Nebraska basketball head coach hopes challenging nonconference games will push Husker team

This year’s Nebraska men’s basketball squad will hit the hardwood with four power conference opponents outside of Big Ten play. On Wednesday, Nebraska released its full nonconference schedule for the upcoming 2026-27 season. The team will face one more opponent from the ACC, Big 12, Big East and SEC than it did last season, including three Big East foes. The Big Red will also travel often, with four neutral-site games on the docket.

Following three exhibition games against Saint Louis, BYU and Kansas State, NU will tip off the regular season on Monday, Nov. 2, at home against Le Moyne. Saint Louis and BYU made the NCAA Tournament last year.

“This schedule will challenge us beginning with the exhibition games in October,” Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg said in a press release. “Playing Saint Louis at home, traveling to BYU and playing K-State in Grand Island will be very good tests in our preparation, since we will play three neutral-site games during the first three weeks of the season.”

Last season’s run opened up more opportunities for NU to challenge itself early in the season, Hoiberg said. The Big Red is coming off its best season in school history, winning an NCAA Tournament game and hitting the 28-win mark for the first time ever. It followed up the first March Madness win in program history with a dramatic, last-second win over Vanderbilt — sending the Huskers to the Sweet 16.

For game two of this upcoming season, Hoiberg’s eighth team will travel to the northeast to face Providence for a neutral-site game. That contest is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7 in Uncasville, Connecticut.

The remaining big names on the schedule include a matchup with perennial Mountain West Conference contender Boise State, which is now a member of the Pac-12. The Broncos and Huskers will play in Sioux Falls on Sunday, Nov. 15. In its third neutral site game of the regular season, Nebraska and Butler will meet in Chicago on Sunday, Nov. 22.

On Saturday, Dec. 5, annual, in-state rival Creighton hosts the Big Red at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. The final power conference opponent for NU in nonconference play will be Missouri. Nebraska and Missouri will play the Huskers’ fourth neutral site game on the regular season slate at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Saturday, Dec. 12.

Dates for the Big Ten conference schedule haven’t been announced, but the league released opponents and locations in mid-May.

The home conference lineup for Nebraska is highlighted by a revenge game. Iowa, which ended NU’s historic season in the Sweet 16 last season, will visit Pinnacle Bank Arena. Defending national champions Michigan will also head to Lincoln. For road games, the Huskers will compete against three Elite Eight participants in last year’s NCAA Tournament: Purdue, Illinois and Iowa.