Updated bowl projections for Nebraska Football after Week 6

Following a win over Illinois, here are updated bowl projections for Nebraska football after Week 6.

Nebraska football fans, at least most of them, are feeling more optimistic about the Huskers following the win over Illinois last Friday.

It wasn’t necessarily a work of art. But the Huskers played good, solid football. They dominated the running game on both sides of the ball and got enough plays from Heinrich Haarberg to win the game.

In terms of the big picture this season, it could be one of the Huskers’ most significant wins. It evened Nebraska football’s record at 3-3, which makes getting to that all-important 6-6 that much easier.

Even prior to the win over Illinois, Nebraska football was projected to make a bowl by ESPN writer Mark Schlabach. ESPN has two writers do bowl projections. However, Kyle Bonagura, also of ESPN, didn’t have Nebraska football projected to a bowl last week and still doesn’t this week.

Schlabach has Nebraska going to the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. Bonagura doesn’t have Nebraska bowling and neither do the projections by 247 Sports, which have Michigan State in the Quick Lane Bowl.

However, College Football News does have Nebraska making a bowl game and squaring off against future Big Ten rival UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl. Brett McMurphy of the Action Network also has Nebraska going to the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against BYU in Phoenix.

That’s three out of five projections (I’m sure there are more too) but these are some of the most prominent which is encouraging for Nebraska fans, even if there is a lot of work to do.

Nebraska’s path to a bowl game

Northwestern is next up for the Huskers after the bye week. The Wildcats have struggled this season but are 1-2 in the Big Ten. Still, it’s a winnable game, as is the Purdue matchup the following week.

Then, the Huskers play at Michigan State, before a home game against Maryland. The season finishes with a trip to Wisconsin, and then the annual Black Friday game against Iowa.

If the Huskers can win three of their remaining home games, they’ll make a bowl game, but that’s easier said than done. Every other team on the schedule is battling to reach a bowl game or has a shot to win the Big Ten West, so it’s going to be a challenge.

The projections show positive movement for the Huskers after the win over Illinois, which was a huge step toward ending the longest streak without a bowl game in the Power 5.

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