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Football school? Nebraska basketball is a thing now — and reaching new heights
This story was originally published Jan. 2, 2026.
Winning — not appearing — in the men's basketball NCAA tournament is something 244 teams have done since it began in 1939.
While it’s stuff made of dreams for the mid-majors where opportunities are seldom, the Power conference schools all know the feeling of surviving and advancing at some point in the past 85 years.
Except Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers have the lone distinction of being the only Power conference school to never win a tournament game. Eight appearances, eight losses.
But the thing about streaks is they’re meant to be broken.
Nebraska is off to its best start in program history, 20-0 at the end of 2025, one of three teams without a loss. The No. 5 ranking in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll is its highest ever.
It’s brought hype to a place not known for its basketball and optimism for what is possible in March. The Cornhuskers aren’t just trying to snap the skid, they look like they might blitz right through it in what is becoming a dream season in Lincoln.
“Hopefully we can keep this thing going,” coach Fred Hoiberg told USA TODAY Sports.
Building Nebraska
Not only is Nebraska undefeated, but it owns the largest win streak in the country at 24 games. It dates back to last season’s postseason, and coincidentally, started the hot start of 2025-26.
After missing the NCAA field, the Cornhuskers were selected to the newly formed College Basketball Crown tournament after other Big Ten teams declined invitations. Nebraska ended up winning the four games to be the inaugural champion and collect a pretty $300,000 name, image and likeness prize pool.
It wasn’t that coveted NCAA tournament win, but Hoiberg said “it was a really important tournament for us” in generating momentum. While Nebraska was playing the tournament, it drew them interest and got four commitments, including Pryce Sandfort.
Just the boost Nebraska needed when it was set to get a major return: Rienk Mast.
Mast dealt with left knee pain throughout the 2023-24 season and afterward discovered he had osteochondritis dissecans, a condition where the bone underneath the cartilage of a joint breaks loose from the rest of the bone. It required major surgery, and he missed all of 2024-25.
Mast had to relearn how to walk. There wasn’t just concern he wouldn’t be able to return at a high level; his career could be cut short.
Thankfully, Mast’s body recovered exceptionally, and Hoiberg knew he had someone to build around.
“We knew getting a healthy Reink Mast back was as important as anything that we did in the offseason. The biggest thing we tried to do is get players that fit with Reink,” he said.
Nebraska got transfers in Sandfort from Iowa, Jamarques Lawrence from Rhode Island and now has Central Michigan transfer Ugnius Jarusevicius healthy.
Why Nebraska has been so good
Hoiberg got the feeling early in the preseason workouts. A big goal was to increase the shooting, and the guys were just knocking it down. If that could happen during the season, he thought this team could really space the floor and attack all over.
It came into existence.
The Cornhuskers are one of the most sound teams offensively, scoring from just about anywhere. Averaging 80.9 points per game, they are in the top 10 in the country in 2-point field goal percentage and love shooting 3-pointers, making 10.9 per game. The ball not only moves plenty, it’s in control. Nebraska has the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.07.
Don’t forget about the defense either, giving up 65 points per game and opponents making just 39.1% of their shots, both among the top-20 in the country.
Sandfort leads the team averaging 17.2 points per game, with Mast posting 14.6, but it’s a group that can have anyone breakout. They won’t wow you, but they’ll just slowly take the life out of teams.
“I don't think we're going to overwhelm you with our athleticism or speed,” Hoiberg said. “But you just got a group of guys that fit, that have accepted their roles, and in this profession that's as big as anything.”
Silencing doubters
There were some doubts as Nebraska’s run took off, mostly because it wasn’t a challenging start. The first eight games didn’t come against any Quad 1 opponents, the best wins against Oklahoma, New Mexico and Kansas State. People wanted to see it get really tested.
It came at the start of December; three games in seven days against Creighton and Wisconsin at home and a road trip to Illinois, a true barometer to measure if Nebraska was legit.
