| Nebraska Cornhuskers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | University of Nebraska–Lincoln |
| Conference | Big Ten (primary) Conference USA (bowling) Patriot Rifle (rifle) |
| NCAA | Division I (FBS) |
| Athletic director | Troy Dannen |
| Location | Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Varsity teams | 24 (10 men's, 14 women's) |
| Football stadium | Memorial Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Pinnacle Bank Arena |
| Baseball stadium | Hawks Field |
| Softball stadium | Bowlin Stadium |
| Soccer stadium | Hibner Stadium |
| Aquatics center | Devaney Center Natatorium |
| Golf course | Wilderness Ridge Golf Club |
| Tennis venue | Dillon Tennis Center |
| Volleyball arena | John Cook Arena |
| Wrestling arena | Devaney Center |
| Mascot | Herbie Husker Lil' Red |
| Nickname | Cornhuskers Big Red |
| Fight song | Hail Varsity Dear Old Nebraska U |
| Colors | Scarlet and cream[1] |
| Website | huskers |
 | |
TheNebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated toHuskers) are theintercollegiate athletic teams that represent theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of theBig Ten Conference and competes inNCAA Division I, fielding twenty-fourvarsity teams (ten men's, fourteen women's) in sixteen sports. Twenty-one of these teams participate in the Big Ten, while beach volleyball, bowling, and rifle compete as independents or affiliate members of other conferences. The Cornhuskers are commonly referred to as the "Big Red" and have two official mascots,Herbie Husker andLil' Red.
Nebraska was a founding member of the short-livedWestern Interstate University Football Association, one of college football's first conferences, in 1892, and helped form theMissouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association fifteen years later. The MVIAA, which became theBig Eight in 1964, served as Nebraska's primary conference for the next eighty-nine years, with a brief hiatus duringWorld War I. In 1996, the Big Eight merged with fourTexas schools from theSouthwest Conference to form theBig 12. Nebraskajoined the Big Ten in 2011, a lucrative transition that separated the school from most of its traditional rivals.
Nebraska's varsity athletic programs have won thirty-two national championships (eleven inbowling, eight inmen's gymnastics, five each infootball andvolleyball, and three in women's track and field) and 359 combined conference regular-season and tournament championships.
The University of Nebraska did not have a nickname or mascot during its early decades, though many were used unofficially. NU's first football team wore gold and black and became known as the "Old Gold Knights," but it is unclear if the term was used contemporarily.[2] In 1892,The Hesperian Student (laterThe Daily Nebraskan) urged the adoption of new colors due to the number of universities – specificallyWIUFA rivalsIowa andMissouri – already using gold or yellow, and selected scarlet and cream as they were considered "bright and attractive."[2] Throughout the 1890s the team may have gone by "Antelopes" and "Rattlesnake Boys," but the most well-known of Nebraska's early nicknames is "Bugeaters," a reference to the state's meager food supply during an1870s drought when farmers purportedly resorted to eating bugs.[3] Many Nebraskans appreciated the rugged characterization despite its negative connotations.[3][4]
The first documented use of "Cornhuskers" appeared in the March 17, 1894 issue ofThe Sporting News, in reference to aWestern League baseball team fromSioux City that later became theChicago White Sox.[2][5] Six months later, the term appeared inThe Hesperian Student ("We have met the corn huskers and they are ours!"); it was used as a derisive reference toIowa and not as an athletic nickname.[4][6]Nebraska State Journal (later theLincoln Journal Star) sportswriter and state nativeCy Sherman hated the Bugeaters moniker and began using "Cornhuskers," which wasn't applied to Nebraska until Sherman did so in 1899.[4] It caught on quickly and was adopted by the university in 1900, and later by the state ofNebraska itself, which became "The Cornhusker State" in 1946.[7] Sherman is known as "the father of the Cornhuskers" and later founded college football'sAP poll.[3]
