After talking about not reveling in a great start to the 2026 campaign, the Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball team got off to a fantastic start in the Spikes Under the Lights tournament by sweeping every set and sweeping both opponents on Thursday night.
The Cornhuskers topped the No. 17 Florida Gators 21-19, 21-18 before beating the No. 11 SMU Mustangs 21-12, 21-11 to secure the title and $150,000 in prize money. Each of the four teams in the tournament -- Nebraska, Florida, Penn State and SMU -- received a $200,000 appearance fee.
Granted, this isn’t really the start of the season, as this was an exhibition tournament, but a team focused on winning the title still dispatched two of the best teams in the sport. Nebraska will now start the season on Saturday against UNLV and then Sunday in a big showdown against No. 2 Texas.
Nebraska Cornhuskers football is in the Ahmad Hudson hunt again
The biggest news around Lincoln on Thursday was that Nebraska was back in the game in a big way for 2027 tight end prospect Ahmad Hudson. The two-sport star, who also shines in basketball, is currently committed to LSU, but On3 analyst Steve Wiltfong said there are rumblings that he might flip in the next couple of weeks.
Not long after Wiltfong issued the report that the Huskers might steal Hudson, Rivals analyst Tim Verghese said that if NU pulls it off, it will be because Fred Hoiberg and Nebraska basketball have joined the chase with their full throat. Meanwhile, LSU basketball continues to mostly sit out the pursuit for reasons that are still unclear.
Other Nebraska Cornhuskers news
There’s been a lot of talk about how the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ sellout streak is being handled. However, fans can take some solace in knowing it hasn’t gotten as bad as it is with Minnesota, which is offering tickets with the purchase of three Tombstone frozen pizzas.
Carter Nelson hopes he can finally make the kind of impact on Nebraska that fans expected when he first arrived. Tight ends coach Marcus Satterfield believes it’s coming in 2026 because he’s seen a different player than he has the last few years.
While there’s been a ton of talk about former NFL players coming back to the college ranks, the Nebraska Cornhuskers won’t take part in such blasphemy. That’s because the Big Ten (along with the SEC, the ACC, the Big 12, the Sun Belt and, on Friday morning, the Mountain West) adopted rules that will punish any schools that try to sign a former pro football player.
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) August 28, 2026
Plenty of lawsuits are expected to be filed against the conferences again. Still, the chances they can stop what’s now been put into motion are much lower than they were when the suits targeted the NCAA and eligibility.
Add us as a preferred source on Google