Nebraska’s men’s basketball team is taking its fall exhibition slate on the road, with the Huskers set to meet Kansas State in Grand Island on Monday, Oct. 26 at the BigIron Events Center.
The game, presented by Pinnacle Bank, is part of a busy preseason stretch for Fred Hoiberg’s team. Nebraska will also host Saint Louis on Friday, Oct. 9 and travel to BYU on Friday, Oct. 16, giving the Huskers their full allotment of three exhibition games. Schools are allowed to play up to three exhibitions for the 2026-27 season.
Ticket information, tipoff and broadcast details will be released later this summer. The Grand Island game will not be included in 2026-27 Husker basketball season ticket packages.
Hoiberg said the matchup gives Nebraska a chance to connect with fans beyond Lincoln.
“We have a lot of fans in central Nebraska and are excited to bring the Huskers to Grand Island,” Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “With a third exhibition game, it provides us an opportunity to build our brand across the state, and we appreciate Head Coach Casey Alexander and the Wildcats for making this matchup happen. We have had a lot of great matchups with K-State over the years, including last year’s Hall of Fame Classic, and it should be a tremendous environment.”
Kansas State enters the year with a new coach in Casey Alexander, who arrives after seven seasons at Belmont. There, he went 166-60 and won three regular-season tournament titles. The Bruins finished 26-6 last season and captured the Missouri Valley Conference title, with Alexander coaching current Husker Sam Orme.
The Wildcats are also rebuilding their roster, with only one player back from last season’s team.
Nebraska’s returning group is led by Pryce Sandfort, who earned first-team All-Big Ten honors after putting up 18.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Braden Frager is back as well after winning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and making the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2025-26. The rising sophomore averaged 11.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
The Huskers also get Connor Essegian back after he averaged 10.7 points per game in 2024-25 before an ankle injury sidelined him for most of last season.
Nebraska’s roster additions include an eight-member freshman class, highlighted by transfers Sam Orme, Trevan Leonhardt, Boden Kapke and Taj DeGourville, along with freshmen Colin Rice and Jacob Lanier. Orme averaged 12.7 points and 5.0 rebounds at Belmont, Leonhardt posted 11.9 points, 6.0 assists and 5.4 rebounds at Utah Valley, Kapke averaged 10.6 points and 5.7 rebounds at Boston College, and DeGourville put up 5.5 points and 3.0 assists at San Diego State. Rice and Lanier are both top-150 recruits and state player of the year honorees in Iowa and Arkansas, respectively.
The Grand Island matchup also fits into the BigIron Events Center’s push to bring bigger events to central Nebraska. Eihusen Arena drew a sold-out crowd of more than 5,000 for a LOVB Nebraska professional volleyball match earlier this year, and the venue also hosts professional arena football, the Heartland Hoops Classic, the Nebraska Cheer & Dance Championship, the USA Wrestling Folkstyle State Tournament and a range of basketball, volleyball, wrestling and other regional events.
Nebraska’s remaining non-conference schedule will be announced later this week.
In Other News...
Nebraska May Have To Sacrifice Tradition To Stay Relevant
The arms race in college footballs new revenue world keeps nudging tradition into the background, and Nebraska is no exception. After Ohio State landed a jersey patch agreement reportedly worth about $17 million a year with JPMorgan Chase, a deal that may also carry NIL opportunities for athletes, the Cornhuskers are expected to explore a similar path as they look for ways to keep pace in a sport where branding and money now travel together.
For Nebraska, the conversation quickly turns from whether to do it to who could realistically do it. Runza has been floated as the most obvious local fit, while Mutual of Omaha has also come up as a more national option, but the bigger question is whether any partner can bring the kind of financial muscle needed to matter at the top end of the sport. That is where the tension sits for Nebraska, a program with deep identity and loyal support, now weighing how much of that tradition it may have to bend to stay relevant. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley Enters A Season That Could Change Everything At USC
Big Ten Media Days are set to put several coaches under the microscope, and Matt Rhule will be one of the names Nebraska followers watch most closely. The Huskers are being mentioned in the same breath as Maryland, Wisconsin and USC in a broader look at coaches facing pressure entering the 2026 season, which says plenty about how much the next year matters in Lincoln.
Rhule has not done enough yet to quiet the noise, and Nebraska fans are still waiting for the kind of steady winning run that changes the tone around the program. His future will be judged by whether the Huskers can take a real step forward this fall, with the bar set at more than seven wins and the sense growing that the margin for error is getting smaller. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas New Receiver Sees Something In Lincoln Fans Will Love
Kwazi Gilmers move from UCLA to Nebraska came with the kind of pitch that tends to resonate in Lincoln: a program with a big-stage feel, strong support around the team and a receivers coach he believes can help unlock his next step. Gilmer pointed to Daikiel Shorts as a major influence in his decision, and the fit makes sense for a pass catcher looking for a clearer path to growth after changing schools.
Gilmer also arrives with a quarterback situation he feels good about, saying he has confidence in Anthony Colandrea as he settles in with the Huskers. For Nebraska, that matters because the transfer is not just talking about opportunity, but about a place where he expects to develop and contribute right away, with the kind of fan backing and facility support that can make a new start feel a little bigger. [Read more 🡒]