| Men's sports | Women's sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Beach volleyball |
| Cross country | Bowling |
| Football | Cross country |
| Golf | Golf |
| Gymnastics | Gymnastics |
| Tennis | Soccer |
| Track and field[a] | Softball |
| Wrestling | Swimming and diving |
| Tennis | |
| Track and field[a] | |
| Volleyball | |
| Co-ed sports | |
| Rifle[b] | |
Nebraska established a baseball program in 1889, making it the school's oldest active varsity sport. The team was disjointed in its first decades, often disbanding for years at a time. The hiring of Tony Sharpe in 1947 brought stability but limited success – Sharpe and his successorJohn Sanders combined to lead fifty-one seasons, making just three postseason appearances.Dave Van Horn was hired in 1998 and established a national power, culminating in Nebraska's firstCollege World Series appearances in 2001 and 2002, a landmark moment for a state that has hosted the event since 1950.[8] AssistantMike Anderson took over for Van Horn and led NU to its best-ever season, finishing 57–15 and reaching another College World Series in 2005. Anderson did not sustain this success and was fired in 2011, the same year Nebraska transitioned to theBig Ten. NU has experienced little national success since joining the conference.[9]
Nebraska has been to eighteenNCAA Division I tournaments and three College World Series. Sixteen players have been namedfirst-team All-Americans andAlex Gordon won the 2005Golden Spikes Award as the country's bestamateur player.[10] Nebraska plays its home games atHawks Field at Haymarket Park, built in 2001 to replace the agingBuck Beltzer Stadium.
Prior to the creation of theNCAA tournament, Nebraska was aMidwest power under head coaches Raymond G. Clapp andEwald O. Stiehm.[11] NU struggled through the post-World War II years, which included a stretch of twenty-eight years with just two winning seasons that stretched into the 1960s. Much of the team's modest modern-day success came during the fourteen-year tenure ofDanny Nee, Nebraska's winningest head coach. Nee led the Cornhuskers to five of their eight NCAA Division I tournament appearances and won the1996 National Invitation Tournament, NU's first national postseason title. Nebraska has reached the NCAA tournament just twice since Nee was fired in 2000. In 2019, NU hired formerChicago Bulls head coachFred Hoiberg, who led the Cornhuskers to the inauguralCollege Basketball Crown championship in 2025.
Nebraska's men's and women's basketball teams have played atWest Haymarket Arena (known as Pinnacle Bank Arena for sponsorship purposes) since its construction in 2013.
Nebraska's women's basketball history began with a short-lived club team in the early 1900; the program was shuttered until the 1972 enactment ofTitle IX.[12] Angela Beck took Nebraska to its firstNCAA Division I tournament and won the 1988Big Eight championship. Under Beck,Karen Jennings won theWade Trophy as the country's best player in 1992–93.
Connie Yori, hired fromCreighton in 2002, steadily built a national contender, culminating in a 2009–10 season that was the best in school history – NU started 30–0 and became the first Big 12 team to complete an undefeated regular season.[13]Kelsey Griffin was a national player of the year finalist and Yori was named national coach of the year. ForwardJordan Hooper led Nebraska into the Big Ten and earned first-team All-America honors in 2013–14, the same season NU won its first conference tournament.[14] Yori was forced to resign after an administrative investigation in 2016, and Nebraska turned to former playerAmy Williams to lead the program.[15]
Nebraska's bowling program was founded as a club team in 1983 and became a varsity sport in 1997. It is the most successful collegiate program in bowling history, winning eleven national championships and qualifying for everyNCAA championship. Most of this success came under Bill Straub, who coached for thirty-six years and granted the first full scholarships in bowling history.[16] The team has been coached by longtime assistant Paul Klempa since Straub's retirement in 2019.
Bowling competes inConference USA, making it one of three programs at Nebraska not affiliated with theBig Ten.