The Cornhuskers dominated Creighton and Wisconsin in double-digit wins, and then capped it off with a tough road win at Illinois for their first Quad 1 victory. There was no denying Nebraska after that.
“There is obviously a lot of doubters like ‘hey, might be a fluke, or they just haven't played anybody,’” Mast said. “That was a big week for us to prove that it's not a fluke and that we actually are a good team.”
Nebraska is No. 5 in the NET rankings with a 12-0 mark in Quad 1 and 2 games, tied for second-most wins in the combined categories.
What's possible for Nebraska's historic season
Things are certainly different in Lincoln. Football has always been king, but it’s not just Memorial Stadium rocking with energy. So is Pinnacle Bank Arena.
“It's been awesome seeing the basketball side get more attention,” said Sandfort, who grew up a Nebraska football fan.
Nebraska has the resume and stature of a top NCAA seed. Its highest previously was a No. 3 seed in 1991.
You can get excited about what’s happened and possible, it’s nearly impossible to do so. Yet you have to remember it’s a long way to go until Selection Sunday. Hoiberg has preached not looking too far ahead and getting caught in the moment, praising them for remaining focused. Mast admitted the tournament hangs in the back of your mind, but he knows “we're not going to go undefeated,” so you have to stay present.
It’s a tough balance. This is building toward the greatest season in school history, but January just began. A gauntlet is awaiting in the Big Ten, including Tuesday night's showdown against top-5 opponent Michigan.
“We're on a run that hasn't been done in program history ever,” he said. “You keep telling yourself, ‘OK, it's just one game at a time.’ But you also look at the grand scheme of things, and what we're doing right now is pretty cool and pretty special. You want to also be proud of what you're doing, but at the same time, you want to find the focus to be able to keep it up.”
Besides, Nebraska still has plenty to prove. Sandfort said this team still has a chip on its shoulder as doubters still remain. It makes sense, have you ever considered Nebraska in the Final Four picture?
It might be time to. Times are changing, and that NCAA tournament win drought could soon be over for Nebraska.
Plenty more firsts could be waiting too.
“It's been my dream as a kid to go to the Final Four,” Sandfort said. “It's one game at a time, and it's a long journey. But I think that we got a real opportunity to do something really special here.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nebraska basketball is 20-0, looks like a legit Big Ten, NCAA contender
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U.S. men's ice hockey roster revealed for 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics
U.S. men's ice hockey roster revealed for 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Team USA announced its roster for the men’s ice hockey competition at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics on Friday, and it features the return of NHL stars to the Olympic stage.
Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Jack Hughes headline the 25-player roster, which includes 22 skaters and three goaltenders:
Forwards
- Jack Eichel, center, Vegas Golden Knights
- Auston Matthews, center, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Matthew Tkachuk, winger, Florida Panthers
- Brady Tkachuk, winger, Ottawa Senators
- Matt Boldy, forward, Minnesota Wild
- Kyle Connor, winger, Winnipeg Jets
- Jake Guentzel, winger, Tampa Bay Lightning
- Jack Hughes, center, New Jersey Devils
- Clayton Keller, forward, Utah Mammoth
- Dylan Larkin, center, Detroit Red Wings
- J.T. Miller, forward, New York Rangers
- Brock Nelson, Colorado Avalanche
- Tage Thompson, center, Buffalo Sabres
- Vincent Trocheck, center, New York Rangers
Defensemen
- Charlie McAvoy, defenseman, Boston Bruins
- Quinn Hughes, defenseman, Vancouver Canucks
- Brock Faber, defenseman, Minnesota Wild
- Noah Hanifin, defenseman, Vegas Golden Knights
- Seth Jones, defenseman, Florida Panthers
- Jake Sanderson, defenseman, Ottawa Senators
- Jaccob Slavin, defenseman, Carolina Hurricanes
- Zach Werenski, defenseman, Columbus Blue Jackets
Goalies
- Connor Hellebuyck, goaltender, Winnipeg Jets
- Jake Oettinger, goaltender, Dallas Stars
- Jeremy Swayman, goaltender, Boston Bruins
Matthews wore the “C” as Team USA’s captain during the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off last year. McAvoy and Matthew Tkachuk were the team’s alternate captains during the competition, where Team USA fell to Canada in overtime of the championship tilt.
