The 2026-2027 season is underway, and while the games don’t currently count, there are still games for all of us to overreact to and overanalyze. Nebraska is an interesting team heading into the season because they are going up against a top-15 team, at least in my rankings, and they are fresh off their best season in school history.
Nebraska did lose to Saint Louis in their first game, but head coach Fred Hoiberg didn’t run any offense, and the two stars, Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager, didn’t play much. It was a game for the Huskers to figure out what they had and learn some things. The second exhibition is on October 16th in Provo, and expect Nebraska to run some offense and try to win that game, and Sandfort and Frager will play a lot more and get some shots up.
Now that everyone has looked at Nebraska, some questions need answering heading into the 2026-2027 season. Those answers likely won’t come against BYU or early in the season, but we will get them quickly once conference play starts. The Huskers are still projected to have an excellent season and finish at the top of the Big 10, but they may not be as good if some of these things don’t go their way.
Can Nebraska make up for the loss of Rienk Mast and Sam Hoiberg?
Nebraska kept Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager out of the transfer portal, which was already a huge win; the one thing no Nebraska fan wants to talk about in public is that star big man Rienk Mast and do-everything glue guy Sam Hoiberg have both graduated. There will be times this season when Nebraska misses Mast and his calming presence; sure, Mast didn’t have the best offensive year last year, but he was a leader, knew what he was doing, and always came up with a clutch bucket.
Sam Hoiberg was never the most talented player, was never the tallest, best shooter, etc. His heart, his hustle, and his ability to make a play are irreplaceable. However, Nebraska does have some guys on their current roster who can make Husker fans think less about each of these guys.
If the rumors are true and Fred is going to play all three bigs, those different guys will help miss Mast less. Kapke is the experienced guy who can step out and hit a shot, put the ball on the floor, and get a rebound. He is the current starter, but his long-term role will be determined on the court. Leo Curtis is a sophomore who flat-out dominated a good Saint Louis frontcourt.
Curtis moves his feet well, has the makings of a great rebounder and defender, and can hit a three. Damon Wilkinson is the other player who will get minutes, and he also looked fantastic in his short minutes against Saint Louis starters. Wilkinson was excellent in the post but likely won’t shoot much. Kapke is the vocal leader of this team currently.
Sam Hoiberg will be a lot harder to replace, but for those who don’t remember, Coach Hoiberg already had a player on the roster who can do a lot of what Hoiberg did last year. Cale Jacobson is a jack of all trades, but he doesn’t have the presence that Hoiberg did; his offensive game isn’t as good, and he isn’t as good on defense, but he is going to fill in admirably for Hoiberg, at least that is the hope.
Who becomes the third scoring option?
Pryce Sandfort is one of the best players in the country, and the best shooter in the Big Ten. Braden Frager is due for a breakout sophomore season after winning Big Ten 6th Man of the Year. Those two will be Nebraska's top two scoring options; sets will be run for them, and defenses will be keyed up to stop them. Who is the guy Nebraska has who will be the pressure release and can pop the top off the defense?
That player should be Sam Orme, who is a transfer from Belmont. Orme came to Nebraska as a 40% deep shooter, plus a guy who can finish around the rim and rebound. Nebraska desperately needs those things, but he is currently out with a hamstring injury and hasn't made his debut yet.
Another player to watch is true freshman Jacob Lanier. The hype was turned up to 11 in the summer when it became a foregone conclusion that he would get a lot of minutes in 2026-2027.
When he checked into the exhibition game against Saint Louis, the hype became real. Lanier can score in a lot of ways. He made threes, got into the lane, drew fouls, and was disruptive on defense. He didn’t look like a Freshman in the first exhibition, and as he gets more comfortable in the offense, the sky is the limit. Lanier has a very real chance to become the third scoring option for Nebraska and take pressure off of the two stars.
Will the defense be as strong?
Nebraska was a top-10 defense in 2025-2026; the no-middle style allowed a ton of threes, but the closeouts and positioning forced everyone to the short-side corner and then make a pass into traffic. It led to a ton of steals and a lot of rushed shots. Sam Hoiberg and current Vanderbilt forward Berke Buyutuncel were the anchors, and neither is on campus.
Nebraska has two of the country's better individual defenders in point guard Trevan Leonhardt and Taj DeGourville, and they'll force everyone to the baseline and get their fair share of steals. The problem comes when trying to prevent the middle. There is no replacement for what Berke brought to the defense, especially in the middle.
Associate head coach Nate Loesner is a defensive guru who will figure it out, and the answer may be to use athletic players like Frager in the middle and hope Curtis can take a giant leap. The other bigs, Kapke and Wilkinson, don’t rate as highly defensively, but in the team concepts they will be okay. The Huskers don’t have to finish in the top 10 on defense to have a very successful season still.
These questions will be answered soon, and the most important thing to remember is that all teams learn how to win in their own way. Nebraska will be fine, but the answers to these questions may determine how far into March they go.
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