Nebraska's men's cross country team was established in 1938, winning its only conference championship two years later. The women's program was established in 1975. Megan Elliott has coached both teams since 2024.
Nebraska is among the most storied programs in college football history, winning forty-six conference championships and fivenational championships, along with seven unclaimed national titles. Its 1971 and 1995 teams are considered among the best ever.Heisman Trophy winnersJohnny Rodgers,Mike Rozier, andEric Crouch join twenty-four other Cornhuskers in theCollege Football Hall of Fame.
The program's first extended period of success came early in the twentieth century. Between 1900 and 1916, Nebraska had five undefeated seasons and a stretch of thirty-four games without a loss.[11] The Cornhuskers won twenty-four conference championships prior toWorld War II but struggled through the postwar years untilBob Devaney was hired in 1962. Devaney built Nebraska into a national power, winning two national championships and eight conference titles in eleven seasons as head coach. Offensive coordinatorTom Osborne was named Devaney's successor in 1973 and over the next twenty-five years established himself as one of the best coaches in college football history with his trademarkI formation offense and revolutionary strength, conditioning, and nutrition programs.[17] Following Osborne's retirement in 1997, Nebraska cycled through five head coaches before hiringMatt Rhule in 2023.
Nebraska has played its home games atMemorial Stadium since 1923 andsold out every game at the venue since 1962.
Nebraska's men's golf program was established in 1935 and has reached theNCAA Division I championship four times, most recently in 1999.Steve Friesen won the 1999Ben Hogan Award as the country's best golfer under the guidance of longtime head coach Larry Romjue. The team has been coached by Judd Cornell since 2023.[19]
A women's program was started 1975, initially led by Romjue. The Cornhuskers have played in fourteen NCAA regionals, advancing to theNCAA Division I championship three times. Kate Smith represented the program in the2021 Arnold Palmer Cup. The university does not own or operate a golf course, and both teams use courses around Lincoln to practice and host tournaments.[20]
Since being established in 1939, Nebraska's men's gymnastics program has won eight national championships and forty-two NCAA event titles. The bulk of this success came under head coachFrancis Allen, a former All-American who led the program for forty seasons. Twelve Cornhuskers have participated in theOlympic Games and combined to win four gold medals. The team has been coached by Chuck Chmelka since 2010.
NU is one of just twelveDivision I universities that sponsors a men's gymnastics program.[21]
Nebraska's women's gymnastics program has won twenty-five conference championships and qualified for theNCAA tournament twenty-nine times. Most of the program's success came under head coach Dan Kendig, who led NU for twenty-five years and made twelve Super Six appearances. Michelle Bryant, Heather Brink, andRichelle Simpson combined to win five individual NCAA championships and are among NU's eighty-three All-Americans. The team has been coached by Heather Brink since Kendig's retirement in 2019.
Rifle competes in thePatriot Rifle Conference, making it the only program at Nebraska in a conference other than the Big Ten. NU has reached twentyNCAA championships and produced four individual national champions. The team has been coached by Richard Clark since 2024.
The team trains at an indoor firing range in theJohn J. Pershing Military and Naval Science Building. Although the NCAA classifies rifle as coeducational, Nebraska has fielded an all-female team since its establishment in 1998 and is one of twenty-nineNCAA rifle programs.
Nebraska has been coached by John Walker since it became the first Big Eight school to sponsor women's soccer in 1994. Nebraska finished 23–1–0 and reached the national quarterfinal in 1996, the beginning of a five-year stretch in which NU achieved most of its national success. The program has reached in thirteenNCAA Division I tournaments and won a combined eleven conference championships across the Big 12 and Big Ten. Eleven former Cornhuskers have competed in theFIFA Women's World Cup, most of them for Walker's nativeCanada.[22]
Nebraska has played its home games atBarbara Hibner Soccer Stadium since 2015.
