Nebraska football remains a betting favorite despite a lackluster performance in its Friday night tilt at Minnesota.
For the third time in as many weeks, the Huskers (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) opened as favorites for their home tilt with Northwestern (5-2, 3-1) in early betting lines. Nebraska opened as an 8 1/2-point favorite, as the consensus line adjusted to eight points by Sunday morning.
DraftKings set Nebraska’s line as 8 1/2-point favorites, while FanDuel placed the Huskers as 7 1/2-point favorites, resetting the consensus average at eight points. The Huskers will play as a favorite for the seventh time this season, returning as a home favorite since their last home matchup on Oct. 4 in a 38-27 victory over Michigan State. NU played the road favorite in back-to-back contests at Maryland and Minnesota.
Oct 17, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers linebacker Matt Kingsbury (49) tackles Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) during the second half at Huntington Bank Stadium. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Nebraska has been listed as an underdog just once this season, falling to Michigan 30-27 at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 20. The Huskers have been favorites in every other contest, including its neutral-site matchup with Cincinnati in the season opener on Aug. 28 at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
The over/under total for Nebraska and Northwestern was set at 42 1/2 total points and remained at that line as of Sunday morning. The total is the lowest for Nebraska this season, as the Huskers’ lowest point total from the past month was listed at 47 1/2-points. The over/under is Northwestern’s lowest total as well, nearly matching the 43 1/2-point over/under from its Oct. 4 home game with ULM.
Nebraska is 2-5 this season against the spread in 2025, going 2-2 at Memorial Stadium, 0-3 away from Lincoln, and 1-4 as a favorite. The Huskers won the season opener over Cincinnati 20-17 but failed to cover as six-point favorites, but rebounded with blowout wins over Akron (68-0) and Houston Christian (59-7) as 34½-point favorites against the Zips and 48½-point favorites against the Huskies. Nebraska’s 30-27 loss to Michigan failed to cover the Nebraska 1½-point underdog line, as the Huskers then failed to cover the final 13-point spread in a 38-27 home win over Michigan State.
Mekhi Nelson celebrates after recovering the ball when Michigan State mishandled a Nebraska kickoff late in the third quarter / Cory Edmondson, KFGE
The Huskers failed to cover back-to-back road lines as a seven-point favorite at Maryland on Oct. 11, then dropped a Friday night tilt at Minnesota 24-6, failing to cover the 6 1/2-point spread.
The Huskers are 5-2 on the season in their over/under history, going a perfect 4-0 at home in point totals. However, Nebraska failed to cover the point total in its season opener at Arrowhead Stadium against Cincinnati, but did hit the over against Akron (47½ points), Houston Christian (59½ points), Michigan (47½ points), and Michigan State (48½ points). Nebraska is now 1-1 in road over/unders, notching 65 total points in the Huskers’ road win at Maryland and covering the 47½ total points, but could not muster enough scoring to match the 47½-point total at Minnesota.
Northwestern is 5-2 against the spread this season, going an impressive 4-1 at home while 1-1 on the road. The Wildcats have gone 3-1 in 2025 against the spread as favorites and 2-1 as the underdog. In its last five matchups, Northwestern is 4-1 against the spread, covering in wins over ULM, at Penn State, and Purdue. The Wildcats also covered in a home loss to Oregon, with the lone loss against the spread coming in a 17-14 win over UCLA on Sept. 27.
Oct 18, 2025; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Northwestern Wildcats defensive back Robert Fitzgerald (6) reacts after intercepting a pass against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. / David Banks-Imagn Images
The Wildcats are 1-5-1 in over/under totals this season, going 1-3-1 at home, 0-2 on the road, 1-2-1 as a favorite, and 0-3 as an underdog. In Northwestern’s last five games, the Wildcats have only hit their point total once in the Oct. 4 42-7 home win over ULM. Northwestern failed to hit the over against Oregon (50 ½-points), UCLA (46 ½-points), at Penn State (46 ½-points), and Purdue (47 ½-points).
Northwestern is tied for fourth in the Big Ten Conference standings after four conference games with a 3-1 Big Ten record. The Wildcats sit behind Indiana, Ohio State, and Oregon and are tied with USC, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota following conference wins over UCLA, Penn State, and Purdue. The Wildcats’ lone conference loss was a 34-14 home defeat to Oregon on Sept. 13 to open Big Ten play. Northwestern will arrive in Lincoln on Saturday on a three-game winning streak following its 19-0 home win over Purdue.
“[I am] really excited about the way that our defense was able to close out with the shutout. That’s a big deal,” Northwestern coach David Braun said following the Wildcats’ win over Purdue. “Ultimately, we just said it in the locker room, that’s a team shutout. When you win the rushing battle the way that we did today, and when you win the time of possession battle like we did today, that’s complimentary football.”
Oct 11, 2025; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Northwestern Wildcats head coach David Braun walks on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images
Nebraska is tied for ninth in the Big Ten Conference with a 2-2 conference record and 5-2 overall mark. The Huskers match Illinois and Washington’s records following conference wins over Michigan State and Maryland with losses to Michigan and Minnesota. The Huskers’ two-game winning streak was snapped on Friday in the 24-6 road loss at Minnesota.
“Obviously very disappointing. Credit to them. They were the more physical team,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said Friday night following the Huskers’ loss at Minnesota. “They made the plays they needed to make, and they beat us pretty convincingly. Hats off to them, and obviously disappointed for our guys.”
“On offense … there was missed assignments, there were mental errors. It was just really disappointing … On defense it just felt like penalties and things like that. I thought we had a really good week of practice, we traveled really well. There was nothing that led me to think this was going to be like this,” Rhule said.
Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson and coach Matt Rhule converse during the Michigan game. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN
Nebraska returns home to Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium to host Northwestern on Saturday. Kickoff time and the television broadcast information have yet to be announced. The contest can be heard across the Husker Radio Network’s affiliate stations.
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