Nebraska Basketball Ranked Near Bottom in Andy Katz's Big Ten Power Rankings

Andy Katz, a digital reporter and college basketball analyst covering the Big Ten Conference, rated Nebraska men's basketball at No. 16 in his preseason conference rankings.

Nebraska basketball forward Braden Frager (5) shoots against Grand Valley State. / Nebraska Athletics

Nebraska basketball once again has many doubters to prove wrong.

A season after finishing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade, Nebraska basketball will once again begin a new season aiming to overcome their national narrative. On Monday morning, the Big Ten Network posted on its X page a power ranking of the conference presented by Andy Katz.

Katz, a college basketball analyst and digital reporter for the Big Ten, listed Nebraska at No. 16 in his power rankings - just ahead of Washington and Minnesota in the conference's cellar. Katz added that the final six teams in his rankings will be "fighting for a spot in the conference tournament in Indianapolis."

Nebraska basketball guard Connor Essegian grabs the ball against Grand Valley State. / Nebraska Atheltics

Nebraska was rated behind conference foes Iowa, Penn State, and USC in Katz' "final six". Preseason top-25 rated Purdue was listed as the top team in the conference, followed by Indiana, Illinois, and UCLA. Big Ten newcomer Oregon was at No. 5, with Michigan State (No. 6), Ohio State (No. 7), Rutgers (No. 8), Maryland (No. 9), and Wisconsin (No. 10) rounding out the top ten in the Big Ten. Northwestern (No. 11) and Michigan (No. 12) were Katz's final picks to participate in the conference tournament.

Last season, Katz named Nebraska "a team to look out for" in the NCAA tournament. Since March, however, the Huskers have gone through a drastic makeover beginning with a roster overhaul due to transfer portal losses and graduation.

Entering his seventh season in Lincoln, head coach Fred Hoiberg revamped his roster through the transfer portal once again, looking to strike gold and continue the momentum created from last season’s postseason appearance. Electric three-point scorer Kesei Tominaga and Lincoln native Josiah Allick are both gone, along with Jarron Coleman, who all exhausted their eligibility. 

Mar 16, 2024; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Sam Hoiberg works around Illinois Fighting Illini guard Luke Goode during the second half at Target Center. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The assumed leaders of this 2024-25 squad for the Huskers are second-year Charlotte transfer Brice Williams and impact forward Juwan Gary. They both return with Henry Burt, Cale Jacobsen and Sam Hoiberg. Iowa transfer Ahron Ulisis back in the Scarlet and Cream as well, but he was absent last season due to his involvement with a gambling scandal. 

The Huskers came together for a solid 73-53 exhibition win on Oct. 27 over Grand Valley State by shooting 50% from the field and causing 19 turnovers. Sharp-shooting Griffiths was 4-for-6 from deep to finish with a team-high 14 points, while Williams added 13 points for the only two players to be in double digits. 

The Huskers begin the season rated just outside of the top 50 nationally in KenPom, and were ranked as the 13th best-team in the conference by preseason standards. Nebraska begins its season Monday night by hosting Texas Rio Grande Valley at Pinnacle Bank Arena with tipoff at 7 p.m. CST.

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