggest question mark but good wins vs UCLA, Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee show they are very close.
I don't know that I recall a team losing and not even dropping one spot. I know it was a close game but that just doesn't make much sense. Why did Wisconsin drop so much when they barely got beat by Michigan?
It's great being in the top 10 now but what really matters is where you end the year. The holes in our depth chart on the offensive and defensive lines are a problem going forward. Indiana is no joke and Purdue is improving. There are no gimmies this year for this team. We should beat Purdue and Indiana but with our injury situation bad things could happen. Hopefully we run the table but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.
The old days of "you lose, you must drop 6 spots" are over. And they should be. If voters think you're better than the teams behind you, just because you lost to a top 6 team sometimes you shouldn't drop.
I prefer it this way, frankly. I think a Nebraska Tennessee game would be a very good one actually. I don't think a Nebraska Louisville game would be good. Same with Nebraska vs any of those teams in the top 6.
Because one of those teams is in the SEC and the other isn't.
I tend to think we're in the top 10 right now simply by virtue of being undefeated. I agree with the general sentiment that this is the first truly competent Nebraska team we have seen in quite a while (Bo's teams could be good but always had at least one glaring, smoldering weakness, or were prone to playing to the level of competition, or would have a huge meltdown in the spotlight).
I think we're good, and we'll continue to play well, but are we ready to be whipping ranked teams all season? No. Our wins so far show tenacity and an improving team overall (and good coaching), but they don't show a dominant team ready to go toe to toe with the top 5 in the country...yet. I think, though, that we're only between 1 and 2 years away from being VERY good. Then, I would love to see us ranked in the top 10 all season and throttling our opponents.
I think we're good, and we'll continue to play well, but are we ready to be whipping ranked teams all season? No. Our wins so far show tenacity and an improving team overall (and good coaching), but they don't show a dominant team ready to go toe to toe with the top 5 in the country...yet. I think, though, that we're only between 1 and 2 years away from being VERY good. Then, I would love to see us ranked in the top 10 all season and throttling our opponents.
If we had to go to overtime against a Sun Belt team and scored the game winning TD on a fluke fumble into the end zone like Tennessee did, people like you would be howling about how we didn't deserve to be in the top 10. But of course, like I've noticed before on here, things like that only matter if it's us that do them. For every other team, winning is the only thing that matters. For us, we have to not only win, but look pretty in doing it.
I'm usually the one to sip the kool aid and think over-positively, but reality hits me in the face. As I said in another thread, Nebraska feels like a 10-25 team. They can hang with anyone in there. Obviously, they will be dogs to anyone above them in the top 10. Time to prove the national pundits wrong and win. We ARE relevant at this point in time. Keep it going and punch every team in the teeth. GBR!
Welcome to Iowa last season. You are exactly right that who cares what the schedule looks like. All that matters is that Nebraska is 5-0 and has a good chance at being 7-0. I never once apologized for Iowa's schedule last season. I love how college football always seems to come full circle. Enjoy being undefeated because it's fun.
Here's an interesting stat I just read-the B1G has 4 teams in the top 10 for the first time since 1960.
Enjoy it.....stop complaining about everything.