Nebraska under Scott Frost has not been everything Huskers’ fans dreamed. Honestly, Nebraska in the Big Ten is not what anyone envisioned.

All hope is not lost — and perhaps the installation of Trev Alberts as athletic director buys time — but if something significant doesn’t happen in Year 4, Frost could lose the team, the fans … and more?

How bad (or good) can it get? Let’s find out. Here are the best- and worst-case scenarios for the Huskers in 2021.

Best: Martinez makes a move

Adrian Martinez is firmly entrenched on the depth chart in his 4th season and makes the most of it, limiting his turnovers and competing with the running-back-by-committee to lead the team in rushing again.

The revolving door at wide receiver turns into a wheel of fortune and Nebraska finds the balance it needs to win the tight games. Oliver Martin steps into the void and becomes what he never could with Michigan or Iowa. The Blackshirts are the Blackshirts again.

Best: Avoid the bad losses

Trap games are early on the road, but survive Champaign and East Lansing and look respectable in the return to Oklahoma, and suddenly the Huskers are 5-1 with the defending-but-depleted Big Ten West champs (Northwestern) coming to Lincoln.

Even with Michigan and Ohio State at home, it’s too much to expect the league’s elite to fall so soon, even if one is built on hype and not recent history. However, the Huskers handle business in the West and a trip to Indy enters the conversation, yet it remains an achievement that can’t quite be unlocked this year.

Best: Upset the rivals

P.J. Fleck might have a year on Scott Frost (not to mention some actual success), but this year he’s no match as Nebraska establishes itself as a team to be reckoned with in the West. That leaves the Badgers and Hawkeyes as trophy targets.

This is no dream sequence, just an optimistic outlook, so getting 2 out of 3 against Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa puts the Huskers in a winnable bowl game, Frost’s seat is cooled at 8-4 and the title talk commences in 2022. Big Ten West, that is. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now, enjoy seeing the rivalry trophies again.

Worst: Hand dealt is a dud

The schedule is ominous. Illinois and Michigan State are the only B1G teams on the 2021 slate the Huskers have a recent history of success against, winning 4 straight vs. the Illini before last year’s 41-23 home loss. They’re 2-0 in their last two against the Spartans, but those came in 2015 and 2018.

Nebraska opens at Illinois and it will set the tone for the whole season. Lose to Bret Bielema in his Big Ten statement game — he’s got state pride and confidence on his side to start — and Frost’s first B1G W of 2021 might be hard to come by. A trip to Oklahoma awaits to close the non-conference portion. It’s the first time they’ve met since 2010 but still a bad time for the Huskers. The Sooners are a perennial playoff team and SEC-bound, while Nebraska hasn’t figured out the Big Ten yet.

The Huskers have lost 3 out of 4 to both Northwestern and Minnesota, split the last 4 with Purdue and beat Ohio State in 2011 and not since — dropping 6 straight. If the trends continue, all bowl dreams are busted.

Worst: No bowl

Nothing goes right. The worst tendencies of Adrian Martinez emerge, he’s forced to run for his life as no running back breaks out, the Blackshirts are a definitive shade of warm gray, the receivers don’t jell and opposing coaches are clapping on the sidelines. (The worst, right?) Frost melts down and blames players, feeling the hot seat while helping others (Jim Harbaugh, Jeff Brohm) cool theirs in blowout losses.

Four years in, and he still can’t find his way to a Foster Farms or Music City Bowl like his much-maligned predecessor did in 2015 (albeit at 5-7) and 2016. It’s so bad that the Huskers fans don’t even want to bring up the 1990s … for a week. Then Frost at his weekly news conference throws in a “back in my day” to boot.

Worst: No rivalry trophies

The final nail in the postseason coffin would come at the hands of Wisconsin and Iowa. If Nebraska comes out of the Nov. 13 bye week needing a win against the Badgers or Hawkeyes to get back to a bowl, good luck.

The Huskers haven’t taken Wisconsin since 2012 and lost 8 of the last 9 overall. Imagine telling a Huskers fan when they joined the B1G that they wouldn’t solve the Badgers. Their recent record against Iowa is just as troubling — dropping the last 6 and 7 of 8.

If a bowl game is riding on this Black Friday game, maybe they find inspiration at home. This is the worst-case scenario, though. So in a move of desperation, they turn to Lil’ Red and make the viral overall uniforms a reality, losing in embarrassing fashion — literally. Fifth-place Frosty yet again.