Why Nebraska Football's Exclusion From the AP Poll Makes No Sense

The Huskers are just outside the top 25, but they deserve a spot much more than a certain team does.

Oct 5, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule talks with officials during a review in the second quarter against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska football is on the outside looking in of the Week 8 AP Poll heading into a matchup with No. 16 Indiana.

The Huskers came in at No. 27 with 62 votes behind Vanderbilt's 68 votes. Navy is ranked No. 25 with 84 votes after not being ranked all season. The Midshipmen being ranked makes sense. They are undefeated and on a roll along with their fellow undefeated service academy Army. The biggest problem with the poll is at No. 24 with Michigan.

The Wolverines are 4-2 and have no great wins on the season. Their best victory came when they defeated USC at home with a last-second touchdown. However, USC has since fallen to 3-3 and is an abysmal 1-3 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines were also blown out on their home field by No. 1 Texas and beaten by 10 points at unranked Washington. To make matters worse for the Wolverines, Washington was just blown out 40-16 by Iowa. That makes Michigan's second loss look even uglier.

Conversely, Nebraska is 5-1 and its only loss is to No. 22 Illinois in overtime. The Huskers have a much better case to be included in the top 25 than Michigan does. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule commented on the polls when he was complimenting Indiana ahead of their matchup with the Huskers.

“They’re leading the Big Ten in passing and they’re close, if not the top, in rushing," Rhule said. They’re top 10 in the country in offense, they’re top 10 in the country in defense. They’re the only team that hasn’t trailed all year and they’ve scored 80 points in the fourth quarter. This is probably a top-10 football team we’re facing. They started the season unranked so they’re maybe not getting the due that they’re supposed to get. Other people can lose to a bad team, and they’ll keep them in the top 10 because they started in the top 10."

Michigan started out ranked No. 9 in the country and also has the benefit of being the defending national champion. If it were not for the Wolverines' high start in the polls, they would be nowhere near the top 25. Vanderbilt also deserves to be ranked more than Michigan after its wins over Alabama and Kentucky. Teams like the Huskers and the Commodores deserve to be ranked much more than Michigan does.

However, the Huskers will leave voters with no choice but to put them in the top 25 if they can knock off undefeated Indiana this weekend.

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