They could still be mediocre or lousy next year. There's a really good chance that Hundley and several others of their best players will declare for the draft.
Nebraska and Michigan have been good teams, but not anywhere close to elite. Predicting a loss against them is not the same as predicting a loss against Ohio State, Oregon, or Alabama at this point.
Your last paragraph is really all I'm saying. There's no point whatsoever in making predictions about the 2015 season before the 2014 season even starts. There are teams that buck history every year.