2025–26 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team

2025–26 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 9
APNo. 9
Record22–3 (11–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaPinnacle Bank Arena
2025–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Michigan 14 – 1   .933 24 – 1   .960
No. 10 Illinois 12 – 3   .800 21 – 5   .808
No. 9 Nebraska 11 – 3   .786 22 – 3   .880
No. 7 Purdue 11 – 3   .786 21 – 4   .840
No. 15 Michigan State 10 – 4   .714 20 – 5   .800
No. 24 Wisconsin 10 – 4   .714 18 – 7   .720
UCLA 9 – 5   .643 17 – 8   .680
Iowa 8 – 6   .571 18 – 7   .720
Ohio State 8 – 6   .571 16 – 9   .640
Indiana 8 – 7   .533 17 – 9   .654
USC 7 – 7   .500 18 – 7   .720
Washington 5 – 10   .333 13 – 13   .500
Minnesota 4 – 10   .286 11 – 14   .440
Rutgers 3 – 11   .214 10 – 15   .400
Maryland 3 – 11   .214 10 – 15   .400
Oregon 2 – 12   .143 9 – 16   .360
Penn State 2 – 13   .133 11 – 15   .423
Northwestern 2 – 13   .133 10 – 16   .385
† 2026 Big Ten tournament winner
As of February 15, 2026
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team represents the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cornhuskers are led by seventh-year head coach Fred Hoiberg and play their home games at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska as members of the Big Ten Conference.

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

Nebraska 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 Redshirt Senior Columbia, SC Graduated
Jeffrey Grace III 8 G 6'3" 197 Redshirt 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

Nebraska incoming transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous school
Kendall Blue 2 G 6'6" 190 Senior Woodbury, MN St. Thomas
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

College recruiting information
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: 4/5 stars   247Sports: 3/5 stars   On3: 3/5 stars   (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: 3/5 stars   247Sports: 4/5 stars   On3: 3/5 stars   (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

2025–26 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Connor Essegian Injured 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Wisconsin Fort Wayne, IN
G 1 Sam Hoiberg (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Sr Piux X HS Lincoln, NE
G 2 Kendall Blue 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr St. Thomas (MN) Woodbury, MN
G 5 Braden Frager 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Fr Lincoln Southwest HS Lincoln, NE
F 6 Will Cooper 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Air Force Omaha, NE
G 7 Justin Bolis (W) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS So Southeast CC Lincoln, NE
F 9 Berke Büyüktuncel 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 244 lb (111 kg) Jr UCLA Bursa, Turkey
G 10 Jamarques Lawrence 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 183 lb (83 kg) Sr Rhode Island Plainfield, NJ
G 11 Quentin Rhymes 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Hillcrest Prep Las Vegas, NV
F 13 Ugnius Jarusevicius 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Central Michigan Alytus, Lithuania
F 15 Jared Garcia 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) GS Tulsa Houston, TX
F 21 Pryce Sandfort 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Iowa Waukee, IA
G 31 Cale Jacobsen (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Ashland-Greenwood HS Ashland, NE
F 33 Leo Curtis 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr CATS Academy Reykjavík, Iceland
F 35 Henry Burt (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) RS Jr Elkhorn South HS Omaha, NE
F 51 Rienk Mast 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) RS Sr Bradley Groningen, Netherlands
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

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.[1] 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.[2] Nebraska entered the AP Poll for the first time since the 2018–19 rankings after its 9–0 start.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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).[6][7][5] This also surpassed the No. 11 ranking achieved by the 1990–91 Cornhuskers.[8] Also on January 5, Nebraska defeated Ohio State to reach 4–0 in conference play for the first time since the 1975–76 Cornhuskers.[5] On January 19, the team moved to number 7 in the AP Poll, which was a school record.[9] 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.[10]

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 – Maast   6 – Maast   7 – Maast  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       Carver-Hawkeye Arena 
Iowa City, IA
February 21, 2026
1:00 p.m., BTN 		No. 9 Penn State       Pinnacle Bank Arena 
Lincoln, NE
February 25, 2026
6:00 p.m., BTN 		Maryland       Pinnacle Bank Arena 
Lincoln, NE
February 28, 2026
3:00 p.m., BTN 		at USC       Galen Center 
Los Angeles, CA
March 3, 2026
10:00 p.m., FS1 		at UCLA       Pauley Pavilion 
Los Angeles, CA
March 8, 2026
4:00 p.m., FOX 		Iowa       Pinnacle Bank Arena 
Lincoln, NE
Big Ten tournament
March 11–15, 2026
TBA 		vs.        United Center 
Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source:[11]

Rankings

See also: 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
AP———RVRV2315131310875979
Coaches———RVRV22151313т111075989

References

  1. ^ "Sandfort scores 28, Mast adds 26; Nebraska hits 15 3s in 105-99 win over Oklahoma". ESPN. Associated Press. November 15, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  2. ^ "Rienk Mast hits 7 3s, scores 31 to help Nebraska beat Winthrop 80-73, remain undefeated". ESPN. Associated Press. November 25, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  3. ^ "No. 23 Nebraska matches best start in school history at 10-0, beats Wisconsin 90-60". ESPN. Associated Press. December 10, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  4. ^ Codo, Thomas (December 11, 2025). "Nebraska basketball sets multiple records in 90-60 win over Wisconsin". USA Today. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  5. ^ a b c Shearer, Jarek (January 6, 2026). "Nebraska MBB: What was Going on the Last Time we Were Top 10?". SB Nation. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  6. ^ Skretta, Dave (January 6, 2026). "Nebraska basketball's stunning rise: Huskers crack top 10 for first time since 1966". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  7. ^ Rohr, Nate (January 5, 2026). "Nebraska men's hoops rises to No. 10". Central Nebraska Today. NRG Media. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  8. ^ Anderson, Jake (January 5, 2026). "Nebraska men's basketball ranked in top 10 of AP Top 25 for first time since 1966". KETV. Retrieved January 7, 2026.
  9. ^ Young Ryan (January 19, 2026). "Men's basketball AP poll: Iowa State falls off as Arizona, Nebraska and Miami (Ohio) hold as last undefeated teams". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  10. ^ "Unbeatens: Arizona still tops, Nebraska No. 5 in AP men's poll". ESPN. Associated Press. January 26, 2026. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  11. ^ "2025–26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Nebraska Athletics. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
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