NCAA Basketball: Kentucky, St. John's, Tennessee rises in updated way-too-early top 25 power ranking

23. Nebraska Cornhuskers

2025-26 record: 28-7 (15-5 Big Ten)

Roster departures

• Rienk Mast (13.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 3.1 apg)
• Jamarques Lawrence (9.8 ppg and 3.8 apg)
• Sam Hoiberg (9.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, and 4.5 apg)
• Berke Buyuktuncel (6.5 ppg and 5.6 rpg)
• Ugnius Jarusevicius (7.0 ppg and 2.0 rpg in 1 game)

Roster returnees

• Pryce Sandfort (18.1 ppg and 4.9 rpg)
• Braden Frager (11.8 ppg and 3.8 rpg)
• Connor Essegian (5.4 ppg and 1.3 rpg)
• Cale Jacobsen (4.6 ppg and 2.9 rpg)

Roster additions

• Trevan Leonhardt (11.9 ppg and 6.0 apg at Utah Valley)
• Taj DeGourville (5.5 ppg and 3.0 apg at San Diego State)
• Kadyn Betts (3.1 ppg and 1.1 rpg at Montana)
• Boden Kapke (10.6 ppg and 5.7 rpg at Boston College)
• Sam Orme (12.7 ppg and 5.0 rpg at Belmont)
• Damon Wilkinson (13.9 ppg and 6.4 rpg at South Dakota State)

Coming off the program’s historic Sweet 16 appearance, Nebraska brings back one of the best players in college basketball in Sandfort, a top-tier shooter and leading scorer. Frager is back after a strong freshman campaign, while Essegian, who also has a reputation for scoring, returns after missing most of last year with an injury.

The frontcourt will look different, but there’s depth. Wilkinson, Orme, and Kapke are solid bigs, while DeGourville is a quality defender. There may be some scoring concerns for the Cornhuskers outside of Sandfort and Frager, but it’s a roster that shouldn’t have much of a drop-off from being a top-4 caliber Big Ten unit.

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