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Nebraska’s 8-year bowl drought is longest in the Power 4: Highs, lows and close calls

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Nebraska’s 8-year bowl drought is longest in the Power 4: Highs, lows and close calls


LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska last won a football game with bowl eligibility at stake on Oct. 15, 2016.

Observers of that 27-22 win at Indiana for the 10th-ranked Huskers paid no mind to the fact Nebraska qualified for the postseason. After all, it would mark a ninth consecutive bowl bid and 46th in 48 seasons.

Nebraska finished with nine wins in 2016 for coach Mike Riley and lost 38-24 against Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. For the Volunteers, Joshua Dobbs accounted for 409 yards and four touchdowns.

Dobbs is now 29 and playing for his eighth NFL franchise. Nebraska’s starting quarterback in that bowl game, Ryker Fyfe, is 30.

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The eight-year absence for Nebraska from the college football postseason is the longest among Power 4 teams and tied for second longest among programs that have played at the FBS level since 2016. (Of note, Colorado had not achieved bowl eligibility since 2016 until this year, but the Buffaloes elected to play in a bowl game in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season; Nebraska did not.)

Alabama has appeared in the College Football Playoff six times since Nebraska last played in a bowl game.

Only UMass and Louisiana-Monroe, absent from the postseason since 2012, are riding longer droughts. And watch out because the Warhawks are 5-2 ahead of a trip to Marshall (4-3) this week.

Nebraska sits at 5-3 as two-win UCLA visits Memorial Stadium on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. CT clash. The most recent of 13 games between the Huskers and Bruins also marks Nebraska’s last bowl victory — 37-29 in the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl.

Since 2017, the Huskers are 0-7 in games that could have earned them a sixth victory and a bowl bid. They’re 0-6, in fact, under second-year coach Matt Rhule, including losses in the past two weeks at Ohio State and Indiana.

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Games with bowl eligibility at stake

Year Opponent Score

2019

vs. Iowa

L, 27-24

2023

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at Michigan State

L, 20-17

2023

vs. Maryland

L, 13-10

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2023

at Wisconsin

L, 24-17 (OT)

2023

vs. Iowa

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L, 13-10

2024

at Indiana

L, 56-7

2024

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at Ohio State

L, 21-17

Nebraska players recognize that another win would achieve a milestone.

“It would mean a lot,” freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola said.

But Rhule isn’t talking to his team this week about the shot to get bowl eligible. He said he thought the Huskers last year in November, in losing four consecutive games by a combined 16 points, were “chasing something.”

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It added pressure. A similar mindset contributed to their lack of aggressiveness two weeks ago in the stunning 56-7 loss at Indiana. But against Ohio State last week, in falling 21-17, Rhule saw a change. The Huskers were “playing to play,” he said.

He expects the same against UCLA.

“We have to redeem our name,” Rhule said. “We have to play for pride and play with heart and character. That’s what you saw (at Ohio State). I won’t talk about anything other than that this week.”

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Here’s a list of the five highest moments and the five lowest for Nebraska since it last played in a bowl game.

The high moments

1. The hirings of Scott Frost and Matt Rhule. Athletic director Bill Moos unveiled the news about Frost on Dec. 2, 2017, eight days after Riley’s final game, a 56-14 loss at Iowa. It was much hyped over the previous month as Frost rose to national prominence at UCF in 2017. The return to Nebraska of its former championship-winning QB rated a joyous moment for Husker Nation.

Nebraska publicly introduced Rhule on Nov. 28, 2022, two days after the school announced his hire during ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Thanksgiving weekend. The event to welcome Rhule, an eloquent speaker on that Monday, was held on the practice field at the Hawks Championship Center. It inspired hope among long-suffering fans.

2. The 2022 win at Iowa. It wasn’t for bowl eligibility, but victory felt even sweeter for Nebraska as it beat Iowa 24-17 to deny the Hawkeyes a Big Ten West title and snap a seven-game skid in the series. Casey Thompson and Trey Palmer teamed up to torch the Iowa secondary, and Nebraska held off a furious comeback attempt as interim coach Mickey Joseph, the former Nebraska QB who took over for Frost, finished on a celebratory note.

