SI’s Preseason Top-25: Nebraska’s Nightmare Tour
Sports Illustrated’s 2026 preseason Top 25 paints a bleak road ahead for Nebraska. The Cornhuskers must face five ranked foes—including three in the top five (Oregon, Indiana, Ohio State) and two more at 19 (Washington) and 25 (Iowa). These opponents collectively went 59-12 last season, while NU has only 51 wins over the last decade. ESPN’s FPI concurs, forecasting four top-25 and two top-40 matchups. Coach Matt Rhule insists he leaned on this brutal slate to lure portal transfers, selling the schedule as a recruiting advantage. Nebraska’s fall will be a gauntlet, with each game a chance to break a seven-year skid against ranked teams.
Nebraska fans everywhere are polishing their stress balls and stocking up on aspirin, because nothing says “fun fall” like intentionally scheduling a five-alarm furnace of fierceness. Matt Rhule’s grand masterstroke? Convincing recruits that facing a gauntlet of elite squads is way more exciting than, say, “let’s beat somebody.” Who needs a confidence-building win when you can have an anxiety-building gauntlet? Forget pumpkin spice lattes—this season will be served with a side of heart palpitations. Stay tuned as Cornhusker players valiantly attempt to prove Rhule’s “best team yet” mantra isn’t just wishful chanting at midfield.
Fall Camp Showdown: Who’s Starting Week One?
Nebraska’s Week 1 lineup is taking shape after fall camp’s first week. Senior transfer QB Anthony Colandrea, last year’s Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, is the likely signal-caller over TJ Lateef and Daniel Kaelin. Running back duties loom as a three-horse race among Isaiah Mozee, Mekhi Nelson and true freshman Jamal Rule. The receiver corps returns Nyziah Hunter and Jacory Barney Jr., joined by UCLA transfer Kwazi Gilmer. Senior Luke Lindenmeyer leads at tight end. A veteran offensive line boasts two All-Big Ten-watch candidates and three portal additions. Defensively, edge rushers Williams Nwaneri and Cameron Lenhardt headline the front, Owen Chambliss and Vincent Shavers Jr. anchor the linebackers, and a loaded secondary battles for CB2.
Welcome to Cornhusker Fall Camp, where positional battles hit harder than a Nebraska winter—and just as unpredictable. Coaches are orchestrating more musical chairs than a preschool nap time, all while praising each skirmish as “championship-level competition.” Quarterbacks practice their most dramatic pocket-escapes, running backs audition for “Who Wants to Carry the Ball?” and wideouts cling to their routes like lifeboats. Meanwhile, the defense is a boot camp of transfers learning the proud art of Cornhusker tackling. If this chaos doesn’t deliver blood-pounding excitement, nothing will—except maybe next week’s scrimmage.
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