The Nebraska Cornhuskers are 26-5 overall, ranked 11th in the nation, and stand second in the Big Ten.
Despite those three measurables, nobody seems to take the Huskers seriously, a point of discontent for the team throughout the regular season. This all started before the season even began, with Nebraska ranked 14th in the preseason Big Ten polls.
"I thought it was complete BS, to be completely honest, that we were ranked that low," Nebraska senior guard Sam Hoiberg (and yes, the coach's son) recently said about his team's preseason ranking.
Sam Hoiberg on the disrespect towards Nebraska Basketball..."Total BS." -Chronicles Cut pic.twitter.com/1fWRLoMH46
— Adam Carriker (@AdamCarriker94) March 12, 2026
Sam Hoiberg didn't care what anyone else thought about Nebraska basketball
Since the preseason ranking was first released, the Cornhuskers powered through a gauntlet of a conference schedule, going 15-5 overall and even pulling off a few upsets, like their 83-80 win over Illinois and 58-56 win over Michigan State.
"It didn't matter, but it certainly was used as motivation," Hoiberg said. "We knew we had a really good team, we knew we had a lot of potential with this team."
With the postseason finally tipping off, the Cornhuskers are ready to show the world that they deserve the respect of any other top-25 team, much less a team that lost only five games all year.
"We've got guys that care about winning, we're all about the right stuff, and everything took care of itself with the way we've practiced all year," Hoiberg said. "We just have the guys that wanna win every single night, and that's paid off."
Well, pay off it certainly has. The Huskers enjoyed byes through the first three rounds of the Big Ten Tournament and won't tip off until tomorrow, March 13, when they face the winner of Northwestern versus Purdue.
Hoiberg and the rest of the returning players brought the postseason experience and drive that this team needed to succeed in the regular season. Now, it's time to take it one step further and apply their winning ways from the College Basketball Crown Championship Game to the NCAA Tournament.