Sanderson and Faber are the only Team USA players with any prior Olympic experience, both of whom competed in the Winter Games in Beijing 2022.
Team USA will compete in Group C, along with Latvia, Denmark and Germany. Here is the team’s group play schedule:
- Team USA vs. Latvia: Thursday, Feb. 12, 3:10 p.m. ET
- Team USA vs. Denmark: Saturday, Feb. 14, 3:10 p.m. ET
- Team USA vs. Germany: Sunday, Feb. 15, 3:10 p.m. ET
Group A will feature Canada, Switzerland, France and the Czech Republic. Reigning gold medalist Finland will play in Group B alongside Sweden, Slovakia and host Italy.
The gold medal will be awarded on Sunday, Feb. 22, the same day as the Closing Ceremony.
Team USA has 11 men’s hockey medals in its Olympic history. It earned its two gold medals on home ice, winning it all at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics and 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
The U.S. collected its most recent Olympic medal in Vancouver in 2010, when it fell to host Canada in overtime of the gold medal game. The team failed to medal at each of the next three Olympics without NHL players on the roster, placing fourth at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, seventh at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and fifth at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
U.S. men's ice hockey roster revealed for 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics
U.S. men's ice hockey roster revealed for 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Team USA announced its roster for the men’s ice hockey competition at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics on Friday, and it features the return of NHL stars to the Olympic stage.
Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Jack Hughes headline the 25-player roster, which includes 22 skaters and three goaltenders:
Forwards
- Jack Eichel, center, Vegas Golden Knights
- Auston Matthews, center, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Matthew Tkachuk, winger, Florida Panthers
- Brady Tkachuk, winger, Ottawa Senators
- Matt Boldy, forward, Minnesota Wild
- Kyle Connor, winger, Winnipeg Jets
- Jake Guentzel, winger, Tampa Bay Lightning
- Jack Hughes, center, New Jersey Devils
- Clayton Keller, forward, Utah Mammoth
- Dylan Larkin, center, Detroit Red Wings
- J.T. Miller, forward, New York Rangers
- Brock Nelson, Colorado Avalanche
- Tage Thompson, center, Buffalo Sabres
- Vincent Trocheck, center, New York Rangers
Defensemen
- Charlie McAvoy, defenseman, Boston Bruins
- Quinn Hughes, defenseman, Vancouver Canucks
- Brock Faber, defenseman, Minnesota Wild
- Noah Hanifin, defenseman, Vegas Golden Knights
- Seth Jones, defenseman, Florida Panthers
- Jake Sanderson, defenseman, Ottawa Senators
- Jaccob Slavin, defenseman, Carolina Hurricanes
- Zach Werenski, defenseman, Columbus Blue Jackets
Goalies
- Connor Hellebuyck, goaltender, Winnipeg Jets
- Jake Oettinger, goaltender, Dallas Stars
- Jeremy Swayman, goaltender, Boston Bruins
Matthews wore the “C” as Team USA’s captain during the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off last year. McAvoy and Matthew Tkachuk were the team’s alternate captains during the competition, where Team USA fell to Canada in overtime of the championship tilt.
Sanderson and Faber are the only Team USA players with any prior Olympic experience, both of whom competed in the Winter Games in Beijing 2022.
Team USA will compete in Group C, along with Latvia, Denmark and Germany. Here is the team’s group play schedule:
- Team USA vs. Latvia: Thursday, Feb. 12, 3:10 p.m. ET
- Team USA vs. Denmark: Saturday, Feb. 14, 3:10 p.m. ET
- Team USA vs. Germany: Sunday, Feb. 15, 3:10 p.m. ET
Group A will feature Canada, Switzerland, France and the Czech Republic. Reigning gold medalist Finland will play in Group B alongside Sweden, Slovakia and host Italy.
