Nebraska football will have an honorable-mention top 25 battle Saturday when the Huskers host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Following a 28-10 victory on the road at Purdue on Saturday, Nebraska continued to receive recognition in the latest editions of the USA Today Coaches Poll and Associated Press Top 25. Rutgers also received votes in both polls after receiving recognition in last week’s coaches poll.
Nebraska has been a feature of each poll so far this season, earning votes in each edition of both polls since the preseason. NU peaked at No. 22 after its 34-3 victory over Northern Iowa in week three. After the Huskers’ lone loss – a 31-24 overtime loss to top-25 Illinois – Nebraska has yet to re-enter the polls.
Rutgers has been on the outside looking into the top 25 since last week, as the Scarlet Knights first received votes following a close 26-23 road win at Virginia Tech. Rutgers then opened up Big Ten Conference play with a 21-18 victory at home Friday night over Washington.
In this week’s AP poll, Nebraska got 30 points and Rutgers got seven, good for de-facto rankings of 28th and 34th, respectively. In the coaches poll, the teams’ positions were reversed, with Rutgers earning 35 points and 29th place against Nebraska’s 12 points and 36th place.
This is the Scarlet Knights’ first 4-0 start since 2012, when Rutgers was still a member of the Big East Conference. Since 2021, Rutgers is 13-3 in September games under coach Greg Schiano.
The Big Ten Conference continues to be one of the premiere conferences in college football with seven teams in the two polls. Four of the programs are in the top ten, including Ohio State (No. 3 Coaches / No. 3 AP), Oregon (No. 6 Coaches / No. 6 AP), Penn State (No. 7 Coaches / No. 7 AP), and Michigan (No. 10 Coaches / No. 10 AP). USC (No. 15 Coaches / No. 11 AP) and Illinois (No. 25 Coaches / No. 24 AP) remained in the top 25, while Indiana (No. 24 Coaches / No. 23 AP) jumped into the polls after their 5-0 start.
The Southeastern Conference holds nine teams in the top 25, leading all conferences. The Big 12 has four teams, while the ACC features three programs.
The Huskers (4-1, 1-1 B1G) are set to host Rutgers (4-0, 1-0 B1G) at Memorial Stadium. NU is favored by six and a half points in the early betting lines. It is the first trip for the Scarlet Knights to Lincoln since 2017. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CDT, with television coverage on FS1.
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