2025–26 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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The 2025–26 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cornhuskers were led by seventh-year head coach Fred Hoiberg and played their home games at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska as members of the Big Ten Conference.
| 2025–26 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball | |
|---|---|
 | |
Hall of Fame Classic Champions | |
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen | |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 14 |
| AP | No. 14 |
| Record | 28–7 (15–5 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | Pinnacle Bank Arena |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 Michigan | 19 | – | 1 | .950 | 37 | – | 3 | .925 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 14 Nebraska | 15 | – | 5 | .750 | 28 | – | 7 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Illinois | 15 | – | 5 | .750 | 28 | – | 9 | .757 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Michigan State | 15 | – | 5 | .750 | 27 | – | 8 | .771 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 25 Wisconsin | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | 24 | – | 11 | .686 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 Purdue † | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 30 | – | 9 | .769 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 24 | – | 12 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 Iowa | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | 24 | – | 13 | .649 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 8 | – | 12 | .400 | 15 | – | 18 | .455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC | 7 | – | 13 | .350 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 7 | – | 13 | .350 | 16 | – | 17 | .485 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rutgers | 6 | – | 14 | .300 | 14 | – | 20 | .412 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 5 | – | 15 | .250 | 15 | – | 19 | .441 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 5 | – | 15 | .250 | 12 | – | 20 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 4 | – | 16 | .200 | 12 | – | 21 | .364 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penn State | 3 | – | 17 | .150 | 12 | – | 20 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Cornhuskers won the first NCAA men's tournament game in the program's history on March 19, 2026, with a 76–47 victory over the Troy Trojans.[1]
Previous season
The Cornhuskers finished the 2024–25 season 21–14, 7–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a five-way tie for 12th place. Due to tiebreaking procedures, they failed to qualify for the Big Ten tournament. The Cornhuskers received an invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament where they defeated Arizona State, Georgetown, and Boise State to advance to the tournament championship game where they defeated UCF.
Offseason
Departures
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahron Ulis | 2 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Chicago Heights, IL | Graduated |
| Brice Williams | 3 | F | 6'7" | 213 | Senior | Huntersville, NC | Graduated |
| Juwan Gary | 4 | F | 6'6" | 221 |  Senior | Columbia, SC | Graduated |
| Jeffrey Grace III | 8 | G | 6'3" | 197 | Junior | Elmhurst, IL | Walk-on; not on team roster |
| Gavin Griffiths | 12 | G | 6'8" | 193 | Sophomore | Simsbury, CT | Transferred to Temple |
| Andrew Morgan | 23 | F | 6'10" | 245 | Senior | Waseca, MN | Graduated |
| Rollie Worster | 24 | G | 6'4" | 205 | Senior | Missoula, MT | Graduated |
| Nick Janowski | 25 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Freshman | Pewaukee, WI | Transferred to St. Thomas (MN) |
