The Nebraska Cornhuskers were once the most feared college football team in the country. For the last three decades of the 20th century, the Huskers were the winningest team in the sport, led by legendary head coaches Bob Devany and Tom Osborne.
But the last decade or so has seen a revolving door of coaches and the only consistent thing about Nebraska has been losing. 2023 brings yet another change at the top with head coach Matt Rhule, who has had great success turning around college football programs in the past.
With mixed results so far the question remains, can Rhule (or anyone) return Nebraska to its past glory? And how long will it take?That’s exactly what we’re going to discuss in this Nebraska football betting guide! We’ve prepared the latest odds, lines, and a list of the best sites to use for placing bets.
Our number pick right now is Bovada, an excellent betting website with competitive odds and a $750 welcome bonus.
Keep reading to find out more!
Nebraska Cornhuskers Results
- Aug 31 – Minnesota 13- Nebraska 10
- Sept 9 – Colorado 36- Nebraska 14
- Sept 16- Nebraska 35- Northern Illinois 11
- Sept 23- Nebraska 28- Louisiana Tech 14
>> Place your Nebraska football wagers at BUSR
Nebraska Football 2023 Season Recap thru Week 4-
With yet another program reboot following a decade of disappointment, expectations were tempered coming into this year. At least compared to normally for Nebraska fans. After two weeks, the Huskers faithful must have been wondering what they had done to make the football gods so angry.
The week zero loss to Minnesota had to remind Nebraska fans of the Scott Frost era, where wins were consistently transformed into losses due to some combination of poor coaching decisions, untimely turnovers or crippling penalties.
Nebraska had the game won before they coughed up a fumble which allowed Minnesota to drive for the tying score before winning in overtime and handing the Huskers yet another one score loss.
While week two wasn’t a heartbreaking one score game, it wasn’t any better. The Nebraska offense turned the ball over 4 times and the defense eventually folded under the Colorado pressure for a 36-14 loss to the Buffaloes that wasn’t even that close. At this point Nebraska fans were desperately looking up the contact info of Bo Pelini.
The last two weeks have been much more pleasant for Nebraska and Matt Rhule as both games ended in fairly easy Husker victories. Of course the caliber of the opponent wasn’t the highest, but that isn’t to say there wasn’t progress made.
Nebraska rolled into the past two games against Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech with their backup quarterback, Heinrich Haarberg at the helm due to an injury to Starter Jeff Sims. While he still has a ways to go as a passer, Haarberg is a tremendous athlete and a threat in the running game. It’s very possible that he’s earned himself playing time at quarterback, even after the return of Sims.
The Huskers will likely need both quarterbacks to play and contribute in the running game as they are down to their third string running back after losing both Gabe Ervin and Rahmir Johnson for the season after the Northern Illinois win.
Now Nebraska heads into the teeth of their conference schedule with #2 Michigan next up. Has the team progressed enough to compete with a top ranked team, and beyond that can Nebraska qualify for a bowl game this season? Let’s discuss!
Nebraska Football 2023 Remaining Schedule
- Sept 30 vs.Michigan (-17) (Fox)
- Oct 6 (Friday) at Illinois (FS1)
- Oct 21 vs. Northwestern (TBD)
- Oct 28 vs. Purdue (TBD)
- Nov 4 at Michigan State (TBD)
- Nov 11 vs. Maryland (TBD)
- Nov 18 at Wisconsin (TBD)
- Nov 24 (Friday) vs. Iowa (CBS)
Nebraska Football 2023 Remaining Season Outlook.
(Odds by Bovada)
While Matt Rhule is known for turning programs around, he’s not known to do it in his first season. In fact, at his previous College head coaching jobs (Temple and Baylor), Rhule was 2-10 and 1-11, which actually makes the past few Husker seasons look great.
We don’t think this situation is the same, though, and the combination of talent and schedule should prevent a similarly poor first season at Nebraska for Rhule.
Every remaining game on the schedule should be considered winnable (except for perhaps Michigan, even though it’s at home). Of course, “winnable games” were a bit of a curse during the Frost era, and the Minnesota game signaled that there is still work to be done in the close games.
