Too optimistic-here's how I'd break their schedule down
1. Akron-I'd probably give them that one.
2. Us-We're the closest thing to a swing game they'll play all year.
3. Troy-Let's give them this one too.
4. Michigan-Loss.
5. Purdue-They're gonna lose here too. Purdue went to bowl last year, and Jeff Brohm has that team going in the right direction.
6. Wisconsin-Here's another loss.
7. Northwestern-They won 10 games last year and they've got a returning QB. another L.
8. Minnesota-They finished worse in conference play than NU did, but managed to beat the Shuckheads by four touchdowns. Not sure how that happens, but whatever. Let's make this another tossup.
9. Ohio State-I think the only question here is how many points Ohio State scores. L.
10. Illinois-Let's give them this one. Illinois is one of the five worst programs in the power 5 right now.
11. Michigan State-This game is at home, but its still one they'll lose. MSU is a solid program. Don't underestimate a Mark Dantonio coached football team.
12. Iowa-They lost some talent-both Wadley and Jewell got drafted, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others. This is still a team that beat the Huskers by 42 last year, and this game is on the road.
I think most of us would look at them and expect that they'd be better. I don't think they're gonna lose 4 conference games by at least 21 points like they did last year or give up 50 plus five times in league play, but I'm not sure how anybody outside of Nebraska can look at this schedule and think they're going to win more than 5 games. This conference schedule is brutal, they've got a Power 5 opponent in the OOC, and one of their "cupcakes" went into LSU and spoiled homecoming for the Tigers last year. They'll play MSU instead of PSU, and the home game with Rutgers gets replaced with a road game at Michigan.