All the talk so far this month has been about how the Nebraska football team needs to find a way to finally take the next step and do better than 7-6. Meanwhile, the Nebraska basketball program has apparently reached heights it hasn't seen since the Danny Nee era. In fact, if a recent article about the Huskers' floor and ceiling for the 2026-27 season is correct, Fred Hoiberg might have just passed the glory days of the Nee years.
Myron Medalf went about predicting every Big Ten team's floor and ceiling, and to say he's a believer in a Cornhuskers squad that could repeat the historical success of a year ago is an understatement. In fact, when it comes to NU's ceiling, there's some room for this unit to make history of its own and replace last season as the best the program has ever seen.
"The most magical season in team history ended with a first Sweet 16 appearance and Fred Hoiberg being named AP national coach of the year. A fourth consecutive 20-win campaign and a third NCAA tournament appearance in four years all seem possible..." Medcalf wrote about this iteration of Nebraska basketball.
However, he did offer the caveat that the Huskers have lost 40 points per game from last season's roster. That means that Hoiberg will need to find a way to get the new pieces he added over the offseason to gel quickly. To his credit, the Nebraska head coach made it clear in late July that he was well aware of the work that needed to be done in that regard.
ESPN gives Nebraska basketball a 30-win, Big Ten title ceiling
"I would say overall, it’s a little quieter group than it was a year ago,” Hoiberg said during his press conference to end the month. “Not to say that it’s a bad group of guys or anything, but it definitely has been a little bit quieter in our gym. So we’re constantly talking about that in our culture meetings, and hopefully we continue to make progress.”
Having said all that, the ceiling that Medcalf believes the Huskers are looking at is almost too good to believe. The analyst thinks if everything goes right for NU, it could finish with 30 wins, a Big Ten title and a trip to the Elite Eight.
All of that would be an incredible boost for a program that is already on the upswing. The Cornuskers were the story of March Madness last year as they got their first ever NCAA Tournament win and then didn't stop there, eventually getting to the Sweet 16 and falling just short of beating Iowa.
If that ceiling is a bit hard to believe, then Big Red fans can take heart that the floor, the worst Medcalf thinks Hoiberg's squad can do, is still very, very good. The analyst sees no worse than a 20 win season and a fifth place finish in the Big Ten. He also believes they'll do no worse than another tournament appearance, though it would end with a loss in the first round.
Considering where this basketball program has been for most of its history, even the most demanding Nebraska fan should be more than willing to accept even the worst case scenario that the ESPN analyst offers.
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