Nebraska’s 2026 season has the feel of a proving ground. After opening 2024 at 3-0 and 2025 at 5-1, the Cornhuskers still finished 7-6 both times, and that kind of ending won’t satisfy anyone in Lincoln this time around.
With more talent on the roster than they’ve had in a while, Nebraska needs a season that actually means something. These three games look like the ones that will tell the whole story.
The first checkpoint comes right away in the Big Ten. Nebraska should have no trouble getting to 3-0 with Ohio, Bowling Green, and North Dakota on the schedule to open the year, but the real test is what happens when conference play begins.
The Huskers have lost their first conference game every year since 2019, and that pattern has become impossible to ignore. Michigan State is viewed as one of the weaker teams in the league, but Pat Fitzgerald is not someone you can sleepwalk through, especially in a hostile conference setting.
A win there would push Nebraska to 4-0 and set up a likely 5-0 start with Maryland next on the slate.
That’s where Week 6 gets interesting. Nebraska and Indiana could both be 5-0 when the Hoosiers come to Lincoln, and that turns the matchup into a huge Big Ten game with playoff implications.
If the Huskers are sitting at 5-0, they won’t be thinking about settling for 8-4 or better. They’ll want to beat Indiana.
Nebraska hasn’t beaten a ranked team since 2016, but the last two seasons showed it can still bother top-level opponents. In 2024, a young Nebraska team lost 21-17 to eventual national champion Ohio State on the road in a game it could have won with cleaner execution.
In 2025, Nebraska may have beaten USC if Dylan Raiola had not fumbled and gone down with a season-ending injury.
That’s why the Indiana game carries so much weight. Nebraska can be a tough place to play, and the Huskers have enough talent to make life miserable for a team like that.
If they find a way to win, it changes the entire conversation around Matt Rhule’s program. Nebraska would be back in contention.
The Huskers are clearly the underdog, especially after their 56-7 loss at Indy in 2024, and the reminder from that game is simple: overlooking Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers cost them badly. That mistake can’t happen again.
Even if Nebraska gets past Indiana, the road trip to Oregon is a brutal follow-up. That environment raises the degree of difficulty again, but the bye week before Washington at home gives Nebraska a chance to reset.
And that Washington game could be enormous. The Huskies might be ranked and possibly undefeated, helped by a schedule that is easier than Nebraska’s.
That sets up a game in Lincoln with real postseason stakes.
It’s the kind of matchup Nebraska cannot let slip away. Washington is not at the same level as Indiana, Oregon, or even Ohio State, which the Huskers host in Week 12.
Nebraska still has to go to Illinois, host Ohio State, and travel to Iowa, so it can’t afford to treat the Washington game like a bonus. Playing USC close last season was not enough.
This one has to be won.
Rhule has already shown Nebraska can hang in tight games and make things difficult for elite opponents, something Scott Frost never managed. The Huskers are bringing back a lot and adding transfers such as QB Anthony Colandrea, LB Owen Chambliss, and WR Kwazi Gilmer.
The talent is there. The ceiling is there.
Now it comes down to what Rhule and Nebraska can actually turn it into in 2026.
In Other News...
Washingtons Recruiting Rebuild Now Includes A Prospect Fans Will Notice
Washingtons push to rebuild its recruiting footprint has moved well past the Class of 2026, with the Huskies already working to widen the net for the years ahead. After a limited haul in the current cycle, the mens basketball staff is leaning into longer-term targets and making sure it stays in the mix for some of the countrys most coveted young players, including five-star prospects Malachi Jordan, JLon Lyons, Ahmed Nur and local point guard Jalen Davis.
One name that should catch the attention of Seattle fans is J.J. Crawford, a rising prospect the Huskies are already laying groundwork for in the Class of 2029. Crawford carries obvious local intrigue because of his family ties to the city, and his presence on the radar shows how far ahead Washington is thinking as it tries to re-establish itself with elite talent. The early interest does not answer every question about where the rebuild is headed, but it does signal the staff is not waiting to get aggressive. [Read more 🡒]
Ja'Lynn Polk's NFL Turn Is A Tough Reminder For Washington Fans
Ja'Lynn Polks NFL path moved quickly from promise to uncertainty, a reminder for Washington fans of how sharp the jump can be from college stardom to the pro game. The former Huskies wideout was drafted in the second round by the New England Patriots in the 2024 NFL Draft, then spent one season in the league before shoulder surgery altered the course of his career.
Polk was later traded to the New Orleans Saints, but the shoulder trouble followed him there and led to another procedure. The latest turn leaves his future in football unsettled and, for Washington supporters who watched him emerge in Montlake, it is a sobering finish to what once looked like a long NFL runway. [Read more 🡒]
Danny Sprinkle Has A Chance To Change Washingtons Next Recruiting Class
Washingtons push into the Class of 2027 is already taking shape around a handful of high-end targets, and five-star forward Ahmed Nur is right in the middle of it. The Huskies are in the mix with Ole Miss, Syracuse and Purdue for one of the classs most closely watched prospects, which is the kind of company that says plenty about where Danny Sprinkle wants to take the program on the recruiting trail.
Nurs interest gives Washington a real chance to make an early impression with a recruit it will need to keep tracking over time, especially with Rivals keeping the Huskies in the conversation. The next important checkpoint comes early in the fall, when Washington gets its chance to host him and show why it belongs in the race for a commitment that could help define the class. [Read more 🡒]