Matt Rhule doesn’t want anybody inside Nebraska’s building treating the 2026 schedule like a problem to be solved. He wants it framed as a challenge to attack - the kind of slate that makes other teams groan when they see the Cornhuskers coming.
At Big Ten Media Days, Rhule said that message has already been hammered home by Phil Snow in coaches’ meetings.
"Coach Snow went off in one of our coaches' meetings. He goes, 'If I hear another person in this building talk about our schedule, get out,'" said Matt Rhule at Big Ten Media Days.
Rhule took that idea even further, pointing out that Nebraska has been selling this exact kind of schedule to recruits.
"Like, guys, this is the same schedule we used to recruit these players. We sat there with these guys and we're like, 'Hey, come to Nebraska.
We get to play Oregon this year. We get to play Ohio State this year.
We get to play Iowa this year. We get to play Indiana.'
Come," Rhule said.
That pitch apparently still has some bite. New Husker linebacker Owen Chambliss was already fired up about the schedule in the spring and had watched tape on every opponent.
Rhule does have a few complaints about the way the calendar breaks. He called the East Coast trip followed by a Friday game "ridiculously silly" and wasn’t thrilled about drawing Lincoln Riley’s team in back-to-back seasons after USC bye weeks.
But the bigger picture, for him, is not about griping. Nebraska is one of only two Big Ten teams, along with USC, that will face defending national champion Indiana, and it also gets CFP teams Ohio State and Oregon. Rhule said that’s not something he views as a complaint.
"They're all nameless, faceless opponents to me," Rhule said. "And I'll tell you what also about college football, some of the teams we think aren't going to be very good are going to be great.
And some of the teams we think are going to be great aren't going to be as good. No one knows with the portal what everyone is."
Still, the names on the schedule jump off the page. Oregon and Ohio State look like they’ll be loaded again, Indiana is the standard until somebody knocks it off, and Nebraska also has matchups with Washington, Iowa and Illinois.
CBS Sports analyst Charles Davis called the Big Ten a grind.
"I start thinking myself, 'Who do you want to play?' ... Not very many people around the country are going to raise their hand and say, 'Give me a piece of Iowa.
Give me a piece of Penn State. Give me a piece of USC.
Hey, let's go take on Minnesota. Let's go do this.
Nebraska,'" Davis said. "It's not the easiest schedule in the world no matter what any one else might try to claim out there to be.
It's a very difficult schedule.
"It's as much of a gauntlet to go through the Big Ten I think as any other conferences."
Outside the program, the conversation about Nebraska’s 2026 slate is already loud. Inside the building, Rhule wants none of it.
"If I could get everyone in our building not to listen to anyone outside the building, I would. But I can't. There's no doubt how bad that is for a football team, but it is what it is," Rhule said.
His standard for Nebraska is plain: be the team nobody wants on the other side of the matchup.
"Man, we are the University of Nebraska. Our only job is to be the team that people look at our schedule and say, 'Why do we have to play them?
Why do we have to go to Lincoln?'" Rhule said.
"We should have the loudest, most raucous atmosphere of any play on the earth. When we played Colorado, when we played Wisconsin, last year against USC - those are environments unlike any other."
Rhule said he’d love to see that kind of atmosphere every week at Memorial Stadium this fall.
In Other News...
Nebraska Freshmen Could Be Thrust Into Key Roles Right Away
Nebraskas 2026 recruiting class was built with immediate needs in mind, and the early conversation around it has already started to center on a few newcomers who could factor in before long. The Huskers signed 12 recruits in the cycle, with the biggest emphasis landing on areas of clear roster need, especially along the defensive line and at tight end, where added size and depth are always at a premium.
Among the freshmen drawing the most attention are defensive tackle Dylan Berymon, tight end Luke Sorensen and cornerback Danny Odem. Each arrives with the kind of physical profile Nebraska wants in those spots, and each is being viewed as a possible candidate to see the field early in the season, a sign that this class may not spend much time waiting in the wings. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas Brand Still Stands With College Footballs Biggest Powers
The Athletics latest look at Power 4 program valuations offered a reminder that Nebraska still carries real weight in the college football marketplace. At $1.06 billion, the Huskers landed tied for 15th nationally and sixth among Big Ten programs, a standing that keeps them in the same broad conversation as the sports biggest brands even in a changing financial landscape.
What stands out is not just the number, but what it says about the programs place in the modern game. Nebraska remains one of the few athletic departments that can sustain itself financially, and the school has continued putting significant resources back into its teams, a point that helps explain why the brand still travels well even as the on-field results have not always matched the name on the helmet. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Colandrea Gives Nebraska Fans A Reason To Believe Early
Anthony Colandreas arrival has already given Nebraska a little more buzz around its quarterback room, and the early signs have only added to it. After stops at Virginia and UNLV, where he was the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year, Colandrea came to Lincoln with a rsum that suggested he could bring immediate credibility to the Huskers offense. Being named to the Maxwell Award watch list only sharpened the attention around him as Nebraska heads into the season looking for stability and playmaking at the games most important position.
Matt Rhule has pointed to Colandreas adjustment and growing confidence as the kind of progress Nebraska wanted to see from a transfer quarterback. For a fan base that has spent years waiting for the offense to take a real step forward, Colandrea represents more than another offseason storyline. If his transition keeps trending the right way, Nebraska could have a quarterback who not only settles in quickly but also gives the program a reason to think bigger about what the season can become. [Read more 🡒]