3. The 2024 win against Colorado. Amid high hopes at the start of this season, Nebraska played above expectations in beating the rival Buffs for the first time since 2010. A sense of pent-up anger filled all of Lincoln before kickoff. The nature of the 28-10 win turned Memorial Stadium into a party venue when Tommi Hill intercepted Shedeur Sanders and walked into the end zone for a pick six as Nebraska built a four-touchdown lead in the first half.

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4. The 2018 opener that never happened. A high moment until the rain and thunder refused to leave. Nebraska was set to host Akron on Sept. 1 in the highly anticipated debut for Frost as the Huskers’ head coach. The electric atmosphere rivaled the feeling inside Memorial Stadium before Nebraska played Miami in 2014. But after the opening kickoff, both teams left the field and never returned. The game was canceled. The night started with such big-event excitement but ended in unprecedented disappointment, a harbinger of the Frost era.

5. The 2020 win against Penn State. This was Frost’s best win. It was better than blowouts against Maryland and Northwestern. He finished 0-9 against Colorado, Wisconsin and Iowa. So yeah, this 30-23 win in the eerie, pandemic-season quiet at Memorial Stadium represented a high point. The Nittany Lions entered winless and lacked precision. Nebraska, in Luke McCaffrey’s finest moment in Lincoln, built a 27-6 lead and held off a comeback attempt led by QB Will Levis.

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The low moments

1. The 2022 Georgia Southern debacle. Visions of Kyle Vantrease abusing the Nebraska defense will live indefinitely in the minds of fans who attended this September mess. That is, the fans who stopped chanting “Fire Frost” long enough to watch the GSU quarterback throw for 409 yards. The Eagles rushed for five touchdowns and accumulated 642 yards, a record against Nebraska, in winning 45-42. Before the night ended, athletic director Trev Alberts rallied financial support to fire Frost. Made official one day later, the coaching move cost Nebraska some $7 million more than if Alberts had waited 20 days. But after that showing, there was no waiting left to do.

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2. The 2017 Northern Illinois loss. This one effectively doomed Riley in just the third game of his third season. And it came on the heels of that nine-win campaign in 2016. After Nebraska lost at Oregon in Week 2, it came home and Tanner Lee threw a pair of first-quarter pick sixes. The Huskers bounced back to win three Big Ten games. But Riley, hired by previous AD Shawn Eichorst, could not recover from the first Nebraska loss since 2004 against a non-power conference program or major independent. Moos dropped the hammer when the season ended in November.

3. The Colorado losses in 2018 and 2019. They stung for different reasons. First, the Buffs were in no shape to beat a decent team in either year. In what turned out to be Frost’s debut in 2018 after the Akron cancellation, Nebraska led late but wilted in the 33-28 defeat when freshman QB Adrian Martinez was injured. A year later in Boulder, the Buffs won 34-31 in overtime after the Huskers built a 17-0 lead at halftime. These one-score losses stood out as extra painful among the 22 that Frost lost in 27 games decided by eight points or fewer.

4. The onside kick. Under pressure from Alberts, Frost surrendered offensive play calling ahead of the 2022 season. The coach was unhappy about it. And in the opener against Northwestern, set at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, he called for an onside kick after the Huskers took a 28-17 lead in the third quarter. His bid to bury the Wildcats backfired. Northwestern, which went winless after the opener, capitalized on the short field to score a touchdown. It rallied to win 31-28. The glaring mistake, in Week 0 on an international stage, further eroded confidence in Frost. He lost his job two weeks later.

5. The 2024 blowout at Indiana. This one’s fresh. Rhule and the Huskers took momentum out of a bye week after their 5-1 start. Nebraska stood a chance to snap its 25-game losing streak against AP-ranked foes. Instead, it lost by 49 points, the third-largest margin in school history. First-year IU coach Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers outmaneuvered Nebraska repeatedly in an embarrassing defeat against a program that hadn’t won more than eight games since 1967. These Hoosiers are 8-0, though, as they play at Michigan State on Saturday.

