Nebraska’s football loss to Washington still hangs over the weekend, but the Huskers don’t have much time to sit with it. They head into Friday night’s matchup with Illinois as a 4.5-point favorite, with the over/under set at 49.5. Nebraska is -188 on the moneyline, while Illinois sits at +158 after beating Oregon and Maryland over the last two weeks.
The Washington defeat was the kind that lingers because of how it unfolded. Nebraska should be 6-2, and the argument can be made the Huskers should be 8-0 based on how their three recent games played out.
Instead, Nebraska became the first team in the last 25 years to hold three straight opponents to six points or fewer through three quarters and lose all three. Over that same span, teams in that situation had won 94% of the time.
If you missed the fallout from Saturday night, there were takeaways, lessons learned and grades from the loss, along with a reactions video on YouTube.
Basketball season is here, too, and both Nebraska teams are opening with home games. The women tip off at noon CST against San Jose State, while the men face Le Moyne at 5:30 p.m.
CST. Both games will be on BTN+.
For the men, this is the start of a season that follows a historic run last year, when Nebraska won its first-ever NCAA tournament game and reached the Sweet 16. Pryce Sandfort, a first-team All-Big Ten selection, is back to lead the way. Braden Frager, who earned Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year honors, also returns after averaging 13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists during the exhibition season.
Sam Orme’s availability remains unclear after missing time in the exhibition slate. Trevan Leonhardt is expected to start at point guard, with Boden Kapke at center and Cale Jacobsen at the other guard spot. That lineup could still change if Orme is cleared to play.
Le Moyne arrives in Lincoln after going 15-17 last season and earning the No. 4 seed in the NEC Tournament with a 10-8 record. According to Huskers.com, the Dolphins have rebuilt with 13 newcomers, including 10 Division I transfers, and returned only two letter winners from last season: Trevor Roe and Josiah Lee.
Roe played in 17 games and averaged 2.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, while Lee appeared in 16 games and averaged 1.4 points on 44% shooting. The transfer group includes Jeremy Clayville, Ty Francis, Damon King, Jayden Teat and Kaden Stuckey.
Le Moyne also opened its exhibition schedule with a 90-84 win over Canisius on Oct. 17.
On the women’s side, Nebraska gets a major boost with the return of Natalie Potts, who was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2023-24 and has essentially missed the last two seasons because of injury. The 6-foot-2 Potts is expected back in the starting lineup.
Freshman Ashlyn Koupal, a 6-foot-3 forward from South Dakota, is also set to start in her debut. The rest of the projected starters are Amiah Hargrove, Britt Prince and Allison Weidner, with Logan Nissley also back and expected to come off the bench.
Volleyball kept rolling over the weekend, even while dropping the first set in both matches. Nebraska beat Michigan 3-1, winning 26-28, 25-20, 25-20, 25-14, then handled No. 25 Michigan State 3-1, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-12, to stay unbeaten.
Virginia Adriano turned in a career night with 14 kills, giving Nebraska another scoring option on a team that keeps finding ways to win. Harper Murray, who grew up in Ann Arbor, added 16 kills, marking the 22nd time in her career that she’s reached at least 15 kills in a match.
Andi Jackson crossed 1,000 career kills and became the 13th Husker to hit that mark in the rally-scoring era, finishing with 13 kills while hitting .455. Bergen Reilly piled up 55 assists and nine digs.
In Other News...
Former Nebraska Assistants Just Added To Matt Rhule Pressure
Florida States decision to fire defensive coordinator Tony White and safeties coach Evan Cooper after the loss to Clemson added another layer to a rough stretch for a pair of former Nebraska assistants. Both were in their second year with the Seminoles, and their exit comes amid a disappointing start that has already turned up the heat around the program.
For Nebraska fans, the timing is hard to ignore. The Cornhuskers are in the middle of a three-game losing streak, and the frustration has started to spill over toward Matt Rhule and Dana Holgorsen, making every coaching development elsewhere feel a little more personal. When former staffers are getting swept into changes at a major program, it only sharpens the scrutiny back in Lincoln. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Rhule's Emotional Nebraska Moment Adds Tension Before Illinois Matchup
Matt Rhules week took a personal turn after Nebraskas loss to Washington, when he said a fan directed profanity at his 13-year-old daughter. The moment added another layer to a difficult stretch for the Cornhuskers, who are trying to steady themselves after recent struggles while preparing for a demanding run of Big Ten games.
Rhule made clear he is not backing away from the job, saying he has no intention of quitting and remains committed to his players. Nebraska now moves into a stretch that includes Illinois, Rutgers, Ohio State and Iowa, with the coachs response to the off-field incident only adding to the attention around what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Gets Nebraska At The Perfect Time After Another Collapse
Nebraska heads into its trip to Illinois carrying the weight of three straight losses that all followed fourth-quarter leads, a brutal stretch that has turned what once looked like a promising season into a scramble to steady things. The Cornhuskers are 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten, and after watching Indiana, Oregon and Washington all slip away late, the margin for error around this team has all but disappeared.
Illinois, meanwhile, comes in with momentum after beating Maryland, and the rest of the Big Ten weekend only added to Nebraskas frustration as Rutgers fell just short against Michigan and Iowa handled Wisconsin. The bigger picture is even harsher for the Cornhuskers, whose College Football Playoff hopes have been pushed into the background, leaving them to fight for something simpler but no less urgent: stopping the slide before it gets any worse. [Read more 🡒]