The Nebraska football team is going to have several games during the 2017 season that will show just what kind of squad the Huskers have next year. There is obviously going to be quite a bit of debate as to just which game is the most important of the bunch but ESPN has weighed in on its choice. The sports giant is even saying that Nebraska's game against the Wisconsin Badgers won't just be the most important on the Huskers' schedule but it will be among the highest stakes games in the entire college football season.
Battle of the Big Reds
ESPN has put together their list of the Top 10 games this year that will be the highest stakes games and Nebraska's showdown with the Badgers is currently ranked as the sixth most important for the season.
This game obviously gets the ranking as high as it does because the two teams have spent most of the last few seasons competing for the Big Ten West division crown.
That doesn't mean the two will be facing off for the title this year, the Huskers have a lot of question marks they're going to have to overcome before they can think about winning the division, but if Tanner Lee can be the quarterback Mike Riley hopes he is, Nebraska becomes a potent team out of the gate. If Bob Diaco can indeed turn around the defense and make them a weapon instead of a liability, the Huskers' game against Wisconsin does indeed take on some national relevance.
Why ESPN has Nebraska football's tilt on the list
With the questions that are going to surround the Cornhuskers, it's easy to wonder why ESPN would have this game among the most important of the season.
The website lays out its rationale as seeing the game against Wisconsin, the overtime loss, as being where the season started to go wrong for Riley's team last year. The squad was rolling through its schedule before that loss. After that game, the season went south.
The other reason why this game has been rated as High Stakes is because it will be the biggest bump in the road for the Badgers.
They don't have to play either Ohio State or Penn State. That also means the Huskers are going to need to win that game, since they have both those teams on the schedule if they want to have a shot at the West. Other games listed by ESPN as the highest stakes games are Oklahoma State at Texas, Washington at Stanford, Florida State at Clemson, Auburn at LSU, Florida at Michigan, Georgia at Notre Dame, Texas A&M at UCLA, Florida State at Florida, and Oklahoma at Ohio State.