The gold medal will be awarded on Sunday, Feb. 22, the same day as the Closing Ceremony.
Team USA has 11 men’s hockey medals in its Olympic history. It earned its two gold medals on home ice, winning it all at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics and 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
The U.S. collected its most recent Olympic medal in Vancouver in 2010, when it fell to host Canada in overtime of the gold medal game. The team failed to medal at each of the next three Olympics without NHL players on the roster, placing fourth at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, seventh at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and fifth at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
No. 9 Michigan State basketball pick, prediction vs No. 13 Nebraska
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De'Anthony Melton shares thoughtful response to Warriors trading him last season
De'Anthony Melton shares thoughtful response to Warriors trading him last season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
De’Anthony Melton had no hard feelings toward the Warriors after they traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in December of last season.
Melton was off to a strong start with Golden State before he tore his ACL and had season-ending surgery before being shipped to the East Coast.
Speaking to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole and Bonta Hill on “Dubs Talk,” Melton recalled what he felt when the Warriors traded him.
“Honestly, I understand business is business,” Melton said. “At the same time, given what my contract was, the mid-level, that’s a serviceable player. You want someone like that who’s going to provide something good for your team. With me going down, and the dip the team took, I understood and I kind of saw it coming. And I think talking with Mike [Dunleavy] and talking with Steve [Kerr], they kind of helped me with that situation, too.
“So I had a feeling it was coming and I understood it. When it was on the horizon, I told them it’s OK. I said, ‘Honestly, I would trade me, too.’ You want someone who’s going to do good for your team and I’m not playing the rest of the year, so it’s something we can re-rock later in the year or next year when it’s time.”
And the Warriors did just that.
Melton’s split from Golden State was short-lived, as the Warriors all summer intended to bring him back this season.
The veteran guard had an inkling about that, too.
“Yeah, I kind of knew,” he said. “Some of the guys checking up on me, from staff to players, to see how I was doing, see how my process was going. So I think that was very helpful for me, to see a team that cares and see players that care, too. So I had a feeling. And obviously the money and stuff, everything worked out.
“So I’m just happy to be back here.”
Melton’s start to the 2025-26 NBA season with the Warriors hasn’t been as promising as his first Warriors stint last year. Through six games since returning from his ACL injury, Melton is averaging just 6.7 points on 28.6-percent shooting from the field and 13.6 percent from 3-point range, with 1.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 18 minutes.
Melton at times has been much more impactful on the other end of the floor, though.
And that could be a step in the right direction to eventually get going on offense.
Nonetheless, Melton is happy to be back in the Bay with the Dubs, and they’re equally as happy about his return.
‘No one can know’: Heated Rivalry’s gay love story exposes ice hockey’s culture of silence
At around the midpoint of the first episode of Heated Rivalry, just after Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov – one Canadian, the other Russian, both hockey’s top prospects – have had their first tryst, Hollander sits at the side of his hotel bed and says: “So. You’re not going to tell anyone about this, are you?” Rozanov, lying naked beside him, replies sarcastically: “Me? Yes, Hollander, I’m going to tell everyone.” Hollander reinforces the point: “Because no one can know,” he says. Rozanov utters something under his breath in Russian, then: “Hollander. Look, I’m not going to tell anyone, OK?” Hollander replies: “OK.”
No one can know. If hockey were to have an unofficial slogan, this might be it. Heated Rivalry, the surprise 2025 hit series from Crave and HBO, is layered drama, prompting timely questions about the barriers to acceptance that persist within sport even as they are lowered elsewhere across society. But it may be that hockey’s existential battle with its culture of silence is the show’s deepest target.
