Husker Hoops are improved, but is it enough for a Big Ten jump?

The Big Ten basketball season unofficially kicks off this week with the annual conference media days in Indianapolis on Thursday and Friday.

On Wednesday, the Big Ten unveiled its preseason media poll, and Nebraska was picked 11th to start the year. The Huskers were picked 13th in the same poll going into the 2020-21 season.

A few weeks ago, HuskerOnline.com did our own anonymous media poll to get a sense of how the rest of the Big Ten viewed Fred Hoiberg’s third NU squad.

In our poll, which featured basketball beat reporters from all 14 teams in the league, the Huskers were picked to finish 10th. Several of the reporters who responded also gave some thoughts on Nebraska.

In short, almost all of them expected NU to be better this season. The question, though, was would that improvement be enough to make a notable jump in the Big Ten standings?

Consensus preseason prediction: 10th

Highest ranking: 7th (Wisconsin reporter)

Lowest ranking: 13th (Purdue reporter)

“Fred Hoiberg has his most talented team since he arrived in Lincoln. Led by Bryce McGowens, the Huskers should see a noticeable improvement from the first two seasons. They have more size than in previous years, but the inexperienced bigs will need time to develop. Look for guys like Keisei Tominaga and Lat Mayan to help stretch the floor.” – Iowa writer

“Once again, Nebraska has a lot of new faces in the lineup, so they’re a difficult team to peg. They’ll definitely be more talented, but will Fred Hoiberg be able to mold a cohesive team from all of those new parts, and how long will it take?” – Northwestern writer

“Really interested in Nebraska this year. The level of talent has gone up steadily since Hoiberg has been there, especially offensively and even allowing for some of the transfer setbacks. This feels like maybe the most purely talented team he’s had, even if some of the guys that make it so are still young.

“The league is weird this year. Talent drain hit it hard. Outside Michigan, Purdue, maybe Ohio State, there’s this murky middle where a lot of teams could finish fifth and not surprise me, could finish 10th and not surprise me. I think Nebraska could — maybe not will, but could — be in that group.

“Toward the lower end of it, but I think there will be a little more separation between Nebraska and the absolute bottom of the league than there has been the last couple years.” – Indiana writer

“The additions of Bryce McGowens and Alonzo Verge Jr. could be enough to at least have Nebraska in the bubble conversation.” – Maryland writer

“I like the young guard (Bryce McGowens) and think they will get better as the year goes on. I think they are in the mix to be anywhere from 8th to 12th. Minnesota and Penn State are at the bottom for me.” – Illinois writer

“Potential is there to go higher, but they need to prove it before I believe it.” – Nebraska writer

“It feels like there are always a lot of moving parts on a Fred Hoiberg roster, but the additions of Bryce McGowens and multiple transfers make this the most talented group he’s had (on paper, at least).

“I still think they’ll finish near the bottom of the league, but a sign that a Big Ten team is moving up is that nobody’s surprised when they knock off a team in the top half of the league, and I think that’ll be the case for the Huskers this year — they’ll notch a couple of those Ws and be much more competitive.” – Michigan writer

“My sense is Nebraska will have a chance to move into the Top Ten in the conference this year after adding in new talent.” – Iowa writer

“Nebraska has loaded up on transfers over the past two seasons, especially coming into this season. Guys like CJ Wilcher and Alonzo Verge come in expecting to play large roles and pairing Verge with Trey McGowens in the backcourt will be a very good duo.

“Add in Kobe Webster and freshman Bryce McGowens, and the Huskers will have a very strong rotation from its guards and the ability to score the ball. Up front, however, is still a question mark. There isn’t a lot of firepower from the frontcourt and not a lot of Big Ten proven guys in that rotation, which you need in this conference.

“Nebraska will be able to score the ball, but the question remains whether or not they will be able to play disciplined, get physical and get timely stops. It’s a better year for Hoiberg and Co, but still not a great year. I think they finish at No. 10 in the conference.” – Indiana writer

“Fred Hoiberg has faced challenges during his first two seasons, partly from playing in potentially the deepest Big Ten ever. He’s still got some roster work to do, but it does seem like Nebraska is on the right track with adding talent. Now, the group just needs to get on campus and mature

.“But I do think there is a chance for upward movement because the bottom of the conference is noticeably weakened. I think Minnesota is really going to struggle after almost the entire roster was turned over with the coaching change.

“Same thing with Penn State. I’m not that high on Northwestern, Iowa, or Wisconsin and Rutgers will be worse, but those three programs return more proven pieces than Nebraska. But I do think Nebraska will be more competitive and win more games.” – Illinois writer

“Until proven otherwise, I have to keep Nebraska 13th in my expectations heading into the season, ahead of Minnesota and just behind Northwestern, just because, as usual, I know so little about their players heading into the season. I look at that roster every year around this time I don’t see a whole lot of known commodity, and that’s pretty atypical of the Big Ten.

“One thing I can say having covered the Big Ten for longer than I’d care to admit is that continuity and structure matter, and Nebraska’s model flies in the face of both of those things. Times are changing now and perhaps in the long run, Fred Hoiberg will have been a step ahead of it all, but obviously, the past few years haven’t given much reason to expect much different.

“I know they have some pretty talented guys on this year’s team with the McGowens kids, Alonzo Verge, etc. — and I’ve always liked Kobe Webster — but he’s got to get all of these guys to play together effectively.

“That said, I don’t know how they even functioned last year after not really having an off-season to onboard all these newcomers. Maybe setting expectations off last season is unfair, but it’s all I’ve got, and the Big Ten is no joke. Upward mobility is hard to come by.” – Purdue writer