NU Announces TV Package for Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic Games

After an 82-55 victory over Alabama A&M on Sunday, the Nebraska men’s basketball team continued its December road trek as it headed for Hawaii to play in the 43rd Annual Outrigger Rainbow Classic on Dec. 20 to 23.  Nebraska’s first game will be televised on KOLN-KGIN and WOWT’s digital networks reaching more than 250,000 homes.

The main providers for KOLN/KGIN’s digital (“My TV”) include Time Warner in Lincoln (channel 110), Charter Communications in Grand Island area (channel 17) and DirecTV (Ch. 25 in the Lincoln television market). The main provider for WOWT’s digital (“6-2-0”) is Cox Cable in Omaha (channel 248). Please check with your local provider and Huskers.com, kolnkgin.com or wowt.com for more information regarding a channel near you (see attached listing).

If Nebraska wins its first game, both of NU’s remaining games in the tournament will also be televised on the same stations.  Other teams in Nebraska’s four-team bracket include San Francisco and Hawai’i, while Charlotte, Houston, Valparaiso and Creighton complete the remainder of the tournament field.

The Huskers open this week’s tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 20, against Wyoming, which comes into the week with a solid 8-2 record. The Cowboys and Huskers will be meeting for the first time since 1990 but the 26th time in series history, with NU holding a 15-10 series advantage. The Huskers will try to contain the high-flying duo of guards Brandon Ewing and Brad Jones, who are averaging 22.2 and 17.7 points per game, respectively.  The Cowboys are averaging nearly 80 points per game.

The Huskers are making their fourth appearance in the Rainbow Classic and first since 1997. Overall, the Huskers are playing in their eighth regular-season tournament in Hawaii. Nebraska won the John Thompson Basketball Challenge last year at home, but its last road championship in a regular-season tournament came in 2000 when the Huskers earned one-point victories over Iona and Kent State before winning the San Juan Shootout title with a two-point victory over Southern Methodist in the final. 

The Huskers and Cowboys tip off at 5 p.m. Hawaiian local time (9 p.m. CST). A Nebraska victory would put the Huskers into the championship bracket where they would face the winner of the Hawai’i/San Francisco match-up on Friday, Dec. 22 at 7:30 p.m. Hawaiian local time (11:30 p.m. CST). San Francisco has lost seven of its last nine games, including five straight entering the tournament while the host Rainbow Warriors are 5-4 on the season. Nebraska matched up with Hawai’i the last time it was in Honolulu for the 2004 NIT, a contest that saw the Huskers fall behind by 17 points at the intermission before racing back to tie the score before the first media timeout of the second half. Hawaii ended up pulling out the one-point victory to advance in the postseason tournament.