CFB analyst: ‘8 wins does not seem unrealistic for Nebraska’

On3 college football analyst J.D. Pickell says it wouldn’t be ‘unrealistic’ if Nebraska football won at least eight games this season.

There was a recent update to win projections for the 2024 season coming via FanDuel and the oddsmakers pegged Nebraska football at 7.5 wins. 

That’s tied for fifth in the Big Ten behind Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, and Penn State. That’s not a bad place to be for Nebraska football. The Huskers are also ranked 39th right now according to ESPN SP+.

On3 college football analyst J.D. Pickell was breaking down FanDuel win projections on his YouTube show and had some interesting thoughts when he got to the Huskers.

Pickell ultimately said that he wouldn’t be surprised to see the Huskers win at least eight games this season.

“They lost five one-score games last season and still won five games,” he said. “They also have 70 percent of their production returning from that team plus an upgrade at quarterback. The expectations for Nebraska in 2024 are 100 percent tied to Dylan Raiola.”

The schedule isn’t all that difficult either. There are road games against Ohio State, USC, and Iowa. Wisconsin is also going to come to Lincoln. Nebraska football will also host Colorado and every home game is winnable.

Matt Rhule also has a history of his team’s taking a step forward in year two. Jumping from five wins to 9-10 would be difficult. But Matt Rhule has done that kind of thing before and it wouldn’t be shocking, at least according to Pickell, if the Huskers take a leap in 2024.

“The cupboard is not bare,” Pickell said. “The Big Ten schedule will be more difficult but let’s look at Matt Rhule in his trend from year one to year two. At Temple, they were in a much worse position and had a four-game improvement. Baylor, they were at ground zero. Five win improvement. If Nebraska is on the lower end of his improvement from year one to year two and wins three more football games, it would be hard not to be excited about that in Lincoln. I think you’d be excited for six to get back to a bowl game but eight wins does not seem unrealistic.”

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