| Braxton Meah | 34 | C | 7'1" | 250 | Graduate Student | Layton, UT | Graduated |
Incoming transfers
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kendall Blue | 2 | G | 6'6" | 190 | Senior | Woodbury, MN | St. Thomas (MN) |
| Will Cooper | 6 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Sophomore | Omaha, NE | Air Force |
| Jamarques Lawrence | 10 | G | 6'3" | 183 | Senior | Plainfield, NJ | Rhode Island |
| Ugnius Jarusevicius | 13 | F | 6'10" | 220 | Senior | Alytus, Lithuania | Central Michigan |
| Jared Garcia | 15 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Graduate Student | Houston, TX | Tulsa |
| Pryce Sandfort | 21 | F | 6'6" | 205 | Junior | Waukee, IA | Iowa |
2025 recruiting class
| Name | Hometown | School | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quentin Rhymes SF |
Las Vegas, NV | Hillcrest Prep | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Sep 22, 2024 | |
Recruit ratings: Rivals:  247Sports:  On3: (NR) | ||||||
| Leo Curtis C |
Cambridge, MA | CATS Academy | 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | May 28, 2025 | |
| Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: On3: (NR) | ||||||
| Overall recruit ranking: | ||||||
Sources:
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Roster
| 2025–26 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule and results
When Nebraska started the season 4–0 with a November 15 victory over Oklahoma, it achieved its first 8-game win streak since the 2010–11 team won 11 in a row.[2] On November 25, the team achieved a 7–0 start and its 11th consecutive victory (spanning back to the prior season), which was only the fourth (1990–91, 1993–94 and 2010–11) 11-game streak in school history.[3] Nebraska entered the AP Poll for the first time since the 2018–19 rankings after its 9–0 start.[4] On December 10, Nebraska defeated Wisconsin to reach a 10–0 start and 14 consecutive victories matching school records set by the 1977–78 Cornhuskers and 1990–91 team, respectively.[5] On December 30, 2025, Nebraska completed an undefeated non-conference schedule with a win over New Hampshire, which had not happened since the 1928-29 Cornhuskers.[6] On January 5, 2026, the Cornhuskers entered the top 10 in the AP Poll in the 2025–26 rankings, which was a first since the 1965–66 Cornhuskers (led by Grant Simmons and Stu Lantz, which peaked at No. 8 in the 1965–66 rankings).[7][8][6] This also surpassed the No. 11 ranking achieved by the 1990–91 Cornhuskers.[9] Also on January 5, Nebraska defeated Ohio State to reach 4–0 in conference play for the first time since the 1975–76 Cornhuskers.[6] On January 19, the team moved to number 7 in the AP Poll, which was a school record.[10] The following week the school achieved a number 5 ranking following a 20–0 start. Its 24-game winning streak was the best by a Big Ten team since the 2010–11 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team started the season 24–0.[11] On March 8, 2026 with a win over Iowa, Nebraska finished with a program record for conference wins in a season with 15, as well as a program record for regular season victories with 26. The previous bests for conference wins in a season and regular season wins, were 13 and 24 respectively. With the victory over Iowa, Nebraska secured a 2-seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which betters the previous best mark of a 3-seed. The 2025-26 Nebraska team also matched the program record for wins in a season with 26. The 26 season wins mark was set by the 1990-91 Nebraska team. The 2026 Big Ten Tournament would take place at the United Center in Chicago from March 10-16.
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhibition | |||||||||||
