College Football

Nebraska closer to CFP contention than you might think, says RJ Young

Published Feb. 24, 2022 3:29 p.m. ET

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The college football landscape is ever-changing, which means it can be hard to predict what will happen in the coming season, let alone four years from now.

That isn't stopping FOX Sports' college football analyst RJ Young from making bold predictions on the future of the sport, forecasting the return of one of college football's blue-bloods to national prominence by 2026.

"If it comes together, it's coming together in a big way," Young said when predicting Nebraska to be a College Football Playoff contender in the near future. 

"The other bet I'm banking on here is I'm banking on culture. Nebraska is one of the best college football programs of all time."

Nebraska, Penn State and Miami have a shot at making the CFP by 2026

RJ Young lists some teams who he believes have an outside chance of making the CFB by 2026.

Nebraska may seem far off looking from the outside in, being a program that finished the 2021 season with a 3-9 record. But a closer look shows that this is a team that might be ready to compete sooner rather than later.

While only winning three games last season, Nebraska's nine losses all came by nine points or fewer, with eight of them being one-possession games. That isn't a sign of a team struggling to compete.

They have also bolstered their offensive coaching staff, adding former Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Mark Whipple who oversaw a Pitt offense that averaged 41.3 PPG last season as well as being eighth nationally in passing yards per game (337.4).

Nebraska has also added Mickey Joseph, who was the wide receivers coach for LSU during the 2019 season, coaching the dominant trio of Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall, who all currently play in the NFL.

Nebraska might not be ready to contend immediately in 2022, but RJ is betting big on them in the future.

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