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It seemed as though everybody in Nebraska was calling for Fred Hoiberg’s job just a few years ago, when it also seemed as though the former Iowa State coach would be unable to replicate the success he had years earlier with the Cyclones.
The Huskers won seven games his first season. Seven the next. Won just 10 games in Year 3.
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In the win-now era of college sports, those three years are an eternity, and it feels even longer when they are losing years.
Yet the administration in Lincoln stuck by Hoiberg, and the patience finally is paying off. Four more years down the road, Nebraska begins the week as one of six remaining unbeaten teams in Division I men’s college basketball, and the Huskers barged into 10th in the AP Top 25 poll, the highest they’ve been since they were No. 9 on Feb. 28, 1966.
Their latest three-spot jump came after a 58-55 win over then-No. 9 Michigan State, while a 72-69 victory at Ohio State pushed the Huskers to a program-best 15-0 to start the season.
Their nation-leading win streak is 19 games dating to last season.
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“Happy for Fred Hoiberg. Not that many years ago, everybody was on his butt,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said after their rough-and-tumble Big Ten tussle. “He did a hell of a job. Nebraska did a hell of a job. That was probably the best game — their biggest game in 36 years — (and) they responded.”
Now, the question is whether they can keep responding in one of the toughest leagues in the country.
The Big Ten has six teams in the Top 25 — just one behind the Big 12 — and five of those are in the top 10. The others are fellow unbeaten Michigan at No. 2 and Purdue, the national runner-up two years ago, which is holding onto fifth place.
Nebraska plays both of them later this season. But up next is a trip to Indiana.
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Another poll buster
While the Huskers are making waves in the Big Ten, another program with little men’s basketball success is making a big statement in the SEC: Vanderbilt, which…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nebraska-basketball-stunning-rise-huskers-164737910.html
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Publish date : 2026-01-06 16:47:00
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