| October 18, 2025* 12:00 p.m., B1G+ |
No. 8 BYU | W 90–89 | – |
31 – Mast | 7 – Lawrence | 9 – Lawrence | Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,992) Lincoln, NE | ||||
| October 27, 2025* 6:30 p.m., B1G+ |
Midland | W 91–50 | – |
21 – Frager | 7 – Tied | 5 – Blue | Pinnacle Bank Arena (13,703) Lincoln, NE | ||||
| Regular Season | |||||||||||
| November 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ |
West Georgia | W 86–53 | 1–0 |
18 – Lawrence | 11 – Mast | 6 – Lawrence | Pinnacle Bank Arena (13,555) Lincoln, NE | ||||
| November 8, 2025* 12:00 p.m., B1G+ |
FIU | W 96–66 | 2–0 |
20 – Sandfort | 12 – Mast | 10 – Mast | Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,023) Lincoln, NE | ||||
| November 11, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ |
Maryland Eastern Shore | W 69–50 | 3–0 |
19 – Sandfort | 7 – Hoiberg | 4 – Hoiberg | Pinnacle Bank Arena (13,653) Lincoln, NE | ||||
| November 15, 2025* 6:00 p.m., BTN |
vs. Oklahoma | W 105–99 | 4–0 |
28 – Sandfort | 6 – Tied | 7 – Sandfort | Sanford Pentagon (3,463) Sioux Falls, SD | ||||
| November 20, 2025* 6:00 p.m., Peacock |
vs. New Mexico Hall of Fame Classic semifinals |
W 84–72 | 5–0 |
21 – Lawrence | 8 – Frager | 6 – Hoiberg | T-Mobile Center (5,278) Kansas City, MO | ||||
| November 21, 2025* 8:30 p.m., Peacock |
vs. Kansas State Hall of Fame Classic Championship Game |
W 86–85 | 6–0 |
21 – Sandfort | 8 – Büyüktuncel | 5 – Lawrence | T-Mobile Center (6,743) Kansas City, MO | ||||
| November 25, 2025* 7:30 p.m., BTN |
Winthrop | W 80–73 | 7–0 |
31 – Mast | 7 – Sandfort | 5 – Hoiberg | Pinnacle Bank Arena (13,973) Lincoln, NE | ||||
| November 29, 2025* 1:00 p.m., B1G+ |
USC Upstate | W 72–63 | 8–0 |
20 – Sandfort | 9 – Sandfort | 4 – Sandfort | Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,107) Lincoln, NE | ||||
| December 7, 2025* 4:00 p.m., FS1 |
Creighton Rivalry |
W 71–50 | 9–0 |
20 – Mast | 13 – Büyüktuncel | 5 – Hoiberg | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,256) Lincoln, NE | ||||
| December 10, 2025 8:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 23 | Wisconsin | W 90–60 | 10–0 (1–0) |
17 – Mast | 10 – Mast | 7 – Lawrence | Pinnacle Bank Arena (13,831) Lincoln, NE | |||
| December 13, 2025 3:00 p.m., Peacock |
No. 23 | at No. 13 Illinois | W 83–80 | 11–0 (2–0) |
32 – Sandfort | 7 – Mast | 6 – Tied | State Farm Center (15,266) Champaign, IL | |||
| December 21, 2025* 7:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 15 | North Dakota | W 78–55 | 12–0 |
17 – Frager | 11 – Büyüktuncel | 10 – Büyüktuncel | Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,519) Lincoln, NE | |||
| December 30, 2025* 8:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 13 | New Hampshire | W 86–55 | 13–0 |
19 – Sandfort | 10 – Hoiberg | 5 – Mast | Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,497) Lincoln, NE | |||
| January 2, 2026 8:00 p.m., Peacock |
No. 13 | No. 9 Michigan State | W 58–56 | 14–0 (3–0) |
19 – Mast | 7 – Mast | 5 – Hoiberg | Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,841) Lincoln, NE | |||
| January 5, 2026 5:30 p.m., FS1 |
No. 10 | at Ohio State | W 72–69 | 15–0 (4–0) |
15 – Frager | 9 – Hoiberg | 4 – Hoiberg | Value City Arena (10,382) Columbus, OH | |||
| January 10, 2026 11:00 a.m., BTN |
No. 10 | at Indiana | W 83–77 | 16–0 (5–0) |
27 – Lawrence | 6 – Mast | 5 – Hoiberg | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (13,407) Bloomington, IN | |||
| January 13, 2026 8:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 8 | Oregon | W 90–55 | 17–0 (6–0) |
28 – Sandfort | 5 – Garcia | 5 – Hoiberg | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,163) Lincoln, NE | |||
