Huskers Travel to Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off

Nebraska Cornhuskers
Game: 3
2010-11 Record: 1-0, 0-0 Big 12
Head coach: Doc Sadler
Record at Nebraska: 72-58 (5th year)
Record at Division I: 120-76 (7th year)
Career Record: 240-115 (13th year)

Vanderbilt Commodores
Game: 2
2010-11 Record: 1-0, 1-0 SEC
Head coach: Kevin Stallings
Record at Vanderbilt: 214-137 (12th year)
Career Record: 337-200 (18th year)

HUSKERS ON TV/RADIO/INTERNET
Television: ESPNU (Ch. 208 on DirecTV; Ch. 141; Time Warner Cable Chs. 235-SD and 126-HD; Cox Chs.  220-SD/737-HD)
Play-by-play: Jon Sciambi, Color: Hubert Davis, Sideline:  Andy Katz
Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network (Note: Thursday's game will be on Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha)
Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka
Color: Andy Markowski
Internet Radio/Stats: Free on Huskers.com Satellite Radio: Sirus Ch. 113

After opening the season with a pair of wins, the Nebraska basketball team hits the road for the first time in 2010-11, traveling to San Juan for the Honda Puerto Rico Tip Off this week.

The Huskers are joining an elite field of teams for the four-day event, which begins Thursday at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico. Nebraska opens up tournament play against traditional SEC power Vanderbilt Thursday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. (central) in the second game of the day. The other first-round match-up on NU's side of the bracket is Final Four participant West Virginia against Davidson, while the other bracket is comprised of North Carolina, Hofstra, Minnesota and Western Kentucky.

The Huskers (2-0) will take on the Commodores in the second game of the day and fans can listen to the contest across the state on the 32-station IMG Husker Sports Radio Network with Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison on the call.  Live game audio will also be available on the internet on Huskers.com.

Fans can also watch NU's contest against Vanderbilt on ESPNU, as all of the tournament games this week will be either televised on ESPNU  or ESPN2 or shown live on ESPN3.com.

The Huskers come off a solid performance on Monday night, defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 83-40. Nebraska had four players in double figures, led by sophomore Christian Standhardinger's double-double of 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. It was Stanhardinger's first career double-double, as he hit 8-of-10 shots from the field in just 20 minutes of action.  The Huskers shot 63 percent from the floor - its best effort in four seasons - including 70 percent in the second half. NU also held UAPB to just 25 percent shooting, including three field goals in the first half.

This week's tournament is a homecoming for Husker sophomore center Jorge Brian Diaz, who hails from Caguas and is the only player from Puerto Rico among the eight teams in the field. Diaz, who is one of two full-time returning starters for the Huskers, has averaged 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in two games and joined senior point guard Lance Jeter as the only Huskers to start both contests.

Vanderbilt, which went 24-9 and finished second in the SEC last season,  is 1-0 on the season after blowing out Presbyterian, 88-47 in its season opener last Friday. In that game, the Commodores shot 60.7 percent from the field and had four players in double figures, including Jeffrey Taylor's game-high 27 points. While Taylor hit 11 of 12 shots, Brad Tinsley stole the show by recording a triple double with 11 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds to earn SEC Player of the Week honors.

Scouting Vanderbilt
Coach Kevin Stallings and the Vanderbilt Commodores come to Puerto Rico with a 1-0 record after handling Presbyterian, 88-47 in the season opener on Friday. Stallings is in his 13th season at Vanderbilt and ranks second on the school's win chart, has guided the Commodores to four NCAA appearances, including a pair of Sweet 16 showings. Vanderbilt returns three starters and 12 letterwinners from a team that went 24-9 and finished second in the SEC East before losing on a buzzer beater to Murray State in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Junior forward Jeffrey Taylor leads the Commodore attack, as he averaged 13.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last year, while sophomore guard John Jenkins averaged 11.0 points per game in 2009-10. In the opener, Taylor was one of four Commodores to finish in double figures, hitting 11 of 12 shots en route to a 27-point night. Brad Tinsley, who averaged 6.9 points and 2.8 assists as a sophomore, recorded the first triple-double in school history with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the win. Vanderbilt shot 60.7 percent, including 18-of-27 in the first half to take a 42-22 advantage.