(Photo: Dylan Widger / Imagn Images)

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Nebraska softball team hits four homers en route to series win over No. 7 Bruins

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Nebraska softball team hits four homers en route to series win over No. 7 Bruins


LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Athletics) – The No. 9 Nebraska softball team hit four home runs, including three in the second inning, to down the No. 7 UCLA Bruins by a score of 8-4 on Sunday afternoon at Bowlin Stadium.

With the win, the Huskers clinched the series over the Bruins and moved to 26-6 on the season with an 8-1 mark in Big Ten play. UCLA fell to 29-5 (10-2 Big Ten).

Hannah Camenzind accounted for three RBIs and two hits for the Big Red, as she knocked a three-run homer as part of the Huskers’ six-run second inning. Alexis Jensen and Ava Kuszak contributed the other two home runs in that inning. Jordy Frahm was 2-for-4 with a homer and Lauren Camenzind went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Jesse Farrell also added two hits.

Jensen (13-2) threw six innings with four runs and six hits, along with five strikeouts, to claim the win in the circle. Frahm threw a scoreless final inning to close out the win. Brynne Nally (2-1) took the loss for UCLA.

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UCLA loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first, but NU worked its way out of a jam and only allowed one Bruin run.

Frahm tied the score, 1-1, in the bottom of the first on a solo shot to center field.

In the bottom of the second, Farrell singled and Jensen hit a 273-foot homer to score the both of them. Frahm singled and Coor walked to set up an H. Camenzind homer and Kuszak hit a solo shot immediately after to give the Huskers a 7-1 advantage.

UCLA added a run in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 7-2.

Farrell singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth and advanced to second on a throwing error. Kacie Hoffmann singled to send Farrell to third and Farrell crossed the plate on a Lauren Camenzind RBI single to extend the lead to 8-2.

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The Bruins knocked a two-run homer with no outs in the top of the fifth but the Huskers retired three of the next four batters to earn the 8-4 win.

Nebraska is set for a midweek game against the Creighton Bluejays in Omaha, Neb., on Tuesday, March 31. The contest will start at 5 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network.

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No. 24 Nebraska wins slugfest over Indiana

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No. 24 Nebraska wins slugfest over Indiana


A windy day led to a wild slugfest at Hawks Field Saturday, but No. 24 Nebraska baseball knocked off Indiana, 12-7, clinching the conference series for the Cornhuskers while running Nebraska’s home record to 11-0.

The Huskers scored three runs in the first and two in the fourth to build a 5-0 lead. The Hoosiers answered with three in the sixth and one in the seventh to cut the NU lead to 5-4. Nebraska took control of the game with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to grow the lead to 12-4. IU scored one in the eighth, but drew no closer.

Drew Grego was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Dylan Carey drove in five runs and hit a home run, while always drawing a pair of walks. Case Sanderson was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of walks. Jeter Worthley added a 2-for-4 showing with an RBI and a walk. Carson Jasa (5-1) earned the win, throwing 5.2 innings for NU. He allowed four hits while striking out 10 and walking five. For Indiana, Owen ten Oever was 1-for-3 with three RBI. Cooper Malamazian was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The Huskers aim for the sweep Sunday at Hawks Field against Indiana. First pitch is slated for noon with pregame coverage at 11:30 a.m. on KLIN.

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No Kings protests return to Nebraska, draw hundreds and thousands

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No Kings protests return to Nebraska, draw hundreds and thousands


LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – Hundreds of Nebraskans protested against the Trump administration Saturday along Nebraska Parkway in Lincoln, and thousands protested near Northwest Radial Highway in Omaha as part of No Kings demonstrations statewide.

Protesters along Nebraska Parkway in Lincoln on March 28, 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)(Nebraska Examiner)

The third iteration of No Kings protests organized border to border gatherings to vent displeasure at President Donald Trump and his administration’s policy decisions. The Lincoln protest was held on the Helen Boosalis Trail between North 27th Street and North 56th Street.

“I don’t like what’s going on … I know it’s not the world I want to live in,” said Ford Kloepper, a 17-year-old Lincoln resident.

