As Nebraska enters its first year in the Big Ten basketball world, they catch a break as far as the strength of the rest of the Big Ten teams. The Big Ten this year will be weaker than in previous years. This provides an opportunity for a team who returns experience in five seniors and six juniors. 

Nebraska has an opportunity this year to prove to the Big Ten why it is not to be taken for granted when it comes to basketball. They return five seniors and six juniors, five of these guys played more than half the minutes last year, this is where the experience comes in. Last season, Nebraska went 19-13, with a 13-2 start to the season. When they hit their conference schedule is when things got a bit rocky, as they finished 7-9 in the conference.  Their defense was good last year, but they lacked when it came to offensive efficiency and tempo.

The Big Ten is all about defense in college basketball, if Nebraska can use their defense to help produce offensively, it would definitely help them pick up the tempo and be more efficient, overall. 

Though Nebraska lost very few players last year, the ones they did lose will sting a little bit. This year Nebraska has lost Lance Jeter to graduation. Jeter was the Cornhuskers leading scorer, averaging 11.7 points along with 4.5 assists and 1.8 steal per game. He was the guy that kept the offense going. They also lose Drake Beranek, Eshaunte Jones and Matt Karn, which really doesn't make things any better. 

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It opens up a whole new region from which Doc Sadler and company can recruit.

"The chance to play in front of a whole new population week in and week out will be a good thing," Brian Speers of Corn Nation said. "It's possible that recruits are thinking more in terms of individual schools, and playing time when selecting a university to play for, but I have to believe that staying in your conference also has something to do with a young player's choice of schools."

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Poll:

This Big Ten basketball offseason is one of the most exciting in recent memory. With the addition of Nebraska, it is fun to think of all the scenarios that are possible next year, especially with an expected down-year for the Big Ten, with all the senior graduates. With the addition of Nebraska, SB Nation's Illinois blog, Hail to the Orange, Purdue Blog, Hammer and Rails, Michigan State blog, The Only Colors, Ohio State blog, Along the Olentangy and Minnesota blog, The Daily Gopher, have some advice to give the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they enter our historical basketball conference. 

Advice from Illinois: 

Dear Nebraska,
As an Illinois fan, I am sure that any potential meetings between our two teams in football over the next decade will result in a loss for my Illini, so please be kind enough to return the favor and roll over in basketball. 
But if you must field a competitive basketball team, here are some pointers.
1. When you head to Wisconsin, you might think the Badgers are playing a joke on you, they're not, they really do play basketball that slowly. Don't worry, you will still lose, we all do.
2. It will take you about until the third time hearing it to hate Hail To The Victors.
3. You might be confused as to why Indiana is still so bad, I don't have an answer for you, no one does. We are all just as confused as you.
4. You are probably going to hate Bruce Weber, a lot of opponents fans do, but if you ever happen to have Weber and Ed Hightower in the building at the same time, you will be in for plenty of entertainment.
5. You should probably start to think about what your themed potato should be.
6. You might be relieved about not having to play Kansas and Texas anymore, I am sorry to inform you that you will instead have to play MSU and OSU now. Thems the breaks.
7. Iowa is not to be trusted.

Other than that, welcome to the Big Ten.

(Joe Kutsunis , Hail to the Orange)

(Click below to see more advice for Nebraska)

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Nebraska basketball is looking up this offseason. There is plenty of potential and plenty of reason to be optimistic for the future of this basketball program. Below are some important and interesting links from the Cornhuskers offseason. Just because the season isn't in session, doesn't mean there isn't any news. Nebraska has had plenty of news in the last few weeks. Oh, and be sure to go over to SB Nation's Nebraska Cornhusker blog, Corn Nation, and give them a big Big Ten basketball welcome!

North Platte Nebraska's newspaper - The North Platte Telegraph. > Sports > Local Sports
North Platte newspaper providing Lincoln County and surrounding communities with up-to-date news and information on local events, sports, agriculture and weather. Your SOURCE for news in North Platte.

American Chronicle | Nebraska moving up with upgrades
We are an online magazine for national, international, state, local, entertainment, sports, and government news. We also provide opinion and feature articles.

Point guard Spencer 'going to make it,' in line for scholarship
Anthony Hubbard is going to Iowa. Matt Glover is going to Penn State.

NU coach gets raise, maintains his focus on getting NCAA tourney wins - Kearney Hub: Huskers
LINCOLN — Doc Sadler isn’t near as demanding in his boss’ office as he is on the basketball court.

(Click below for more links!!!)

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For the blogger interview with Corn Nation, I sat down with hastily sent an email to Brian, one of the fine contributors at Corn Nation, SB Nation's excellent blog dedicated to all things Cornhusker.

While the guys at CN are mostly focusing on Husker players getting drafted to the NFL and counting down the days to the upcoming football season as a new member of the Big Ten, there is still a little time to chat about the orange ball sport.

Brian gave us some great analysis and opinions on the state of Husker basketball, which has looked to be showing signs of very slight but noticeable improvement in the recent years under Doc Sadler.

How will Nebraska transition to the Big Ten? Could they fit in immediately with the style of basketball that they play (which could be considered very "Big Ten-esque")? Will we be seeing the Huskers in the NCAA tournament anytime soon? Click after the jump to see the answers to those questions and more.

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The Nebraska Cornhuskers finished their last season in the big 12 (10) and are now headed to their new conference home The BIG (12).  Never a basketball power, Cornhuskers' expectations were not positive before the 2010-2011 season began.  In fact, their ex-conference's own website had them picked to finish second to last.  Doc Sadler then took the Nebraska faithful on a wild conference run that ultimately led to an unexpected NIT berth.  They played above their ability, and, in the land of sold out football practice games, an NIT berth is nothing to be ashamed of.  They will look for an easy transition into the old world of college sports, but they will most likely have their hands full.  As always all statistics for this post were obtained from our greatest friend Statsheet.

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BT Powerhouse is spending one week per team in the conference during the offseason. This week we'll take a look back at the 2010-11 Nebraska Cornhuskers season, in which they competed in the Big 12. Here is what we have planned for this week:

• Monday: Statistical Recap
• Tuesday: Interview with Corn Nation
• Wednesday: Links Post
• Thursday: Some Big Ten advice for Nebraska
• Friday: A look at how NU might have fared had they been in the Big Ten last season
• Saturday: Nebraska recruiting post

For a schedule of which team we are reviewing each week, click here. Or just look at the sidebar on the right of the screen.

We'll kick things off with some celebration video from the Texas victory: