BYU basketball has lined up a home-and-home exhibition series with a Big Ten program.
The Cougars will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers this fall in a tuneup before the regular season begins. Nebraska will then visit Provo in 2026 in an exhibition the following year.
Neither school announced an official date for the exhibition matchup in Lincoln this season.
Exhibitions can now be revenue generators for programs
In the past, these types of matchups were typically charity events or secret scrimmages. After the NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee passed a proposal this past January, programs can now allocate revenue generated from these games however they wish.
Teams can play up to two preseason exhibition games against any four-year school before the regular season starts.
Nebraska is coached by Fred Hoiberg, who, like BYU coach Kevin Young, has strong connections to the NBA. Hoiberg was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 2015 to 2018.
The Cornhuskers are currently 19-15 on the season and are gearing up to play in the College Basketball Crown Semifinals against Boise State on Saturday in Las Vegas.
BYU finished the 2025 season with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, before falling to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
BYU basketball: History against Nebraska
The last time BYU faced Nebraska in basketball was in 2009 in Las Vegas for a multi-team event. BYU defeated the Cornhuskers 88-66, led by 24 points from Jimmer Fredette at The Orleans Arena.
BYU’s last trip to Lincoln for a basketball game was in 1935.
Unlike that game in 2009, the meeting this year won’t count in the record books, as it is an exhibition.
The Cougars will have a lot of intrigue next season as they bring in the No. 1 recruit in the country, AJ Dybantsa.
BYU will open the 2025-26 regular season in Las Vegas against the Villanova Wildcats from the Big East Conference on November 3.