Nebraska's softball program was sanctioned as a varsity sport in 1977 and reached the inauguralWomen's College World Series five years later. Though the team was often surrounded by controversy, NU was highly successful through the 1980s, advancing to the WCWS four more times and finishing national runner-up in 1985 under head coach Wayne Daigle.[23][24]
Rhonda Revelle was hired in 1993 and turned Nebraska into a postseason regular and fixture in the national top twenty-five. In 1998, Nebraska completed the first undefeated season in Big 12 history and returned to the Women's College World Series – Revelle became the third person to reach the WCWS as a player and a head coach, and the first to do it at the same school.[25] NU reached a third WCWS under Revelle in 2013, the same year she won her 768th game to pass former baseball coach John Sanders for the most victories by any coach at the university.
Nebraska has played atBowlin Stadium, part of theHaymarket Park complex, since 2002.
Nebraska sponsored a men's aquatics program from 1921 until 2001. The program was discontinued by athletic directorBill Byrne due to budgetary concerns, though it may have been hastened by a scholarship manipulation investigation that resulted in the suspension and eventual resignation of longtime head coach Cal Bentz.[27][28] Under Bentz, futureOlympic gold medalistsPenelope Heyns andAdam Pine won NU's first NCAA Division I individual championships. Since 2001, the university has sponsored only a women's team. The team has been coached by Pablo Morales since 2001.
Nebraska has hosted meets at theDevaney Center Natatorium since its construction in 1976.
Nebraska's men's tennis program was established in 1928 and has reached theNCAA Division I championships just three times. In 1989, Steven Jung was the NCAA Singles runner-up and was named NU's first All-American. The team has been coached byPeter Kobelt since 2023.[29]
A women's program was established in 1976 and has made theNCAA Division I championship six times, most recently in 2013. German Dalmagro was named the program's tenth head coach in 2023 following the retirement of Scott Jacobson.[30]
Both programs have hosted matches at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center since 2015.
Track and field became Nebraska's second varsity sport in 1889, competing infrequently until the MVIAA began sponsoring an outdoor championship in 1908. The team has won thirty-eight indoor and thirty-one outdoor conference championships, producing thirty-six individual national champion. A women's team was created in 1976 and has won twenty-four indoor and eighteen outdoor conference championships with thirty-seven national champions. Nebraska's only three team national titles came in the early 1980s in women's indoor competition, led by Jamaican sprinter and nine-timeOlympic medalistMerlene Ottey.[31] Gary Pepin retired in 2022 after four decades as Nebraska's head coach and assistant Justin St. Clair was named his replacement.
The programs host indoor meets at theBob Devaney Sports Center and outdoor meets at an incomplete facility onNebraska Innovation Campus.
Nebraska's volleyball program was established in 1975 and has become one of the most decorated in the sport – Nebraska has won more games, spent more weeks ranked number one, and produced moreAVCA All-Americans than any other program. Head coachTerry Pettit, hired in 1977, turned the Cornhuskers into a national power at a time when the sport was traditionally dominated byWest Coast schools.[32] He produced NU's first national championship in 1995 before handing the program over to assistantJohn Cook five years later. Cook led the NCAA's second-ever undefeated season in his debut as head coach and soon established himself as one of the best coaches in the sport's history, winning four national championships and producing some of volleyball's biggest stars, includingSarah Pavan,Jordan Larson, andLexi Rodriguez. Cook retired in 2025, assisting in the selection ofDani Busboom Kelly as his successor.
Nebraska regularly leads the NCAA in attendance and has competed in several of the highest-attended and most-watched volleyball games ever played.[33] The university hostedVolleyball Day in Nebraska atMemorial Stadium on August 30, 2023; the recorded attendance of 92,003 was a record for any women's sporting event.[f][35] Nebraska played nearly four decades at theNU Coliseum until moving to the largerBob Devaney Sports Center in 2012, and has sold out every home game since 2001 across both venues.