Nebraska would have preferred to be 3-1 or even 4-0 (we’re not disrespecting you Deion, promise) but 2-2 isn’t a disaster. If we assume that Michigan will beat Nebraska (we do) the Huskers would need to win 4 out of 7 games to finish the season 6-6.
If the team shows the same level of progress that they have over the first four games, we think that a 6 win season is more likely than not. Now let’s take a look at this week’s game.
>> Find the latest odds at SportsBetting.ag
This Week (Sept 30): Michigan at Nebraska (+17) O/U-40
Coach Khakis, aka Jim Harbaugh made his triumphant return to the sidelines last week for Michigan in a 31-7 win over Rutgers (he was suspended(?)for 3 games for buying a hamburger and lying about it).
He’s probably shaken off all the rust and will come in with his usual psychotic level of intensity for this game. Seeing as how Nebraska coach Matt Rhule returned to college from the NFL just like coach Harbaugh, we assume Jim will take that personally somehow and want to teach Rhule a lesson for copying him.
Michigan is clearly the more talented team but Nebraska has a stout defense and their offense has looked better with Heinrich Haarberg under center. Who starts at QB for Nebraska, and how well they protect the ball will determine whether this is a close game or a blowout.
Look for both teams to try to run the ball to control the clock, with Michigan having more success. Like Colorado, we see the Michigan offense eventually wearing down the Huskers D in the second half before putting the game away.
Prediction: Michigan 24- Nebraska 9 (Nebraska covers, under 40 cashes. We also like the first half under (21pts).
>> Bet on Nebraska football at MyBookie
Other Nebraska Futures Odds:
To Win the Big 10 championship game (+10000)
We will acknowledge that this is within the realm of possibility, but we’d like it much more if the odds were more like (+100,000). There is more realistically attainable value below…
To Win Big 10 West (+3000)
The Big 10 West is not exactly a murderer’s row. Even though the odds aren’t as great as the Big 10 championship game, winning the West actually seems attainable if only barely. We wouldn’t argue with making this wager, if you think Nebraska will only lose one or two more games after the Michigan game.
>> Find the latest odds at Bovada <<
Over/Under season wins 6
This might be a bit hopeful for a team that hasn’t topped 5 wins in the past 6 seasons but again, in a very average Big 10 West with a couple of lucky bounces, the Huskers could hit the over on this, which would likely win them their division. We like the value of the division win wager better than this bet.
>> Find the latest Nebraska football odds at BetOnline
Terms to Know when Placing Wagers on Nebraska Football
Let’s quickly run through how the basic college football odds work and some terms that you need to know before placing a bet.
Moneyline:
The moneyline wager is the traditional straight-up bet on the NFL and who the winner will be. The favorite will have negative (-) odds for a lower return, and the underdog will have positive (+) odds and, thus, a bigger return.
Point Spread:
The point spread awards points to the underdog to represent the difference between the two teams. So if Nebraska were an underdog by a field goal, they would be (+3), and you would win the bet as long as they lose by less than 3 points (or win, of course).
If Nebraska were favored by a touchdown (and extra point), they would be (-7), and they would have to win by more than seven points for you to cash your bet on them.
Over/Under:
The over-under is the oddsmaker’s prediction of what the total combined score will be in a game, including overtime. You can either bet that the tallied score between both teams will be higher (over) or lower (under) than the predicted over/under.
Prop Bet:
Prop bets are usually linked to players or teams achieving certain statistical benchmarks or achievements. They are usually released on the week of the game. Some examples of prop bets are:
- Odds to score the first TD of the game (or any TD in-game)
- Over/Under 88 yards rushing
- Over under 2.5 turnovers in a game (player or team)
During the Super Bowl, there are literally hundreds of prop bets offered. Don’t worry, Nebraska will probably never be in the Super Bowl.
>> Place Nebraska football bets at BetAnySports
Nebraska Football Betting Tips and Strategies
If you are thinking about betting on Nebraska football, we think what we’ve seen this season so far makes them good candidates to take the under most weeks. The defense is stout and the offense…well, let’s just say Tommy Frazier ain’t walking through that door.
The teams still ahead on the Nebraska schedule are offensively underwhelming for the most part, which should help that under.
If Jeff Sims regains the starting spot at quarterback, take the over on turnovers with confidence.
