It’s Friday, and you know what that means. It’s time for the Friday Five.
Before we get into it, we have to start in Arlington. Nebraska volleyball took part in the inaugural Spikes Under the Lights at AT&T Stadium, alongside SMU, Penn State and Florida. The Huskers faced Florida in their first match and SMU in their second. By the time this lands in your inbox, we’ll know a little more about what that first public test looked like.
That said, it was still an exhibition. We don’t need to make too much of one night. Still, it was the first chance to see Nebraska against another team and that is worth something before the Huskers officially start the season.
Now, onto the rest of the week.
1. Nebraska flag football is arriving sooner than expected
Nebraska women’s flag football will play its first competitive season in the spring of 2027, one year earlier than originally planned.
The Huskers announced flag football as their 25th varsity sport in January, with Liz Sowers later named the program’s first head coach. Katie Sowers is serving as associate head coach, Amy Stephens is the director of operations and Associate AD Jami Hagedorn is the sport administrator. The first roster includes 16 players, with 11 transfers and five freshmen from seven states. Nebraska will play home games at Barbara Hibner Stadium, which is also home to Husker soccer.
“Flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and we are excited that our student-athletes will get to participate in this fast-paced sport one year earlier than previously planned,” athletic director Troy Dannen said. “Our coaches have done an outstanding job assembling a talented roster and with the recent change in NCAA rules granting student-athletes five years of eligibility, we determined that we were prepared to play in 2027.”
It is a pretty big move for a program that, not that long ago, was still more idea than reality.
“When we arrived at Nebraska, we couldn’t wait to get started so we are thrilled to bring flag football to Husker fans this spring,” coach Liz Sowers said. “We are excited about the roster we have built over the last few months, and we are excited for Husker Nation to watch our team. We are blessed with a beautiful facility, amazing resources and we can’t wait to represent the N in front of the greatest fans in the country.”
Women’s flag football was approved by the NCAA as an emerging sport in January, with the first NCAA championship expected in 2028. Nebraska will now get a season under its belt before that championship arrives.
2. Bowlin Stadium gets the Big Ten spotlight
Nebraska softball will host the 2027 Big Ten Tournament at Rhonda Revelle Field at Bowlin Stadium.
“We are honored that Nebraska and Bowlin Stadium have been selected as the host site for the 2027 Big Ten Tournament,” head coach Rhonda Revelle said. “Our staff will take pride in putting on a first-class event. The environment at Bowlin Stadium will be electric.”
Nebraska’s softball crowds have been building in a real way that makes this decision make a lot of sense. The top 10 attendance marks in program history have all come in the last two years, and Nebraska averaged 2,780 fans per game in 2026, which ranked third nationally.
The Huskers also hosted the Big Ten Tournament in 2013 and now become the first program to host it twice since the tournament returned that year. For a program entering Revelle’s 35th season, this feels like a fitting reward for both the current momentum and the foundation that helped create it.
3. Tennis will have plenty happening in Lincoln
Both Nebraska tennis programs released fall schedules this week and Lincoln will have plenty of chances to see high-level tennis at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center.
The women will host three events this fall: the Husker Invitational from Sept. 25-27, the UTR Pro Tennis Tour Tournament from Sept. 28-Oct. 2 and the ITF W15 Lincoln from Nov. 9-15. Nebraska also has ITA events on the schedule, the TCU Jae Foundation Battle of the Boot and the NCAA Individual Championships in Athens, Georgia.
The women return seven players from last year’s team, including seniors Maria Taranova, Reya Lee Coe, Tiziana Rossini and Emma Rizzetto. Conley Raidt, Catherine Gagnon and Katie Spencer are also back, while Neda Rahimkhani is set to make her Nebraska debut after transferring from Baylor.
The men will also host the UTR Pro Tennis Tour Tournament from Sept. 28-Oct. 2, then bring the ITA Regional Tournament to Lincoln from Oct. 7-11. Their fall schedule also includes the Creighton Invite in Omaha, the Big Ten Individual Championships in Ann Arbor and NCAA Championships in Orlando.
The men’s roster has three returners—Henry Lamchinniah, Niels Van Der Sijs and Jeri Lassila—plus three freshmen and four transfers.
4. Danny Odem gets an early national nod
Nebraska cornerback Danny Odem III was named to the preseason list for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award this week. Odem is one of 37 players on the list and one of 12 defensive players. The award includes both true freshmen and redshirt freshmen, with semifinalists set to be announced Nov. 3 and the winner named Dec. 28.
For Nebraska fans, Odem is already one of the more interesting young names on the roster. He arrived from The First Academy in Orlando, where he was a five-star prospect and ranked by 247Sports as the No. 19 player in the 2026 class.
Of course, freshman honors in August are mostly about potential and Odem still has to turn that potential into something on the field. But it is a positive sign of the type of young talent Nebraska has added no matter what. For a defensive back room that has been worth watching all offseason, Odem gives Husker fans one more reason to keep an eye on the freshmen once the season begins.
5. Former Huskers are back on the international stage
A group of former Nebraska men’s basketball players is back in action this week for the second round of 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifying.
Rienk Mast is playing for the Netherlands, Thorir Thorbjarnarson for Iceland, Keisei Tominaga for Japan and Tai Webster for New Zealand. Each team has two games in the qualifying window, which runs Thursday through Monday.
Mast’s return is especially notable because it is his first official national team appearance since 2023, when he played in the FIBA Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament. He also played for the Netherlands in World Cup qualifying in 2019. Most recently, he was with the Indiana Pacers in NBA Summer League, where he averaged 15.3 points and 9.0 rebounds over four games in Las Vegas.
Thorbjarnarson, Tominaga and Webster all played for their national teams in the previous qualifying window. Tominaga has appeared in all six of Japan’s qualifiers, while Webster helped New Zealand reach the second round with wins over the Philippines and Guam.
There is also a Jack McVeigh note here, even though he is not on Australia’s 12-man team for this week. Australia sits at 6-0 in Group E, while New Zealand is 4-2 in the same group. Japan is also 4-2 in Group F.
It is always fun when Nebraska connections show up internationally and this week gives us a few.
I hope the flag football coaches are able to reap some early awards for the team.