Big Ten Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season

Last season looked like it had the makings of a breakthrough year for Nebraska. It didn’t happen. Another year like that and Fred Hoiberg may be looking for a new job.

Nebraska went 10-22 last season, including 4-16 in conference play, failing to advance out of the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Despite bringing Bryce McGowens and Alonzo Verge Jr. into the fold, Hoiberg had his third straight bottom two finish in the conference, although the 10 victories were the high of his tenure.

Now both McGowens brothers are gone, as are Verge and Kobe Webster. That’s a lot of production gone.

The Cornhuskers did make some solid moves in the transfer portal, grabbing three guys that should all play a good role for the team. Former Alabama forward Juwan Gary and former SMU guard Emmanuel Bandoumel are particularly notable.

North Dakota State transfer Sam Griesel may actually be the best of the bunch. He averaged 14.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season, but will be hard-pressed to repeat that production at a higher level of competition.

Still, there’s no good reason to think Nebraska is going to improve on either end of the floor. The team has had high-level talent filter in and out of the program in recent years, but the results haven’t changed.

It’s hard to imagine Nebraska escaping the Big Ten cellar. It’s just as hard to imagine Hoiberg having a long future in Lincoln, although his football counterpart Scott Frost has also hung on despite troubles on the gridiron.