Are the Nebraska Cornhuskers bowl eligible? Exploring their chances of securing a CFB Bowl game
The Nebraska Cornhuskers have not qualified for a bowl game since 2016, missing out on the opportunity in each of the past six seasons. The Cornhuskers have gone just 23-45 over that span. Nebraska is currently 5-4 in the first year of Matt Rhule's tenure after they signed him to an eight-year, $74 million deal last November. The Cornhuskers have already surpassed their win total from last season.
While the Cornhuskers have not qualified for a bowl game, they need just one more win to reach the six-win threshold for bowl game eligibility. Nebraska has three games remaining on their regular season schedule. They will host the 5-4 Maryland Terrapins this weekend before visiting the 5-4 Wisconsin Badgers next weekend. Their regular season will conclude the following Friday as they host the 7-2 Iowa Hawkeyes, who were ranked No. 22 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
Although they need just one win to qualify for a bowl game, the Nebraska Cornhuskers' path to doing so remains difficult. The Terrapins and Badgers both are also just one win away from qualifying for bowl eligibility as well while the Hawkeyes have been the best team in the Big Ten West and will likely appear in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Matt Rhule shares that he feels bad for Cornhuskers players
The Cornhuskers were on the wrong end of a controversial call that affected the final score in a loss for the second time this season, in addition to facing the Michigan Wolverines – who are under investigation in a sign-stealing scandal. Coach Matt Rhule expressed sympathy for his players in a recent press conference:
"I feel bad for our players, so we’re sitting at 5-4, we own 5-4, but we had one game where the team scouted us, we’ve had two games where replay was wrong.
"I mean that’s tough to swallow, but you know what, we are where we are, and the issues about giving up sacks and turning the ball over, those are the main issues that we’re gonna work on controlling, but you guys did ask me about that and I did want to answer that.
"I’m just saying I feel for our players right? At the end of the day, they’re out there battling trying to get to bowl eligibility right? We’re sitting there with a 5-4 record, you have a touchdown taken away from us at Minnesota, you have a touchdown added at this game." [h/t On3 Sports]
While the Nebraska Cornhuskers coach feels that the failures of replay review have directly cost them two games, the team will still have the opportunity to qualify for a bowl game.