Defending the Greatness of Nebraska Football

Husker football is and always will be a blue blood.

Nov 11, 2023; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; A Nebraska Cornhuskers fan during the third quarter against the Maryland Terrapins at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Andy Staples knows better than this. Over the summer, the well respected national college football reporter came out with his list of college football “blue blood” programs. You see these conversations pop up regularly, especially on social media. There are varying definitions of what makes for a college football blue blood, and which teams fall into that category. Basically, most people accept that being a blue blood means you’ve won more than most over a long period, usually many decades. I thought this piece from Mike Farrell did a pretty good job addressing the question (except he needs to put Nebraska in the “definitely a blue blood” category).  

Now, back to Mr. Staples. As blue bloods, he has Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, USC, and Penn State. As blue blood “contenders,” he lists Florida State, LSU, Clemson, Nebraska, Miami, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, and Oregon. 

Forgive me for rolling my eyes at the latest attempt at engagement farming by a national media type. More on that in a moment.

Nebraska Is and Always Will be a College Football Blue Blood

Nebraska is and always will be a college football blue blood. They certainly belong on the list before Texas, Penn State, and I would even argue Georgia and USC. Let’s look at some numbers (courtesy of Winsipedia).

• The Huskers are 8th in all time wins at 917. That’s ahead of both Georgia and USC, who are on Staples’ blue blood list, and it’s way ahead of every other school on the “contenders” list.  
• With five national championships, Nebraska is tied for 11th all time, ahead of Georgia, Penn State, and Texas (all on Mr. Staples blue blood list), and most of the contenders. 
• The Huskers hold 46 conference championships – that’s #2 all time, only trailing Oklahoma and ahead of every other school on either list.
• And consider this one (thanks to college football stats man Kyle Umlang): Alabama, unquestionably the best program of the last 15 years, has appeared in every AP Poll since 2008 (245 consecutive AP Polls). By comparison, Nebraska appeared in 348 straight polls from 1981 to 2002. 

We could go on and on. Any way you look at it, Nebraska is one of the greatest college football programs of all time. Umlang even has an in-depth, data-based system, looking at a wide range of factors, for determining college football blue bloods. His categories include wins, national championships, conference championships, bowl wins, Heisman trophies, NFL draft picks, AP poll appearances, and more. And guess who made the list? Your Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Huskers Need to Get Back to Winning Ways

What’s remarkable to me is that the last seven years of Husker football have been downright dreadful. I won’t belabor that point; we all know the story. But after nearly a decade of arguably the worst stretch of Nebraska football ever, the Huskers remain as one of the greatest programs of all time. That’s not because I say so or Husker fans say so; it’s backed up by the numbers. 

I do believe our recent struggles impact this discussion. There is a fair amount of recency bias in a lot of the conversations about blue blood status. But that’s the thing about blue bloods: any discussion needs to consider a program’s body of work going back decades, to evaluate which teams have done it the best for the longest, which programs have stood the test of time. 

Now, one thing I will concede is that Nebraska must get back to its winning ways. Ronald Reagan famously said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” If the losing seasons continue, if we can’t find our way back into the upper echelon of college football, then our blue blood status will be bordering on extinction, and we will deserve it. The Huskers must get back to relevance, and preferably dominance. 

Husker Nation is Ripe for Engagement Farming by National Media Types

Apparently I’m 42, going on 65. I only recently discovered the term “engagement farming.” You see it all over the place: people making provocative statements on YouTube, in print, and especially on social media in an attempt to get clicks, eyeballs, followers, subscribers. And hey, I get it - we are constantly thinking about how to get our podcast in front of more people.

There are certain national sports media types who seem to talk about the Huskers quite often. Joel Klatt is high on the Huskers this year. JD Pickell seems to be high on Rhule and the direction he’s taking the program. Others take it in the other direction, posting something negative about the Huskers, our history, or even the state of Nebraska, in an attempt to get a reaction. 

Some of these examples are perfectly legitimate examples of journalists doing their job. And I certainly love it as much as anybody when Phil Steele predicts the Huskers will take a leap in the coming season. Other times though, it’s a random college football Twitter account trying to stir up the fan base and get a response. 

Let’s face it, fellow Common Fans: our fan base is ripe for this type of engagement farming. We’re the best fans on planet earth. Husker Nation will defend their beloved team come hell or high water. We’re all over social media, and every other type of media, feeding our addiction to Nebraska football. These are all good things. We should never apologize for our obsession. But it makes it hard for me to trust anything a national media member might say about the Huskers, good or bad. You have to wonder if they are simply trolling for more clicks. 

If Andy Staples really believes Nebraska football is not a college football blue blood, he knows a lot less about college football than I thought he did. More likely, this is just the latest attempt to poke the bear that is the Nebraska fan base in the never ending search for clicks, subscribers and followers.

Until next time Common Fans, GBR for LIFE.

NOTE: This article originally ran in the Common Fan Newsletter on July 12, 2024.

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