Whether you are betting on Nebraska or not, give a read to this section. We’ve got a list of pointers that might give you the tiny edge that’s the difference between winning and losing. Or the edge that takes you from winning to winning more OR from losing to losing less? We’re just looking to make steady progress here. Nebraska should try to do the same.
Feel free to take or leave any of these tips when creating NFL betting systems, and if you have some better ones, please track us down to let us know for next time.
Know how much you have to wager (bankroll): This is one tip we really implore you to pay attention to! If you are going to be making regular bets on a sport, before you start, put aside the total amount you are willing to lose for that season as your BANKROLL.
Keeping track of your bankroll will give you an idea of how well your strategies are doing and also let you know when you can afford to be aggressive or if it’s better to be cautious until you can build up your reserve again.
Break your bankroll into “units”: Once you’ve established how much you have in your Bankroll, divide that amount by 100, that number will be one unit. So if you have $500 total in your bankroll, each unit would be $5.
Never bet too much: Most professional bettors will never bet more than 2 or 3 “units” on any outcome, except in rare instances. This conservative approach will preserve your Bankroll and let you live to bet another day when you come up against a Bad Beat. There’s no such thing as a sure thing in the world of Gambling.
Shop around for the best Value: With online NFL betting gaining acceptance around the country, there are more options than ever to place your bet. One of the advantages of so many options is that there will always be a range of lines available for any sporting event. The smart bettors will shop around at a variety of college football betting sites looking for the best value.
When you shop for a car, do you only go to one place and take the first offer? I sure hope not. It’s no different when you are making a wager (except you won’t win any money from your Car Dealer in any circumstance).
When a ½ point can be the difference between winning and losing, you would be a fool not to shop around for the best odds. And we have a full list of reputable, trustworthy online sports betting websites below.
Knowledge is power: This applies to everything, but in sports gambling, no one has ever gotten rich by pure luck (at least not over the course of more than 1 bet).
Professional sports bettors pour over statistics before they make their picks, and every piece of information is just a Google search away; take advantage!
Speaking of the pros, here is something that they like to do…
- Bet Favorites early, Underdogs late: The Public (translation: uninformed “gut feeling” bettors) tends to love the favorites, and so the spread generally gets bigger during the week as more bets come in on the favorite. Therefore, your best bet is to get in on the favorite early AND/OR to wait to bet the underdog until right before game time. If the line moves enough, you could make money betting on both sides!
And here are a few things that the professional sports bettors DON’T usually like to do.
- Bet the over: Just like they love the favorites, the public also wants to see scoring! The linemakers know this, and the pros do too. Oftentimes the public will push the over even higher as the week goes on, making the under even tastier for those who wait.
- Bet on the ratings darlings: This applies in both pro and college football. There are some marquee franchises that the public loves to pick (looking at you, DALLAS COWBOYS and CHICAGO BEARS), and their fan bases love to lay their money on them. Amongst the college games, it’s the teams like Notre Dame, Alabama, and yes … Nebraska, who will always have a point spread designed to get their hardcore fans to throw their money away. Don’t be like them. (Root for whoever you want, but bet with your brain, not your heart).
- Just go ahead and forget about the parlay: Yeah, it’s fun to put $2 down on a 13-team parlay on the off, off, off chance that it hits so that you can immediately tell your boss to BLANK BLANK BLANKETY BLANK.
Why Bet on Nebraska Football Online?
Despite their recent (or more than recent) struggles, the Nebraska Cornhuskers are still one of the most recognizable and historically successful college football teams in the country. Their fan base is as loyal as any, and they go into every season hoping for the best for their Cornhuskers. Having such a rabid following guarantees that:
- Nebraska games are always on TV somewhere
- The savvy gambler can find opportunities betting on Nebraska
Here are a few more reasons why betting on Nebraska Football represents unique value:
- Great odds: Michigan favored by 17 points on the road? There could be a blizzard! Nebraska could avoid turnovers! Michigan drops one game they should win every year! Sometimes the big spreads are the best spreads.
- Low Expectations: As the line for the Michigan game shows, the odds makers aren’t expecting much from this team. If Rhule can live up to his reputation and develop the talent on this roster, the Huskers could surprise some people and be wildly undervalued.
