I-80 Club: What Is Nebraska's Ceiling As A Football Program?
On this week's mailbag podcast, Josh Peterson and Jack Mitchell were asked this question: Does Nebraska football have the resources to consistently be at the level James Franklin is at Penn State at? Which program represents a realistic ceiling for Nebraska?
Over the course of the next few minutes, they unpacked the question and tried to find comps. Michigan State a decade ago? Wisconsin? What about what's happening at Iowa State or Arizona State right now?
Below is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation on the podcast.
Jack: So many of these questions about this are about the NIL kitty and I just don't know Josh. We hear things. I don't know. There are people who know that stuff better than I do.
Josh: Penn State is definitely not the comp to be like aiming for. Who is the program? Who's the realistic team? Who's the realistic team to aim for?
Jack: Wisconsin... I actually think Kansas State. I do feel like the ceiling is higher at Kansas State or Iowa State. It feels like the ceiling is higher than those. On the other hand, you could see Kansas State and Iowa State going to run to the semifinals of the playoff. This year you could have seen that!
Josh: Isn't it wild to say Arizona State was a fourth and thirteen stop away from making the semis? Arizona State was! It was also in the format. That is going to change in a couple of years. They're not going to have that same format; Win one game. One of the things that you've often talked about is like the younger generation finally getting to enjoy a season again; What would that mean? But on top of that, what would that mean for recruiting? They're already a really good recruiter. Could they parlay a 10-2 season into being a really, really good recruiter? You know, where suddenly their ceiling is risen? But if they had consistent eight, nine win seasons, could their ceiling rise in theory?
Jack: It's just this weird thing because I've had for how many years you've been like, Nebraska is no longer in the class where they can be contenders, right, for the national championship? On the other hand, those teams I mentioned, again, Iowa State, Kansas State; You could see them going to the sem-finals of the playoff right now. Maybe that's inaccurate, but Arizona State almost did. But, there's a handful of second tier schools that I in your mind it wouldn't be that crazy to say, "yeah, they could make it there." We sort of think of Nebraska as having more potential or more resources than those schools, at very least, right?
To see more, watch it on the video below! And for access to the entire conversation, consider becoming a member of the I-80 Club today! Do so at patreon.com/I80Club.
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