Nebraska men’s basketball heads into 2026-27 with a very different kind of burden: expectations.
After a 2025-26 season that included 20 straight regular-season wins, the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory and a run to the Sweet 16, the Huskers are no longer sneaking up on anybody. The target on their backs got bigger, and Nebraska knows it.
“This is what we wanted, we wanted those expectations to raise,” Pryce Sandfort said. “Getting that monkey off our back with the first tournament win … Success brings pressure; we are excited to have that this year and we are just going to continue to plug along every day.”
That shift was reflected in the preseason Big Ten poll, where Nebraska was picked fifth. Fred Hoiberg made it clear the mindset has to stay sharp even with the higher ranking.
“We are the hunted this year,” Husker head coach Fred Hoiberg said. “Where we were picked, where we were last year, we had a chip on our shoulder and used that as motivation. You can’t lose that even though you got picked much higher than we were a year ago.”
The biggest offseason challenge was replacing the voice and presence of departed leaders Sam Hoiberg and Rienk Mast. Nebraska went into the transfer portal looking for experience, toughness and guys who would fit the culture as much as the rotation.
“We got a lot of old guys: Trevan (Leonhardt), he’s very experienced; Boden (Kapke). All of these guys are very experienced, all these guys that we brought in have been great,” Sandfort said.
“The main trait that stands out to me is just how everybody just wants to win. The desire to win that we had last year, it’s not about the individual successes, which you can see on a lot of college basketball teams.
People are just trying to get theirs. Having that trait, that itch to win, to get as far as you can in the tournament, it’s a big part of our success last year, and it’s going to be a big part of our success this year.”
Hoiberg pointed specifically to Boston College transfer Boden Kapke as someone who has already stepped into that kind of role.
“ Boden Kapke, transfer from Boston College, has been amazing with his voice,” Hoiberg said. “He’s as good as leader as I’ve ever been around. He’s really emerged into that as I’ve challenged our team.”
Cale Jacobsen has also become part of that leadership group, giving Nebraska another steadying presence around the locker room and in the huddles.
“Cale Jacobsen has a lot of intangibles,” Hoiberg said. “He knows this system not only as well as every player but as well as every coach.
That helps us. He’s in the huddles, he’s making sure our guys are doing the right things after maybe a tough call or a bad foul or those kind of things, and helping our guys get to the next thing, the next play mentality.”
Nebraska opens its public exhibition slate Friday night against St. Louis at Pinnacle Bank Arena, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
CT. It will be the first chance for the Huskers to face another team in front of fans.
That game should also offer a first look at one of the offseason’s biggest teaching points: playing bigger. Hoiberg said last season showed the value of having multiple true bigs on the floor, pointing to Michigan, the 2026 National Champion, and Illinois, a final four team, as examples.
The Huskers have worked on big-big lineups in practice, using combinations of Kapke, South Dakota State transfer Damon Wilkinson and returner Leo Curtis.
“When you look at this conference, Michigan, Illinois, Michigan State - if you don’t have the ability to match that, it’s going to be tough to win,” Hoiberg said. “I’m experimenting with big-big lineups.
I’m going to start a little smaller tomorrow against St. Louis.
You have to have the ability to play big if you want to compete in this league.”
Fans can watch the Huskers and Billikens via a free stream on YouTube.
Belmont transfer Sam Orme, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, will not play. Orme is expected to be a likely starter at the four spot when healthy, and his absence gives Nebraska one more reason to keep testing different combinations.
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