- Bitter Rivalries: Nebraska played one of their old Big Eight rivals (Colorado) in the second game of the year, and they will end the season against their biggest Big 10 rival, Iowa. Watch the betting sites for these games and expect that the Nebraska betting will move the lines. If you like the Huskers in either of these, it might be best to get in early.
>> Find the latest Nebraska football odds at EveryGame
Sites With the Best Nebraska Football Odds
- Bovada: Best overall
- MyBookie: Top pick for futures bets
- BetOnline: Excellent option for beginners
- BUSR: $1,500 welcome bonus
- SportsBetting.ag: #1 site for live betting
You can bet on Nebraska Football (or any other team) at a number of online sportsbooks or even at your local brick-and-mortar establishment.
We’d recommend spending your money at a big, established online bookie like Bovada or MyBookie, though, where you’ll also be able to place other pro or college football bets as well.
These sites have been around for years, building up a reputation for treating players fairly. That’s far from the only reason to bet with them, though:
- They’re Convenient: You can get the most up-to-date lines anytime you want, simply by refreshing the page.
- Generous Bonuses & Promos: Because the competition for your wagers is fierce, most of our recommended sites are offering big bonuses for signing up or referring a friend, as well as many other rewards they make available to new and existing players. They are always looking for ways to get more fans into the action — many other sportsbooks simply can’t compete with that.
- Round-the-Clock Action: You can bet on most sports matchups right up to the start time, and then you can continue to make live bets during the game.
Check out our similar articles below:
Best Nebraska Football Betting Sites: FAQs
What Was Nebraska’s Record Last Season?
Nebraska was 4-8 last season. They were 3-6 in Big 10 games and finished 6th out of 7 teams in the Big 10 West division.
Why Has Nebraska Been So Bad for the Past 10 Years?
When Nebraska was a powerhouse, the program was known for stability in the coaching staff and for developing underrecruited players into all-conference contributors.
Since Tom Osborne retired after the 1997 season, the Huskers have had five different head coaches (not counting the 3 interims!). This has led to numerous changes in offensive and defensive schemes, which necessitates roster turnover, which hurts player development, and so on. Other reasons too.
Why Did Nebraska Hire Matt Rhule?
Rhule has experience in college and in the NFL. He’s proven to be a winner at the college level, and his strengths are exactly what Nebraska is lacking.
He can develop 2 and 3-star players into starters and has sent multiple players into the NFL games everywhere he’s coached in college.
Rhule has also coached in the modern NFL, which means he will be familiar with the latest trends in weight training and nutrition. In short, despite not winning enough to keep his job in the NFL, there is no question that Rhule takes his job seriously and will always be professional and prepared.
Can Nebraska Ever Return to its Past Levels of Success?
You could argue that NO modern college football team will ever achieve the success of those late 90’s Nebraska football teams.
The SEC is currently king of college football, but the Big 10 is unquestionably the next in line. The history of the game tells us that there are cycles of dominance and misery for all college football teams, just look up Gerry Faust at Notre Dame.
With one of the best fan bases in the world and a school willing to dedicate enormous resources, a return to the top of college football isn’t out of the question, but it won’t happen overnight. A slow, steady improvement might be the best approach, but that will be hard to do without putting W’s on the board.
The College Football Playoff will be expanding soon, and there’s no reason that Nebraska can’t eventually get into position for one of those spots.
Ready to Place Your Nebraska Football Bets Online?
The range of potential outcomes for Nebraska seems to be pretty large. In a dream scenario, Rhule is able to bring out the best in some of the talent on hand, and Nebraska gets a few of the breaks that have gone against them in the past couple of years. If EVERYTHING goes right from this point forward, they can still contend for the division title. (we said EVERYTHING)
On the other hand, if the quarterbacks can’t improve their accuracy defenses will just stack the box and make them throw. We’ve seen too many recent Husker seasons fall apart to say a 4 win season is out of the question, but just based on basic competence they seem to have made gains from last season.
Final prediction 6-6 record, 4th in the Big 10 west. And if you are looking for the best site to use, take a look at Bovada – our #1 pick NFL betting site right now!
Regardless of what bets you are making, be sure to do so responsibly!
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