Most Anticipated, Least Important

June 14, 2006 by Steve Hanway

Count me among the Nebraska fans that are psyched that Nebraska will play USC this fall. The Huskers may be catching the Trojans at just the right time as they lost a ton to graduation and have been struggling with injuries (among other things) throughout the off-season. With all the hype surrounding USC the past 3 seasons, nothing would seem more thrilling than watching the Huskers pound the Trojans in their stadium.

But what exactly is on the line?

If Nebraska wins, it will no doubt get the attention of recruits and pollsters, but in the end it won’t mean a whole lot if Nebraska doesn’t win the Big XII North or if USC falls apart and has a lousy season.

If Nebraska loses they drop in the polls (or out of the polls) but it’s not necessarily a death blow to a national championship run. As often as not, you get a team in the title game that’s lost a game already. The types of losses that are most likely to be forgiven by coaches, AP voters, and computer geeks are ones that happen early in the season, on the road, to good teams. The USC game just happens to meet all three of those criteria. A loss would definitely mean that Nebraska couldn’t afford to lose another game, but at least the Huskers would still be alive. A home loss to Troy or Nicholls State would likely end any hopes for national championship consideration.

So while we fans will be excited come September 16, the real must-win out of conference games are probably going to be Nicholls State, Troy, and Louisiana Tech (in that order). Every game against a Big XII North rival could be needed to win the division and more than a single loss to a Big XII South team could keep the Huskers watching the conference championship game at home. None of those games (@ Oklahoma St., @ A&M, or Texas in Lincoln) would be as forgivable a loss as the Southern Cal game.

The game at USC will be exciting, no doubt. But high stakes? Not for Nebraska, not really.

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