Friday Flakes: Nebraska Basketball Earning Respect – Ranked in Way-Too-Early Top 25

We have always been there. Our favorite team in our favorite sport was left out of the way early in the Top 25. We’ve weighed in on how we think our team led by Scott Frost and Adrian Martine should be in the preseason Top 25.
The good old days.
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Fast forward to the better old days as some of the Way-Too-Early Top 25 are from college basketball and based on my sports fan PTSD I expected Nebraska basketball to be left out of many, if not all, top 25 lists.
It was easy to see why.
In 2025-2026, Nebraska basketball had the best season in program history and perhaps it was because they were fortunate to have the right combination of players at the right time. Nebraska lost Reink Mast, Jamarques Lawrence and Sam Hoiberg to eligibility. They also lost an athletic big man in Berke Buyuktuncel to Vanderbilt of all teams via the transfer portal.
That’s four starters on the best team in program history that won’t return.
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Apparently Fred Hoiberg and Co. are starting to get the respect they deserve. Jeff Borzello, of ESPN.com, ranked Nebraska #22 in the preseason poll.
That’s one of the preseason polls that ranked Nebraska. Not everyone has Nebraska in the Top 25, which is to be expected, but it was a pleasant surprise to see Fred Hoiberg get one of his own.
Rounding out Borzello’s Top 25, the other Big Ten teams in his ranking are: Michigan (#3), Illinois (#4), Michigan State (#8), and USC (#12). He had Purdue, Indiana and UCLA in his next five outings.
Borzello, on the other hand, has Vanderbilt ranked 19th and does not have Berke on his projected starting list.
Nebraska Welcomes Several Key Official Visitors This Weekend
Nebraska added six commitments from last weekend’s official visitors. No one expects those numbers again this weekend, but there are several recruits playing positions of need in the 2027 class. The Huskers pulled off a blowout last weekend and will get another chance, dealing with a few remaining running backs and interior offensive line targets.
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Here’s a preview of your official Nebraska guest this weekend:
Ranking the Big Ten: Interior Defensive Line
With the 2026 college football season fast approaching, it’s time to take a look at the top players at each position in the Big Ten.
We will continue ours Ranking the Big Ten series by looking at the inner line of defense. As expected, the top five defenses are all part of consistently winning programs.
Husker O-lineman JuJu Marks is transferring to play hoops at the JUCO level
The Husker offensive line will continue his athletic career elsewhere. And in other sports.
JuJu Marks announced Thursday on Instagram that he will play basketball at Johnson County (Kan.) Junior College.
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“I’m going back to the top,” he wrote when he made the announcement.
NBA Finals 2026: Intel on Knicks-Spurs, Giannis and the flopping fix
Wednesday night’s unforgettable Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs makes it hard to remember that the rest of the league’s business goes on without a hitch.
But while the basketball world waits to see if the Knicks can end their 53-year championship drought Saturday in Game 5 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC), the league calendar continues to focus on the draft and free agency.
In the video, Texas Tech officials defend the school, Brendan Sorsby
In a 20-minute-plus video released Thursday night, Texas Tech officials defended their integrity and reiterated their support for Brendan Sorsby amid widespread criticism from across the Big 12 Conference and other corners of college sports that the Red Raiders quarterback is a possibility this fall.