Nebraska's beach volleyball program was established in 2013 as a training and recruiting tool for itsindoor team, and the rosters typically include the same players. Indoor head coachJohn Cook led the beach team until turning the program over to assistant Jaylen Reyes in 2023.[36] Nebraska remains one of few beach volleyball programs throughout the Midwest and generally plays the bulk of its season during a spring trip toCalifornia andHawaii, and does not attempt to qualify for the sixteen-teamNCAA championship.[37]
Since its inception in 1911, Nebraska's wrestling program has won seven conference tournament titles and produced eleven individual NCAA champions with 136 All-America selections.Rulon Gardner andJordan Burroughs became Olympic gold medalists after their collegiate careers; Burroughs is the most decorated American wrestler of all-time and is considered one of the greatestfreestyle wrestlers ever.[38][39] The team has been coached by Mark Manning since 2000.
Nebraska primarily hosted meets at theNU Coliseum from 1926 until moving to the larger Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2013.
Nebraska has won 29 total national championships, of which 26 are recognized by the NCAA.[40]
TheUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln sponsors forty-one club programs:angling,badminton,barbell, baseball, women's basketball, bowling,broomball,climbing,cricket,curling,cycling,dodgeball,figure skating,figure 8 racing, men's ice hockey, women's ice hockey, golf,judo, men'slacrosse, women's lacrosse, sports officiating,pickleball,roundnet,rowing, men'srugby, running,sailing,shotgun,skateboarding, men's soccer, women's soccer, softball, swimming,table tennis,taekwondo, tennis, men'sultimate frisbee, women's ultimate frisbee, men's volleyball, women's volleyball, andwater skiing.[41]
In its earliest days, the Nebraska Department of Athletics had no central figure; the department's first leaders typically were part-time officials who held others titles and responsibilities. The first "Athletics Manager" was multi-sport coach Raymond G. Clapp, who filled the role from 1902 to 1905.[42] It became a full-time position in 1920 and was first held byFred Luehring.[43]
Beginning with Luehring, Nebraska recognizes seventeen official athletic directors, though at least fourteen others have held the role in an interim orde facto capacity. NU's longest-serving athletic director wasBob Devaney, who led the department from 1967 to 1992. Including Devaney, five members of theCollege Football Hall of Fame have held the position.
| Venue | Built | Sport(s) |
|---|---|---|
| City Campus | ||
| Hawks Championship Center | 2006 | Beach volleyball |
| Memorial Stadium | 1923 | Football |
| Military and Naval Science Building | 1947 | Rifle |
| NU Coliseum | 1926 | None (former home venue) |
| East Campus | ||
| Husker Bowling Center | 1977 | Bowling |
| Nebraska Innovation Campus | ||
| Bob Devaney Sports Center | 1976 | Gymnastics Swimming & diving Indoor track & field Volleyball Wrestling |
| Unnamed track & field stadium | N/A[h] | Outdoor track & field Cross country |
| Off campus | ||
| Barbara Hibner Soccer Stadium | 2015 | Soccer |
| Bowlin Stadium | 2001 | Softball |
| Hawks Field | 2001 | Baseball |
| John Breslow Ice Hockey Center | 2015 | Ice hockey (club) |
| Pinnacle Bank Arena | 2013 | Basketball |
| Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center | 2015 | Tennis |
| Wilderness Ridge Golf Club[i] | 2001 | Golf |
A total of 124 Nebraska athletes have combined to make 181 appearances in theOlympic Games. Nebraska athletes and coaches have won sixty-three medals, including nineteen gold medals, while representing thirty-one countries.Merlene Ottey is Nebraska's most decorated Olympian in terms of medals won, winning three silver and seven six bronze across seven Olympic Games, a record fortrack and field competitors.[45] South African swimmerPenelope Heyns – the only Cornhusker with multiple gold medals – is the only woman to ever win the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke events at the same Olympiad.[45]
| Athlete |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 Penelope Heyns | 2 | 0 | 1 |
 Don Quarrie | 1 | 2 | 1 |
 Jordan Larson_pictogram.svg) | 1 | 2 | 1 |
