Seeing as how we are officially less than a week away from Nebraska Basketball starting, I might want to let you know how I think the season is going to go this year. You can read my horrendous thoughts on how last year was going to go here. I’m not sure I’ll be making that same mistake twice…hopefully. I was at least correct in saying that Nebraska would finally win an NCAA Tournament game, but still waiting on that statue of Fred Hoiberg to be built.
The Big Ten might not be as powerful overall this season, but that won’t stop many of them from making the NCAA Tournament. Illinois looks like it has a roster that could be Final Four or better. Michigan State is not one to sleep on as long as Tom Izzo is still the coach. Defending National Champ Michigan has lost plenty of talent (and its head coach) to the NBA but looks to have retooled. Purdue has drudged another 7-foot big man out of its engineering lab and will undoubtedly cause many teams problems.
Looking at Nebraska however, I believe we will finish 6th this season. Nebraska loses absolutely critical pieces in Sam Hoiberg and Rienk Mast due to graduation, as well as Jamarques Lawrence (transfer). All-Big Ten selection member Pryce Sandfort returns to lead this group, as well as solid core members like Cale Jacobsen and Braden Frager. Sharpshooter Connor Essegian returns from injury to give the offense a big boost. The Huskers will also lean on a few transfers as well.
One of those will be Sam Orme. The 6-foot 10-inch Senior transfers in from Belmont, who usually has a pretty good pedigree as far as mid-major schools go. Maybe you’ve heard of some guy named Steph Curry who once played there? Sam will be a positive as he returns from a nagging injury in the exhibition slate, but will no doubt have a role to play when healthy.
Another name to look for is Trevan Leonhardt, who comes to Nebraska via Utah Valley. He is a versatile player who will fit in well with Fred Hoiberg’s system and is a very solid defender. Look for him to play against opposing team’s point guards. At 6’6, he can cause a lot of issues for opponents on both ends of the floor. He could be a taller version of Sam Hoiberg.
There will be plenty of new names to learn, but we could get an early look at most of them here in the upcoming non-conference games. Having said that, there are plenty of tough opponents that exist in this year’s non-conference schedule. Neutral site games against Providence, Boise State, Butler and Missouri will definitely put our team to the test early, and we still can’t forget the road game at Creighton in early December.
SEASON PREDICTION:
Overall Record: 22-10 (13-7 B1G)
Nebraska finishes 6th in the Big Ten Conference
Nebraska makes the NCAA Tournament as a 7 seed, making the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.