Nebraska-Vanderbilt Series
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, 6-2, although the teams have met only once in the last 34 years. That matchup came in 1997 when the Huskers dropped an 80-69 decision at the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. VU's Drew Maddux totaled 24 points, including four 3-pointers to lead all scorers, while Larry Florence and Tyronn Lue  paced the Huskers with 20 and 19 points, respectively.

Nebraska is 13-17 all-time against SEC schools, and has not played a school from the league since dropping an 85-75 decision in the 2008 NIT. NU's second meeting with Vanderbilt is the Huskers' second-most common opponent in the league (Arkansas-8).

Last Time Out: Standhardinger Leads NU to Rout UAPB Christian Standhardinger produced his first career double-double, leading the Huskers to an 83-40 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday night.  Standhardinger finished with 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds to lead four Huskers in double figures.

He scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in only 12 second-half minutes, as the Huskers shot 70 percent and committed just two turnovers in the final 20 minutes to break open a 13-point halftime lead. Caleb Walker totaled 13 points and seven rebounds, while Lance Jeter and Toney McCray scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.  That quartet combined to hit 19-of-27 from the field, as Nebraska shot 63 percent for the game, its best effort since shooting 68 percent against Creighton on Nov. 18, 2006.

The Golden Lions hit only 10 field goals on the night, including just 3-of-16 shooting in the first half. Nebraska also owned a 36-23 advantage on the glass and made three more free throws than the Golden Lions in one fewer attempt.

Nebraska took control early, as Jeter hit a pair of 3-pointers to help the Huskers build an early 14-3 lead and were never threatened, as UAPB made only two field goals over the final 18 minutes of the half, including a stretch of 12:48 without a field goal that spanned part of both halves. NU led 28-15 but the Huskers put the game away with an 11-4 spurt behind five straight points from Jeter and a 3-pointer by McCray to extend the lead to 39-19. UAPB pulled to within 41-24, but Walker and Standhardinger combined for 14 points in 16-0 spurt to put the game out of reach.

Postgame Notes vs. UAPB
*-Nebraska has now won its last 15 home games against non-conference foes and is 39-1 against non-conference foes at home under Doc Sadler.

*-Nebraska's bench accounted for 50 of the Huskers' 83 points, including 20 points from Christian Standhardinger and 13 from Caleb Walker.

*-The Huskers are now 19-1 under Doc Sadler when they score 80 or more points.

*-Standhardinger put together his first career double-double with 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. His 11 rebounds topped his previous best of eight at Iowa State on Feb. 24, 2010, while Monday's performance marked the second 20-point effort of his career.

*-Nebraska held Arkansas-Pine Bluff without a field goal for a stretch of 12:48, including the final 9:38 of the first half. UAPB hit just 3-of-16 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and finished by hitting 25 percent, the third-lowest shooting percentage by a Husker opponent under Sadler.

*-Toney McCray made his fourth career start and first since Jan. 5, 2009 (vs. Florida A&M), while Andre Almeida made his first career start.

Huskers Have Fared Well in Puerto Rico
Traditionally, the Huskers have played well in Puerto Rico, as Nebraska is making its fifth trip to Puerto Rico for tournament play, but first since 2000. NU is 8-4 in its four previous appearances, winning the 2000 San Juan Shoot-out, while also reaching the finals in 1990 and placing third in 1994.  In 2000, the Huskers won the three games by a combined four points, defeating Iona (81-80), Kent State (69-68) and SMU (72-70) along the way to the title. This will be Nebraska's third in-season tournament in Doc Sadler's five years at NU, as the Huskers reached the finals of the HoopsTV Las Vegas Invitational in 2009 and had a third-place showing (2-1 record) in the 2006 Rainbow Classic.

2010 Honda Puerto Rico Tip Off Schedule
Thursday, November 18
Matchup TV/Internet     Time (central)
Game No. 1: Davidson vs. West Virginia  ESPNU   10:30 a.m.
Game No. 2: Nebraska vs. Vanderbilt     ESPNU   12:30 p.m.
Game No. 3: Hofstra vs. North Carolina  ESPN2   4 p.m.
Game No. 4: Western Kentucky vs. Minnesota      ESPN3.com       6:30 p.m.