| January 17, 2026 3:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 8 | at Northwestern | W 77–58 | 18–0 (7–0) |
22 – Sandfort | 7 – Hoiberg | 4 – Tied | Welsh–Ryan Arena (5,783) Evanston, IL | |||
| January 21, 2026 8:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 7 | Washington | W 76–66 | 19–0 (8–0) |
23 – Sandfort | 7 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,203) Lincoln, NE | |||
| January 24, 2026 11:00 a.m., FS1 |
No. 7 | at Minnesota | W 76–57 | 20–0 (9–0) |
22 – Sandfort | 10 – Sandfort | 7 – Hoiberg | Williams Arena (11,339) Minneapolis, MN | |||
| January 27, 2026 6:00 p.m., Peacock |
No. 5 | at No. 3 Michigan | L 72–75 | 20–1 (9–1) |
20 – Tied | 7 – Hoiberg | 5 – Hoiberg | Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI | |||
| February 1, 2026 3:00 p.m., FS1 |
No. 5 | No. 9 Illinois | L 69–78 | 20–2 (9–2) |
20 – Frager | 6 – Tied | 6 – Hoiberg | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,513) Lincoln, NE | |||
| February 7, 2026 11:00 a.m., BTN |
No. 9 | at Rutgers | W 80–68 | 21–2 (10–2) |
26 – Mast | 8 – Mast | 7 – Lawrence | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ | |||
| February 10, 2026 6:00 p.m., FS1 |
No. 7 | No. 13 Purdue | L 77–80 OT | 21–3 (10–3) |
18 – Mast | 6 – Mast | 7 – Mast | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,185) Lincoln, NE | |||
| February 14, 2026 12:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 7 | Northwestern | W 68–49 | 22–3 (11–3) |
29 – Sandfort | 9 – Mast | 5 – Hoiberg | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,262) Lincoln, NE | |||
| February 17, 2026 8:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 9 | at Iowa Rivalry |
L 52–57 | 22–4 (11–4) |
13 – Sandfort | 8 – Mast | 5 – Hoiberg | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,483) Iowa City, IA | |||
| February 21, 2026 1:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 9 | Penn State | W 87–64 | 23–4 (12–4) |
33 – Sandfort | 9 – Sandfort | 10 – Hoiberg | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,128) Lincoln, NE | |||
| February 25, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 12 | Maryland | W 74–61 | 24–4 (13–4) |
21 – Frager | 8 – Tied | 6 – Lawrence | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,028) Lincoln, NE | |||
| February 28, 2026 3:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 12 | at USC | W 82–67 | 25–4 (14–4) |
32 – Sandfort | 8 – Frager | 7 – Lawrence | Galen Center (6,645) Los Angeles, CA | |||
| March 3, 2026 10:00 p.m., FS1 |
No. 9 | at UCLA | L 52–72 | 25–5 (14–5) |
12 – Hoiberg | 5 – Tied | 5 – Lawrence | Pauley Pavilion (9,027) Los Angeles, CA | |||
| March 8, 2026 4:00 p.m., FOX |
No. 9 | Iowa Rivalry |
W 84–75 OT | 26–5 (15–5) |
15 – Tied | 8 – Jacobsen | 6 – Lawrence | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,340) Lincoln, NE | |||
| Big Ten Tournament | |||||||||||
| March 13, 2026 5:30 p.m., BTN |
(2) No. 11 | vs. (7) No. 18 Purdue Quarterfinal |
L 58–74 | 26–6 |
15 – Sandfort | 8 – Hoiberg | 4 – Hoiberg | United Center (18,988) Chicago, IL | |||
| NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
| March 19, 2026 11:40 a.m., truTV |
(4 S) No. 15 | vs. (13 S) Troy First round |
W 76–47 | 27–6 |
23 – Sandfort | 9 – Hoiberg | 7 – Mast | Paycom Center (15,677) Oklahoma City, OK | |||
| March 21, 2026 7:45 p.m., TNT |
(4 S) No. 15 | vs. (5 S) No. 16 Vanderbilt Second round |
W 74–72 | 28–6 |
15 – Tied | 5 – Tied | 6 – Hoiberg | Paycom Center (14,887) Oklahoma City, OK | |||
| March 26, 2026 6:30 p.m., TBS |
(4 S) No. 15 | vs. (9 S) Iowa Sweet Sixteen / Rivalry |
L 71–77 | 28–7 |
25 – Sandfort | 10 – Büyüktuncel | 6 – Hoiberg | Toyota Center (17,307) Houston, TX | |||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Central Time. | |||||||||||
Source:[12]