The 2026-2027 season may still be in its early exhibition stretch, but Nebraska has already given people plenty to chew on. The Huskers opened with a loss to Saint Louis, though that game came with an asterisk: Fred Hoiberg didn’t run any offense, and Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager barely played.
It was more about discovery than results. The next exhibition comes October 16th in Provo, and that one should look a lot more like a real test, with Nebraska expected to run offense, chase the win, and give Sandfort and Frager a much heavier workload.
Even with only one exhibition in the books, the big-picture questions are clear. Nebraska is still projected to have an excellent season and finish near the top of the Big 10, but there are a few pressure points that will shape how high this team can climb once conference play starts.
One of the biggest is how Nebraska handles the exits of Rienk Mast and Sam Hoiberg. Keeping Sandfort and Frager out of the transfer portal was a massive victory, but the Huskers can’t ignore the loss of Mast, the calming big man who was always there for a clutch bucket, or Hoiberg, the relentless glue guy who did all the little things.
Mast’s offensive season last year wasn’t his best, but his leadership and steadiness mattered. Hoiberg, meanwhile, brought the kind of heart and hustle that doesn’t show up neatly on a roster sheet.
Nebraska does have options to soften that blow. If the rumor holds that Fred Hoiberg plans to play all three bigs, the Huskers should have enough pieces to ease the sting of losing Mast.
Kapke is the veteran in the group, and he can step out, put the ball on the floor, and rebound. He’s the current starter, though his long-term role will be decided on the court.
Leo Curtis, a sophomore, looked terrific against a solid Saint Louis frontcourt and moved his feet well while showing rebounding, defending, and three-point ability. Damon Wilkinson also flashed in limited minutes against the Billikens’ starters, especially around the post, even if he probably won’t be taking many shots.
Kapke, for now, is also the team’s vocal leader.
Replacing Sam Hoiberg is a tougher assignment, but Cale Jacobson is the player Nebraska is counting on to absorb some of that responsibility. He can do a little bit of everything, even if he doesn’t bring the same presence Hoiberg did. His offense isn’t as polished, and he isn’t quite the same defensively, but the hope is that he can hold the line well enough.
Then there’s the next question: who steps up as the third scoring option behind Sandfort and Frager? Sandfort is already being talked about as one of the best players in the country and the best shooter in the Big Ten, while Frager is coming off a Big Ten 6th Man of the Year season and looks set for a breakout as a sophomore.
Those two will draw the defense’s full attention. Nebraska needs a pressure release.
That role should belong to Sam Orme, the Belmont transfer who came in as a 40% three-point shooter and a player who can finish at the rim and rebound. Those are exactly the kinds of tools Nebraska needs. The only catch is that Orme is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and hasn’t debuted yet.
Another name worth watching is Jacob Lanier. The true freshman carried major buzz into the summer, with the expectation that he’d play a lot in 2026-2027.
His first exhibition only strengthened that belief. Against Saint Louis, he showed he can score in multiple ways, knock down threes, attack the lane, draw fouls, and make life difficult on defense.
He didn’t look like a freshman, and if he gets more comfortable in the offense, he could absolutely become that third scoring threat.
The final big question sits on the other end of the floor: can Nebraska’s defense stay elite after losing important pieces? Last season, the Huskers were a top-10 defense, built around a no-middle approach that funneled teams into difficult corner decisions and forced rushed shots, steals, and mistakes. Sam Hoiberg and current Vanderbilt forward Berke Buyutuncel were central to that system, and neither is on campus now.
Nebraska still has two strong individual defenders in Trevan Leonhardt and Taj DeGourville, both of whom can push opponents toward the baseline and generate steals. The tougher issue is protecting the middle, where Berke Buyutuncel was such a key presence.
Associate head coach Nate Loesner has a reputation as a defensive guru, so there’s confidence he’ll sort it out. One possible answer is leaning on athletic players like Frager in the middle and hoping Curtis takes a big leap.
Kapke and Wilkinson may not rate as highly defensively, but they should be functional within the team concepts.
Nebraska doesn’t need to replicate last year’s top-10 defense to have a big season. But the answers to these questions will tell the story of how far this team can go, and how deep into March it can push.
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