Friday, November 19
Matchup TV/Internet     Time (central)
Game No. 5 - Games 1 & 2 winners        ESPNU   11:30 a.m.
Game No. 6 - Games 1 & 2 losers ESPN3.com       2 p.m.
Game No. 7 - Games 3 & 4 losers ESPN3.com       5 p.m.
Game No. 8 - Games 3 & 4 winners        ESPNU   7:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 21
Matchup TV/Internet     Time (central)
Game No. 9 - Games 6 & 7 losers ESPNU   9:30 a.m.
Game No. 10 - Games 6 & 7 winners       ESPNU   11:30 a.m.
Game No. 11 - Games 5 & 8 losers        ESPN2   4:30 p.m.
Game No. 12 - Games 5 & 8 winners       ESPN2   6:30 p.m. (championship)

Huskers Hot Shooting Night vs. UAPB
The Huskers enjoyed one of their best offensive efforts in recent years in Monday's 83-40 win over 2010 NCAA qualifier Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Huskers shot 63 percent from the field, marking the first time in 53 games that Nebraska hit over 60 percent from the field. It was the Huskers' best shooting night since hitting 68 percent against Creighton on Nov. 18, 2006. The 63 percent shooting marked the seventh time NU has hit 60 percent from the floor in Sadler's five seasons at Nebraska.

Clamping Down on Defense
Not only was it one of the best shooting nights under Sadler at NU, but the Huskers held UAPB to just 25 percent shooting from the floor. It marked just the third time over the last four-plus seasons that Nebraska has held an opponent to 25 percent shooting. NU's opponents are hitting just 33 percent after two games, including 24.5 percent from 3-point range.

Taking Advantage at the Charity Stripe
Nebraska's 19-for-21 effort from the free throw line against South Dakota on Nov. 12 was the Huskers' best performance from the charity stripe since hitting all 10 free throws against Baylor in the first round of the 2009 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on March 11, 2009. Prior to the USD game, the last time NU had a higher free throw percentage with at least 20 attempts came on a 20-for-22 performance (90.9 percent) against Baylor on Feb. 4, 2005.

Andre Makes Giant Impact
One Husker who has been impressive early in the season is junior college transfer Andre Almeida. A two-time NJCAA All-American, Almeida is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game along with chipping in 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 assists per contest. The 6-11, 310-pounder has hit 10-of-14 shots from the floor in NU's two contests.

Against South Dakota, he came off the bench and led Nebraska with 20 points and seven rebounds. He hit on 9-of-12 shots, including nine consecutive shots at one point to help Nebraska build a 16-point second-half lead. Almeida became the second Husker newcomer in the last 40 years to score at least 20 points in a season opener, joining freshman Joe McCray, who had 23 points in his Husker debut in 2004. His effort was also the most points any NU newcomer had scored in his debut in Doc Sadler's five seasons at Nebraska, topping the previous best of 17 by Toney McCray  in 2008. Almeida had just five points and three rebounds against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 15, but made his presence felt, leading the Huskers in both blocked shots (three) and assists (four) in the 83-40 win.

Diaz Makes His Mark on Husker Record Book This week's trip to Puerto Rico marks a homecoming for sophomore center Jorge Brian Diaz, and many of his family and friends will be able to see him play for the first time in person as a Husker. He is the only player from Puerto Rico in this week's tournament and has been a solid performer in his first two seasons at Nebraska.

As a redshirt freshman, Diaz put together one of the best rookie seasons in program history in 2009-10. The 6-foot-11 center from Caguas, Puerto Rico, appeared in all 33 contests, averaging 8.8 points on a team-high 52.2 percent shooting, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  He not only set a school freshman mark with 41 blocked shots, but also finished on NU's freshman top-10 list in field goals made (133, fourth), rebounds (133, seventh), points (291, eighth) and points per game (8.82, 10th).

Diaz has started both of the Huskers' contests in 2010-11, averaging 5.0 points on 50 percent shooting and 3.5 rebounds per game. He had eight points, four rebounds and two assists in NU's season opener aganist South Dakota. During the exhibition season, Diaz was the only Husker in double figures in both contests, as he averaged a team-high 15.0 points per game. He connected on 14 of his 18 shots from the floor and also averaged 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per contest.