Related: Minnesota Wild go all-in with blockbuster trade for Norris winner Quinn Hughes
Hockey culture presents a paradox, simultaneously welcoming yet exclusive. When the NHL launched its Hockey Is For Everyone initiative in 2017, the league was making a point about attracting new fans from groups that did not typically see themselves reflected on the ice, including members of the LGBTQ+ community. It was a savvy business move, if nothing else. “Diverse representation within inclusive environments is proven to advance innovation, creativity, and decision-making – all of which are important to the growth of the sport and our business,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrote in his introduction to the league’s first report on diversity and inclusion in 2022. Inclusion, Bettman wrote, is a “driver for performance … individuals and organizations grow stronger from uniting across differences”. Times were changing, lessons were being learned. Briefly, anyway. The 2022 “annual” report has since been scrubbed from the NHL’s website (it remains available elsewhere). And while the league continues to work on inclusivity initiatives and claims it is attracting more women fans, there has not been another report since.
Just a few months after that diversity report’s release, in January 2023, Ivan Provorov, then a defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers, refused to wear a Pride-themed jersey during a pre-game warm-up, saying it conflicted with his religious beliefs. The jerseys had been introduced as part of the Hockey Is For Everyone initiative and were typically auctioned afterwards to raise money for local charities. In the weeks that followed, more players refused to wear their team’s Pride jersey. Rather than push back or make the jerseys a requirement like any other aspect of a team’s uniform, the NHL officially walked away from it all, eliminating the jerseys. The whole thing had “just become more of a distraction from really the essence of what the purpose of these nights are,” Bettman said that summer.
In hockey, nobody wants to be a distraction. “[The players told me] it doesn’t matter if you’re gay, or concussed, or you’ve been sexually abused or have mental health issues, none of those are OK because you are a distraction,” Cheryl MacDonald, former co-chair of the western Canadian board of You Can Play, said of her interviews with a handful of gay hockey players in 2019. MacDonald had wondered why more gay players did not choose to come out. “You don’t want to risk it not being OK, because the perception is someone who is just as good at your job but isn’t gay is going to take your spot,” she said at the time. Better to say nothing at all.”
In the penultimate episode of Heated Rivalry, another gay player unexpectedly invites his boyfriend on to the ice to help celebrate a championship win. They kiss in front of tens of thousands of fans and, presumably, millions of viewers at home. It is a public coming out. The show pivots immediately to how this impacts Hollander and Rozanov and offers very little sense of how the kiss was received more broadly, but amid the on-ice embrace, the crowd appears enraptured, not appalled. The TV announcer simply says: “You don’t see that every day.” Well, no. But if we did?
In the same 2019 study, MacDonald also found that once gay players did come out, their teammates generally reacted positively – and the typical homophobic jibes that persist in hockey locker rooms were muted. Moreover, the banter eventually incorporated their orientation, with straight players more respectfully making light of the gay players’ sexuality. “The gay players said the acknowledgement was nice … it seems there is room for consensual humor,” MacDonald noted. Likely, few in the hockey world would find that surprising either; just part of the frustrating paradox at the heart of its culture.
Heated Rivalry’s popularity has prompted plenty of speculation about whether it will attract new fans to hockey and to the NHL. But they are already here – watching, spending, supporting. Playing. And learning, often from a young age, what part of themselves they should keep quiet because, y’know, no one can know. As for the NHL, in December, a spokesperson told the Hollywood Reporter that “there are so many ways to get hooked on hockey and, in the NHL’s 108-year history, this might be the most unique driver for creating new fans. See you at the rink.” The line is cheerful, harmless and, in typical fashion, empty. Even when the conversation is unavoidable, the NHL still has little to say. It seems that for the league, this is not about hockey. It is still just a distraction.
Heave and hope: How Ole Miss pulled off one of the wildest College Football Playoff wins ever
It took everything Ole Miss had, and then some. But the Rebels are now one win away from the national championship game after a thrilling Sugar Bowl win over Georgia.