The Nebraska football team has been working hard to land a ton of talent for next year’s squad, but there’s still plenty of work to do this year. If recent betting lines straight out of Vegas can be believed, there are plenty of people who are not quite on board with the Huskers just yet.
We saw the line for the Cornhuskers’ first game against Arkansas State which was set at -19. That means Nebraska is almost a three touchdown favorite over the Sun Belt power and on Monday a few other early lines hit the web. The good news is that it’s still very early.
The bad news is that of the three games, the Huskers are favored to win only one, despite the fact that none of the three opponents should be considered unbeatable heading into the 2017 season.
Nebraska as a favorite
First we’ll bring you the good news. The Huskers have come out as a three point favorite against hated rival Iowa. The Hawkeyes are becoming every bit a thorn in the side of NU as Colorado was in the heydays of the Big 8. It doesn’t seem to matter what sport, the Huskers just can’t consistently keep Iowa down.
Nebraska is listed as -3 against Iowa for their November 24, regular season finale. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise considering the game is in Lincoln this year. While some will point to the lambasting NU suffered last year at the hands of the Hawkeyes, even Mike Riley knows that blowout should have never happened.
A loss would have been acceptable, getting destroyed the way they did, no one saw coming.
Nebraska as the underdog twice
On October 7, the Huskers will host the other team that has had its number since joining the B1G. Wisconsin has been more than a thorn in the side of Nebraska as they have dominated them in football since the two teams started playing every year.
In 2017, the Huskers enter the season as an eight point dog. This shouldn’t surprise anyone given the two teams’ history but it’s still hard to see the Huskers as more than a touchdown dog.
The spread that might surprise some Cornhuskers fans is Oregon being -4 this September. The Ducks finished last year 4-8 and fired their head coach.
Of course, that bad Oregon team gave the Cornhuskers everything they could handle in Lincoln. A new head coach, and plenty of offensive playmakers is going to make this a real test case for how good the season is going to go. Win in Oregon and it could be a sign Nebraska is truly destined for great things. Lose and apparently it’s expected.