Finally! Huskers starting in Top 25

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is officially a top-25 team again.

The Huskers check in at No. 24 in the season’s first Associated Press poll that was released Monday morning.

A total of seven Big Ten schools are in the rankings, which are compiled by media members from around the country.

The ranking ends Nebraska’s longest drought in the AP preseason poll since it appeared 44 times in a 50-year span from 1965-2014.

The team received votes outside the Top 25 in 2015, 2016 and 2017. It did not receive any preseason votes last year.

Nebraska had been abent in 33 straight AP poll releases overall and was last included Dec. 4, 2016. It hasn’t finished a season in the AP Top 25 since 2012 (25th).

The Huskers were the top team receiving votes in the preseason coaches poll — essentially 26th — that came out Aug. 1. Seven Big Ten schools are in that poll’s top 25