Who Should Nebraska Root For This Weekend?
This is Nebraska's Week 7 college football rooting guide, based on published pregame simulations. The model's starting CFP probability for Nebraska is 18.5%. The outcomes shown below compare each game separately; they are not cumulative forecasts, live CFP odds, or official committee projections.
View the Nebraska CFP outlook and schedule. Choose a different team from the selector to refresh this guide.
Biggest games to watch for Nebraska
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Washington vs Purdue: Root for Washington
Nebraska CFP probability: 19.5% if Washington wins, compared with 17.7% if Purdue wins. Difference: 1.8% percentage points.
Nebraska still has Washington on its schedule, so Washington continuing to win would make that matchup more valuable.
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Northwestern vs Michigan State: Root for Michigan State
Nebraska CFP probability: 20.4% if Michigan State wins, compared with 18.1% if Northwestern wins. Difference: 2.3% percentage points.
The main value for Nebraska is knocking back Northwestern, currently a legitimate at-large contender in the at-large race. Schedule context also supports that outcome: Nebraska already beat Michigan State, so Michigan State continuing to win strengthens the value of one of Nebraska's wins. If it happens, this would be the single most helpful result of the day for Nebraska.
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Oklahoma State vs Houston: Root for Oklahoma State
Nebraska CFP probability: 19.8% if Oklahoma State wins, compared with 18.2% if Houston wins. Difference: 1.6% percentage points.
Houston is the bigger current at-large threat, so a loss by Houston is more valuable to Nebraska. However, Oklahoma State would improve its own at-large case with a win, but knocking back Houston matters more to Nebraska. A separate schedule factor also helps: Nebraska's schedule connects to Oklahoma State through Oregon; an Oklahoma State win can make that shared opponent more valuable.
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Ball State vs Bowling Green: Root for Bowling Green
Nebraska CFP probability: 18.8% if Bowling Green wins, compared with 17.5% if Ball State wins. Difference: 1.3% percentage points.
Nebraska already beat Bowling Green, so Bowling Green continuing to win strengthens the value of one of Nebraska's wins.
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Notre Dame vs BYU: Root for Notre Dame
Nebraska CFP probability: 18.5% if Notre Dame wins, compared with 17.0% if BYU wins. Difference: 1.5% percentage points.
For Nebraska, the 1.5-percentage-point downside of a Notre Dame loss matters more than the upside of a routine win. BYU is the smaller at-large threat today, but a win would raise its at-large chances from 15.7% to 46.3%. Notre Dame would remain a major threat even with a loss (90.5%), so keeping BYU down leaves less combined at-large competition for Nebraska. However, Notre Dame would also improve its own at-large case, which offsets part of that benefit to Nebraska. A separate schedule factor also helps: A stronger Notre Dame can help the schedule value around Michigan State, which also appears on Nebraska's schedule.
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Ohio vs Sacramento State: Root for Ohio
Nebraska CFP probability: 18.6% if Ohio wins, compared with 16.2% if Sacramento State wins. Difference: 2.4% percentage points.
Nebraska already beat Ohio, so a Ohio loss would reduce the résumé value of that win.
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Utah vs Colorado: Root for Colorado
Nebraska CFP probability: 20.1% if Colorado wins, compared with 18.4% if Utah wins. Difference: 1.7% percentage points.
Utah is a major at-large threat, making a loss by Utah the clearest benefit to Nebraska. A separate factor: Colorado has 8 3-step schedule connections to Nebraska, so a stronger Colorado can slightly help Nebraska's strength of schedule.
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Arizona State vs Texas Tech: Root for Arizona State
Nebraska CFP probability: 20.1% if Arizona State wins, compared with 18.5% if Texas Tech wins. Difference: 1.6% percentage points.
Nebraska benefits most from Texas Tech, a leading CFP contender, taking the loss.
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The Citadel vs Texas A&M: Root for The Citadel
Nebraska CFP probability: 19.6% if The Citadel wins, compared with 18.5% if Texas A&M wins. Difference: 1.1% percentage points.
Texas A&M still has a very slim at-large path (0.2%), and a loss would reduce it to 0.0%, removing a small amount of competition from Nebraska's path.