Jeter is the Focal Point of Husker Offense
Senior point guard Lance Jeter provides leadership at the point guard position. The senior has started all 35 games of his Husker career after arriving from Polk (Fla.) Community College. The 6-foot-3, 222-pounder was named to the Big 12's All-Newcomer team by the media after averaging 7.5 points and 4.1 assists per game. He was among the league leaders in both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9-to-1) and fell one assist shy of Nebraska's single-season top-10 list. He also played in a team-high 1,024 minutes last season, the highest number of minutes by a Husker in three seasons.

This season, he is averaging 9.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He had 11 points, including a pair of early 3-pointers in NU's game opening run against UAPB, and eight points, including 6-of-6 from the foul line, four assists, two steals and six rebounds in NU's eight-point win over South Dakota on Nov. 12.

Standhardinger Looks to Enjoy Full Season One Husker who is looking to get off to a quick start to the 2010-11 season is Christian Standhardinger. The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward had to sit out all of the Huskers' non-conference schedule (15 games) last year because of an NCAA amateurism ruling, but still averaged 8.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in his debut season. Standhardinger showed a knack of getting to the foul line, as his 58 attempts in Big 12 play led all Huskers.

One of the areas Standhardinger has worked on is becoming a better rebounder and it has been evident since the end of last season. He averaged a team-high 7.5 rebounds during the Huskers' trip to the Bahamas, and paced NU with 18 rebounds in two exhibition games. He leads NU in rebounding early on, averaging seven boards per game with half coming from the offensive glass. Standhardinger, who had been battling a cold for much of the previous week, had a career-high 11 rebounds in the win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, topping his previous best of eight at Iowa State last February. He also had 20 points against UAPB - the second-highest total of his career, hitting 8-of-10 shots from the field, as both of his misses were from 3-point range.

Welcome back McCray
Another encouraging sign in Friday's opener was the return of junior guard Toney McCray. He missed nearly all of the 2009-10 season following Tommy John surgery and also missed both exhibitions with plantar fasciitis. McCray came off the bench and provided a spark with seven points while tying for team-high honors with seven rebounds in 20 minutes of action. McCray made his first start in nearly two years against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and finished with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, three rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes of work.

Huskers Battling the Injury Bug
The Huskers have been battling the injury bug over the last week. Sophomore center Christopher Niemann will be sidelined for a few weeks, as he underwent surgery on his knee to fix a meniscus on Nov. 3. Later that day,  junior guard Brandon Richardson suffered an ankle injury when he stepped on a referee's foot during the opening minutes of NU's exhibition opener against Peru State. Richardson missed NU's second exhibition, but returned to action against South Dakota on Friday night. McCray also missed both exhibition games, but returned to action in the win over South Dakota.

Holding court
Nebraska has been strong on its home court over the years, and will try to continue an impressive run at home under Coach Doc Sadler. In the history of the Bob Devaney Sports Center, Nebraska has posted a 412-131 record for a .758 winning percentage.

In the past four seasons under Sadler, Nebraska has dominated to the tune of a 56-17 record (.767 winning percentage) against all teams. Facing non-conference opponents, the Huskers have been nearly unbeatable at home under Sadler. During his tenure, the team has earned a 39-1 record at the Devaney Center, with the lone loss coming in the 2008-09 season. The Huskers have won 15 straight home non-conference games following Monday's win over UAPB.

Huskers Get Bigger, Stronger
One of the focuses in the offseason for the Huskers was to increase size and strength to be able to withstand the rigors of an entire season. Under strength coach Rusty Ruffcorn, nearly the entire team stayed in Lincoln during the offseason for the first time under Coach Sadler, and the gains in strength and size are noticeable.

Huskers Go Perfect in Bahamas
The Nebraska basketball team spent part of August in the Bahamas, taking on teams from the Bahamas Basketball Federation in an exhibition tour. The Huskers went 4-0 on the trip, their first overseas travel since going to Australia in 2004. Sophomore forward Christian Standhardinger led the Huskers in both points (15.3 ppg) and rebounds (7.5 rpg) on the tour and joined sophomore forward Brandon Ubel (12.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and junior college transfer Caleb Walker (11.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg) in averaging double figures. The Huskers averaged 96.0 points per game, as the team played FIBA rules, including a 24-second shot clock.

