College football’s 15 most passionate and loyal fanbases

8. Nebraska Cornhuskers

It’s not easy to say, but if there is any traditional power that may never get back to national prominence it might be the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Former head coach Tom Osborne probably belongs on college football’s Mount Rushmore. He helped take an isolated midwestern program and turned it into a Big Eight/12 behemoth that nobody could stop.

Nebraska doesn’t have the players in-state to keep pace with other elite midwestern programs, but the Cornhusker fanbase still makes them a tough get at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Given that Nebraska has to recruit heavily out-of-state, the Cornhuskers have a large national fanbase. People still view the 1995 Cornhuskers as the best team ever assembled in college football history.

Transitioning from the wishbone/triple option attack to a pass-first offense has not come easy in Lincoln. Nebraska has been a bowl-caliber team in the years since Osborne’s retirement, but the Cornhuskers’ days as a perennial national title contender might be a thing of the past.

Switching from the Big 12 to the Big Ten was a bold move that may not turn out as well as the school had hoped for. Iowa and Wisconsin are really good programs in the Big Ten West, too. Nebraska is still capable of being a 10-win program annually. It might even be good enough to win the Big Ten in some years.

Adjusting to life in the College Football Playoff era won’t be easy for ‘Husker Nation, but the Nebraska faithful is an elite college football fanbase without hesitation.

Next: 7. Texas Longhorns