It’s official, Nebraska men’s basketball earned a No. 4 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Huskers will face the Sun Belt Champion, Troy, on Thursday at 11:40 a.m. CT on TruTV.
The Huskers’ 26-6 record (15-6 Big Ten) this season secured the second-highest seed in school history. It’s the first time in program history that Nebraska will be a No. 4 seed.
The Huskers’ NCAA Tournament history is well documented. Nebraska is the only power conference school to have never won an NCAA Tournament game, with eight losses in eight trips.
Nebraska heads to Oklahoma City loser of two of its last three games, including the 74-58 loss to Big Ten Tournament champion Purdue on Friday.
The winner of the Nebraska/Troy matchup will face the winner of the game between No. 5 seed Vanderbilt and No. 12 seed McNeese on Saturday at a time to be determined.
A positive is the location the Huskers drew in Oklahoma City. It’s a roughly six-hour drive from Lincoln and Huskers fans most certainly will be showing up en masse to cheer them on.
“Obviously, the fans showed up in a big way in our game a couple years ago in Memphis,” Fred Hoiberg said Sunday after the selection show. “I know they’re going to be there again. I think this is the location that everybody wanted us to be playing in because of the proximity. It’s going to be a nice drive, but as we all know, Nebraska fans travel unlike anybody else. We’re excited about the opportunity to play in front of our fans … hopefully, go on a run.”
Unlike two seasons ago, the Huskers weren’t on pins and needles on Selection Sunday. This group knew they were going to be in the tournament, but there was still some angst about which seed line they would be on and where they would be playing.
“There wasn’t a lot of anxiety going into this one,” Hoiberg said. “We knew we were going to hear our name. It was just a matter of where we were going to go and who our opponent was going to be.”
This is the time of year the Huskers need to look internally and focus on themselves without taking away from the experience. There will be more media and more attention on them, especially with the program’s history.
“There’s so much hoopla that goes on this time of year and you’ve got to block out that noise,” Hoiberg said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that know what to expect now that have played in this format. It’s all about going out and executing and trying to go out there and play as mistake-free as he possibly can. When the adversity hits, when a rough patch hits, it’s all about handling it the right way.”
Five current Huskers were on the team the last time the Huskers made the NCAA Tournament. That experience is something they can lean on as they head to Oklahoma City.
“Having guys that have experienced this, with Jamarques (Lawrence), with Rienk (Mast), with Cale (Jacobsen), with Sam (Hoiberg), with Henry (Burt), just the guys that were here a couple years ago, you know, that all matters.”