New Faces on the Bench
One of the biggest changes for the Huskers is on the sideline, as assistant coaches Wes Flanigan and Tracy Webster are in their first year at Nebraska, while Chris Croft moved from an administrative role to the bench this season.

Flanigan came to Nebraska from UAB, where he spent two seasons helping the Blazers to 47 wins and a pair of postseason appearances. He also served as an assistant at Arkansas-Little Rock and Northwest Mississippi CC following his playing career at Auburn, where he was an All-SEC performer.

Tracy Webster comes to Nebraska after previously serving coaching stints in the Big East, Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences. Last season, he was an assistant at DePaul before being promoted to interim head coach on Jan. 12, 2010, where he finished the season. He has also been an assistant at Kentucky, Illinois, Purdue and Ball State following a decorated playing career at Wisconsin, where he was an All-Big Ten guard for the Badgers.

Croft served as NU's director of operations for the last four seasons, but had previously been an assistant coach at the Division I level for eight years. He had been an assistant at Washington State, Southern Miss and Maryland-Eastern Shore and was the head coach at Martin Methodist College for three seasons.

Husker Youth Movement
Although the Huskers return 10 letterwinners this fall, it is still a rather young team. NU has two scholarship seniors (Lance Jeter and Drake Beranek) and only two players on the roster have played multiple seasons (Brandon Richardson and Toney McCray). In fact, Husker freshmen accounted for 848 of the Huskers' 2,194 points (38.7 percent) and 348 of the Huskers' 1,069 rebounds (32.5 percent). The 2009-10 Huskers set school marks for number of freshmen to start games (5 on the season; 3 in a single game) and for number of freshman to record 20-point games in the same season (3). Freshmen accounted for 51 starts on the season.

Huskers Look to Reclaim Big 12 Defensive Title Throughout Doc Sadler's four seasons at Nebraska, the Huskers have been one of the Big 12's top defensive teams. In 2009-10, NU was fourth in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing 65.7 points per game. That snapped a two-year streak where the Huskers led the conference in scoring defense. In 2008-09, Nebraska allowed just 60.4 points per game to rank 22nd nationally and lead the Big 12. A year earlier, it gave up just 60.7 ppg and held on to a final No. 18 national ranking in that category.

Huskers Hail from Everywhere
The 2010-11 Huskers feature some international flavor with a pair of Germans (Christian Standhardinger and Christopher Niemann), a Brazilian (Andre Almeida) a Puerto Rican (Jorge Brian Diaz) and players from 10 states across the USA on its 20-player roster. There are five Nebraskans on the roster, including senior Drake Beranek, while no other location features more than two players.

Freshmen Made Their Mark on Husker Record Lists With five freshmen in the Huskers' playing rotation during the 2009-10 season, it was natural that some of the Husker rookies would find their way on to NU's single-season freshman charts. A school-record five freshmen made at least one start (Jorge Brian Diaz -26; Brandon Ubel-16; Christian Standhardinger-4; Ray Gallegos-3; Eshaunte Jones-2) last season.

Diaz set NU's freshman record with 41 blocked shots, topping the old mark of 39 set by Venson Hamilton (1996) and John Turek (2002).  Diaz also finished in the top 10 among Husker freshmen in field goals made (133, fourth), points (291, eighth), rebounds (133, seventh) and  points per game (8.82, 10th).

Eshaunte Jones proved to be one of the Huskers' best long-range shooters, finishing his redshirt freshman year ranked second in 3-point shooting percentage (38.8 percent) and fifth in 3-pointers made (40).

Nebraska Coach Doc Sadler
Nebraska Coach Doc Sadler is now in his fifth season on the Husker sideline. Sadler has guided the Huskers to postseason appearances in two of the last three seasons and his 70 wins after his first four seasons is the second-highest total by a Husker coach in his first four years at Nebraska (Moe Iba, 71). He has guided teams to postseason berths in four of his six years as a Division I head coach, as both of his UTEP squads reached postseason play before taking over the Nebraska program in August of 2006. Sadler enters the 2010-11 season looking to climb Nebraska's all-time wins chart, as he is in seventh place, but is just 16 wins shy of cracking the top five on the list.

