Week 5 of the 2024 Nebraska high school football season is here and High School on SI is debuting the first computer rankings in Nebsraka this season.

There is a three-team battle for the Class A leaderboard between Elkhorn South, Papillion-Lavista, and Omaha Westside. See if these heavyweights continue their unbeaten streaks this Friday, September 27 on our Nebraska football scoreboard.

SBLive’s formula was created using its own linear algebra-based ranking algorithm inspired by the Colley Bias-Free Ranking Method. Colley’s Method was created by Wes Colley, Ph.D., an astrophysicist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. He devised his algorithm in order to help address the subjectivity and controversy regarding BCS college football selections in the 1990s and early 2000s, using a method that used no subjective variables.

Here are SBLive’s latest Nebraska football computer rankings, as of September 25, 2024:

NEBRASKA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COMPUTER RANKINGS

CLASS A | CLASS B

CLASS C1 | CLASS C2

CLASS D1 | CLASS D2

CLASS D6

SBLIVE SPORTS LAUNCHES HIGH SCHOOL ON SI

High School On SI will serve as the premier destination for high school sports fans, delivering unparalleled coverage of high school athletics nationwide through in-depth stories, recruiting coverage, rankings, highlights and much more. The launch of a dedicated high school experience expands Sports Illustrated’s reach to even more local communities as fans can now truly follow athletes from “preps to the pros” on a single platform, bringing them closer to the action than ever before.

For more information, visit si.com/high-school.

— Ben Dagg | @sblivesports

WEST LAFAYETTE − Nebraska was once the hated rival for Ryan Walters.

The Purdue football coach grew up in Colorado and in the 1990s, Colorado and Nebraska was must see TV. Then Walters went on to play for Colorado, like his father.

Now it’s Nebraska that Walters needs to beat to stop a sinking ship.

Purdue is trying to avoid a third straight loss and also hoping to resurrect an offense and defense that have drifted into the Big Ten abyss the past two games.

The Huskers visit Ross-Ade Stadium for their first road game of the season and the Boilermakers hope that a raucous Homecoming environment can help rattle Nebraska and freshman sensation quarterback Dylan Raiola.

More: BoilersXtra Podcast: Nebraska preview and preseason basketball buzz

Raiola was one of the top quarterbacks in the 2024 recruiting class and he’s shown why. The Nebraska signal caller is second in the Big Ten with eight touchdown passes and has thrown for almost 1,000 yards in four games.

Nebraska won its first three games with relative ease before losing to Illinois in overtime last week.

More: His dad was Super Bowl MVP, now Purdue football receiver adding knowledge for Boilermakers

Raiola’s top target has been Isaiah Neyor, a transfer from Texas and a former teammate of Purdue QB Hudson Card with the Longhorns. Neyor’s four touchdown receptions are fourth most in the league. How much does the return of Nyland Green help Purdue’s defense?

Nebraska’s defense averages six tackles for loss and 2.8 sacks per game, led by senior linebacker John Bullock (25 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks).

Purdue football QB Hudson Card, ‘Still a lot of belief in this team’

Heard what Boilermaker quarterback Hudson Card said about Purdue’s 1-2 start and Saturday’s game vs. Nebraska.

How does Purdue’s offense match up with Blackshirts

Nebraska’s defense, known as the Blackshirts, will be a tough unit for the Boilermakers to try to rectify a struggling passing attack.

Purdue did run the ball well at Oregon State, which has proven struggles against the run this season. Devin Mockobee did become the 12th player to join Purdue’s 2,000-yard club after rushing for 168 yards last Saturday. He needs 40 yards to pass Purdue legend Leroy Keyes for 11th most in school history.

It’ll be tough to do that against the Cornhuskers, who are allowing just 94.3 rushing yards per game and just 12.8 points per game. Purdue averages 354.7 yards of offense, which ranks 95th in the country and 13th in the Big Ten, with 583 yards against Indiana State doing the heavy lifting to support that average. Over the last two weeks, that average is 240.5 yards.

“After the Notre Dame game, I think that Notre Dame was extremely physical, played really, really hard and we challenged our guys as a team and obviously as an offensive unit, the physicality has to be there,” offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said. “If we’re going to be successful, then we have to be physical.”

Prediction: Nebraska 30, Purdue football 20

The Boilermakers bounce back in terms of competitiveness, but there’s three games of data (or four in Nebraska’s case) saying these teams are not playing at the same level right now.

Until Purdue’s defense shows it can set the edge and not get gashed for chunk plays running outside the tackles, it’s hard to believe the Boilers will beat anyone. If it’s more of the same Saturday, Nebraska’s run game, which isn’t a strength, could get a boost.

The Boilermakers also need to show some semblance of a passing game against a secondary that’s been pretty good against. Purdue’s best bet is to keep it close and hope for a chance at the end. That starts with not falling behind early, which has happened the past two weeks.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Nebraska reported its first West Nile virus deaths of the year on Thursday.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said two deaths had been reported in the central part of the state.

There are an average of six West Nile deaths in Nebraska each year.

Fatal cases of the virus are very rare. Only about 1 in 150 people infected develop a serious illness.

People 50 or older and those with compromised immune systems are at the greatest risk, according to DHHS.

The are no vaccines or medicines for West Nile, the department said.