Kloepper said people his age are going to take the “brunt” of Trump’s “mistakes.” He pointed to the recent U.S. conflict in Iran as a motivator to protest for him, as he doesn’t want to get “drafted into a war in the Middle East for no reason at all.”

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Many of the protesters, much like previous demonstrations, held anti-Trump signs with slogans like, “Trump lies” and “Stop Trump, save democracy.” Others held American flags and wore costumes. Volunteers from different groups gathered signatures for ballot initiatives and at least one candidate. One of the petitions sought to let voters decide on a state constitutional amendment requiring larger majorities to repeal or change any law passed by voters. Volunteers for nonpartisan U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn collected signatures to get him on the November ballot. 

People gather at the Omaha No Kings protest. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
People gather at the Omaha No Kings protest. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)(Nebraska Examiner)

Organizers planned 18 protests across Nebraska. In Omaha, the rally was held at Gallagher Park, with thousands of protesters filling the sidewalks and grassy areas near the intersection of Maple Street and the Northwest Radial. 

Organizers said the spot let protesters draw attention to historic Benson and all of the restaurants, galleries and coffee shops that have made the neighborhood a cultural destination since 1887.  Among the crowd filled with a variety of ages and races was Lorin and Elwin Moseman, waving signs that said, “End Wars Before Wars End Us” and “No Kings No ICE.”

It was the Mosemans’ third anti-Kings rally, and despite the chill of the day, they said they wouldn’t have missed it. 

“It could have been an ice storm,” said Elwin, who was motivated in particular by “the Epstein files and Trump being in them, this stupid war we’ve got involved with Iran.”

His wife, Lorin, said she came to “stand up for democracy.”

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“I want to show up, stand up and speak out about our country,” she said, decrying “leadership incompetency from the very beginning.”

She said the nation needs a presidential job description and interview, and she was not short on words to describe her disgust and disappointment about current leadership: “Shameful, disgusting, exhausting.” 

“We’re in a broken world,” she said.

Nearby, a bundled up woman in a wheelchair held onto a sign that said, “I’m mad about everything.”

Lorin and Elwin Moseman of Omaha were among the thousands of protesters who participated in...
Lorin and Elwin Moseman of Omaha were among the thousands of protesters who participated in the Omaha demonstration on Saturday. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)(Nebraska Examiner)

Sara Peterson led buses carrying about 75 protesters from First United Methodist Church of Omaha. She said people felt a sense of unity and joy seeing the chanting crowd, which she said reflected her group’s makeup — diverse in age, ethnicity and political party.

“We’re not alone,” she said “It’s an exciting day to be a part of.”

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Peterson called the rally a “tangible sign of people coming together … for democracy.” Her group included church members and their friends — some of whom never participated in such a protest or rally before but felt the urge and were nudged “out of their comfort zone to take back our country and democracy.

Since the return of Trump for a second term, the anti-Trump group has organized national protests. Nebraska, much like the rest of the nation, saw multiple demonstrations throughout 2025. 

The group also bought ads in local newspapers ahead of the Saturday protests. Nebraska Republican Party chair Mary Jane Truemper had no immediate comment on the protests.

As Election Day gets closer, political observers have wondered how organizers might harness the political energy, whether the demonstrations might signal a coming wave of change at the polls, or whether momentum will fizzle after the crowds go home. Some have argued Democrats and progressives are good at mobilizing people for large-scale protests but have lagged conservatives in building local infrastructure to affect sweeping policy changes.

Back in Lincoln, Erik Betts, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student, said the political winds are in Democrats’ favor, and he feels the possibilities are endless, even in a reliably red state. He said he thinks Osborn could beat Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, and he hopes the “blue” wave might be large enough to beat Nebraska 1st Congressional District Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, a former speaker of the Legislature. 

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“We need to really show up this time …We’ve got to take this motivation … and make a difference,” Betts said. 

Betts said events like these help him stay hopeful because it reminds him that he is not alone.

“When you are in your own house and just scrolling on social media, it’s easy to feel just defeated,” Betts said. “So I come out as much to show support for everyone else, to feel that maybe a bunch of people agree with [me] and things can change.”

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Aaron Sanderford for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com.

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