Academic success Under Sadler
Under Doc Sadler, the Huskers have enjoyed success in the classroom. In all, 10 of 12 seniors who have completed eligibility under Sadler have received their degrees from Nebraska.  This season, senior Matt Karn is the 11th senior to earn a degree under Sadler, participating in commencement ceremonies earlier this year.  Fellow seniors Drake Beranek (May of 2011) and Lance Jeter (August of 2011) are on schedule to complete their course work  in the next year. The Nebraska basketball program ranks second among Big 12 programs with an 82 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the most recent rankings released on October of 2010.

Walk-on Tradition Continues
While the Nebraska football program is nationally known for its walk-on program, the Husker basketball team has gotten major contributions from walk-ons in Doc Sadler's four seasons. The most notable was Paul Velander, who received the Jack Moore Award, symbolizing the team's MVP, after helping the 2008-09 squad to the NIT.

At the start of the semester senior guard Drake Beranek was recognized for his hard work, as he was placed on scholarship for the 2010-11 year.  Beranek walked on to the program after spending three years at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. He scored 1,453 career points at UNK and ranked 11th nationally in Division II with 21.9 points per game in 2008-09.

For the 2010-11 season, the Huskers added five walk-ons, including in-state products Trevor Menke (Beatrice), Kye Kurkowski (Grant) and Jordan Tyrance (Lincoln), as well as Marshall Parker (Fort Smith, Ark.) and Bo Spencer (Baton Rouge, La.).

Regular-Season Schedule Notes
*-Nebraska faces a rugged schedule with a minimum of 16 regular-season games against teams that reached the 2010 postseason. Among the Huskers' opponents that reached last year's NCAA Tournament were: Elite Eight participants Kansas State (twice) and Baylor, NCAA second-round qualifiers Kansas (twice), Missouri (twice), Texas A&M along with NCAA qualifiers Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State and Texas. NU will also face 2010 postseason NIT qualifiers Jackson State and Texas Tech, along with CIT qualifiers South Dakota and Creighton. In addition, the Huskers could face two more postseason qualifiers in Puerto Rico, including Final Four participant West Virginia, NCAA qualifier Minnesota, NIT runner-up North Carolina and CBI qualifier Hofstra.

*-The Huskers are set to play 19 regular-season games at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, the most regular-season home games since the 2005-06 season. Last year, the Huskers went 12-6 in the building and NU is 54-17 at home under Coach Doc Sadler. The Huskers also played 18 regular-season home games in 2007-08, but one game (vs. Oregon) took place at the Qwest Center in Omaha.

*-The Huskers will have at least 20 games televised regionally or nationally, including five games set to be seen around the country on the ESPN family of networks and another nationally televised on Fox Sports Net. The Huskers have averaged more than 20 televised contests (national, regional and local) each of the past four years.

*-The Huskers' schedule features a school-record 10-game homestand beginning with the USC contest on Nov. 27. Prior to this season, the longest stretch of home games in school history was seven, which had been done four other times, most recently during the 2007-08 season.

Huskers to Enter Big Ten in 2011-12
June 11, 2010, was a historic day for the University of Nebraska, as NU was admitted to the Big Ten Conference as the 12th member of the nation's oldest conference. The Cornhuskers will begin play in the Big Ten in 2011-12. The Huskers have played Minnesota the most of any Big Ten opponent, as the teams have squared off 63 times dating back to 1902. The teams could meet again as non-conference foes, as both teams are in the field for the Honda Puerto Rico Tip-off next week.

Big 12 Preseason Polls
The Big 12 comes off a season where it had seven teams make the NCAA Tournament, including a pair of Elite Eight teams.  After the top two teams, the remaining order was Baylor, Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Colorado, NU, Oklahoma and Iowa State. While the Huskers were picked 10th in 2010-11, Nebraska has typically exceeded the preseason experts during Doc Sadler's tenure as Nebraska's coach. NU has finished ahead of the projections in three of the past four years, finishing eighth or better three times, including a .500 finish in conference action during the 2008-09 campaign.

2010-11 Big 12 Preseason Poll
No.     Team (1st-place votes)  Points
1.      Kansas State (10)       119
2.      Kansas (2)      109
3.      Texas   99
4.      Baylor  96
5.      Missouri        82
6.      Texas A&M       69
7.      Texas Tech      52
8.      Oklahoma State  51
9.      Colorado        46
10.     Nebraska        31
11.     Oklahoma        27
12.     Iowa State      11