 Adam Pine | |||
| Kelsey Robinson | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Curtis Tomasevicz | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Justine Wong-Orantes | |||
Rulon Gardner | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Charlie Greene | |||
Francis Allen_pictogram.svg) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Burroughs | |||
| Trent Dimas | |||
Tyronn Lue | |||
| Jim Hartung | |||
| Tyler Hildebrand | |||
| Scott Johnson | |||
| Jim Mikus | |||
| Linetta Wilson |
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The University of Nebraska used many unofficial mascots in its early decades, most often an anthropomorphic ear of corn.[46] The first to appear on the sideline was Corncob Man, a man in green overalls with an ear of corn for a head who debuted in 1955.[46] In the 1960s the university sought a more "representative" mascot and created Husky the Husker, a ten-foot-tall farmer who soon gave way to Mr. Big Red (more commonly known as Harry Husker).[47] Harry was nearly as tall as Husky but wore a red blazer and wide-brim cowboy hat.[46]
At the1974 Cotton Bowl Classic, NU associate athletic director Don Bryant saw artistDirk West's interpretation of a Cornhusker – an enormous, clumsy farmer smiling and holding a football – on a press box wall and hired him to refine it into a new mascot.[48] "Herbie Husker" made his first appearance on the cover of Nebraska's 1974 football media guide and was adopted as the school's first official mascot in 1977.[49] Herbie is a blond-haired, blue-eyed farmer with a pronouncedbarrel chest and acleft chin.[50] He dresses in denim overalls, a white undershirt, and a red cowboy hat with an ear of corn in his pocket. In logo form, Herbie holds a football in his right arm, but various sport-specific versions exist.
Since 1993, Herbie has been joined byLil' Red, a blond-haired, blue-eyed inflatable farm boy who stands over eight feet tall. Lil' Red was initially intended to represent the school'svolleyball team and appeal to younger fans.[47] He became so popular that the university discontinued the use of Herbie in 1995, though he was later reinstated.[51] Nebraska says Herbie and Lil' Red are not intended to be related, but describes them as "best friends."[47]
Decades of high attendance and well-traveling crowds across all sports have earned Nebraska fans a reputation for being fiercely loyal and dedicated. The school's athletic department proclaimed their fans "the greatest fans in college football" in an inscription above each of the twenty-four gates atMemorial Stadium.[52][53] In 2001, presidentGeorge W. Bush stated that he "can't go without saying how impressed I am by the Nebraska fan base. Whether it be for women's volleyball or football, there's nothing like the Big Red."[54]
Memorial Stadium is sometimes referred to asThe Sea of Red due to the home crowd's propensity to wear the color. Nebraska has sold out every home football game since November 3, 1962; at 389 it is the longest sellout streak in college athletics history.[55] The streak, historically a source of pride for the school and its fans,[56] has been scrutinized in the decades followingTom Osborne's retirement as NU's athletic department has occasionally been forced to sell a large number of tickets at a discounted rate to keep the streak alive.[57] Cornhuskers fans are noted for often applauding the visiting team as they leave the field at the end of the game.[58] Nebraska is considered to have one of the best-traveling fanbases in the country – the most famous example of this occurred in 2000, when an estimated 35,000 Nebraska fans watched No. 1Nebraska defeat No. 25Notre Dame atNotre Dame Stadium.[59][60]
Nebraska's volleyball program has sold out 303 consecutive matches between theNebraska Coliseum andDevaney Center, the longest streak of its kind in women's college sports. The Cornhuskers have led the country in attendance for nine straight seasons,[j] and have played in nine of the tenhighest-attended college volleyball matches ever played. Nebraska's five-set loss toWisconsin in the2021 national championship match broke college volleyball records for both attendance and viewership.[61]
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