Nebraska Basketball: 2023-24 season preview for the Cornhuskers

Schedule Outlook

Nebraska has expectations under Hoiberg and with a new team that has not played together it is beneficial to schedule games they can win. That is also a benefit to do that when playing the Big Ten schedule. The league schedule has no easy games, every team can beat you if not on your game or you take a team lightly. Scheduling some easy games in the non conference is going to build the chemistry and build confidence within your team so they are going to be ready come conference play. Nebraska still has a tough schedule and if they can win enough games will have a decent NET ranking and will find themselves with a winning record come the end of the year.

The Huskers open with four cruise control games before the schedule gets tougher. In game 5 Nebraska travels to Sioux Falls, SD to play Oregon State at the Sanford Pentagon, then they come home and play a Duquesne team who is going to finish high in the Atlantic 10. Then the Huskers get their game with Creighton in Lincoln.

The Bluejays are going to be looking for revenge after last year’s loss in Omaha. After the Creighton game, Cal State Fullerton comes to town. This Fullerton team likely won’t pose much of a challenge for the Huskers but they do have seasons where they are pesky and can give a power five team a game. Nebraska continues their series against Kansas State and this time they play them in Manhattan and that is a game that the Huskers likely don’t win given the talent disparity

. The Huskers then close out the non conference right before Christmas against North Dakota and then right after Christmas against South Carolina State. It is an easy non conference but it is a chance to pile up wins and gain confidence before heading into the Big Ten grind.

As mentioned, the Big Ten is a grind every season and this year is going to be no different. Outside of the bottom two teams in the league, every team is projected to finish somewhere in the top 60. The Huskers have double plays against Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Rutgers. That means that Nebraska only plays Iowa, Maryland, Purdue, Michigan State, Penn State, and Illinois once. The Huskers can get to .500 at 10 and 10 in the league.

Their ceiling is likely 12 wins in the conference and the floor is 8 wins in the league. The schedule is not forgiving and Nebraska is lucky they have some depth this year because they are going to need them all to win games this season.