Friday Five: From Milano to Lincoln
A former Husker at the Olympics, softball’s season debut, volleyball momentum and a major scholarship shift.
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games are here, which means the next two weeks will be filled with watching random sports—like curling!—at 3 a.m. Are you ready?
Of course, this isn’t a newsletter about the Olympics (but it could be). That said, we couldn’t just ignore the Olympics entirely so there’s a little of that to open this newsletter. When you can connect it to a former Husker and the Big Ten as a whole? You have to do it.
That’s not all though. There’s softball opening its season, volleyball looking at structural changes in season and an investment in scholarships across the athletic department.
Let’s dive in.
A former Husker back on the Olympic stage
Curtis Tomasevicz has already lived the kind of athletic career most people never get close to, and it’s a career that isn’t over yet. The former Nebraska football player and eight-time world champion bobsledder will be part of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina, this time as a coach for Team USA.
Tomasevicz was part of the four-man sled that won gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, ending a more than 60-year Olympic drought for the United States and snapping Germany’s long-standing dominance in the event. He followed that with a silver medal in 2014 and finished his competitive career having qualified for three Olympic Games and earning nine World Championship medals.
Tomasevicz played football at Nebraska from 2000-03 as both a running back and linebacker while earning degrees in electrical engineering. He was Academic All-Conference, received the Frank Solich Post-Graduate Scholarship twice and later earned a Ph.D. in biological engineering at Nebraska after retiring from competition.
In 2021, Tomasevicz returned to USA Bobsled as director of sport performance. Now, he’s headed back to the Olympic Games again, this time as a coach.
Big Ten presence on an Olympic scale
Tomasevicz won’t be alone in Milano Cortina.
Fifty-eight athletes with Big Ten ties have qualified for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, spanning current student-athletes, alumni and non-sport students, along with coaches and administrators. Thirty-one will represent Team USA, while 27 will compete internationally for countries including Canada, Germany, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Czechia.
Hockey dominates the list. Eighty-one percent of Big Ten athletes at the Games will compete in ice hockey, with the women’s tournament featuring 38 Big Ten players alone. In total, athletes from the conference will participate in six sports.
Eleven Big Ten institutions will be represented, led by Minnesota (16), Ohio State (13), and Wisconsin (12).
The Games run Feb. 6-22, with NBCUniversal providing coverage across NBC, USA Network, CNBC and Peacock.
Softball opens the season with no warm-up
The No. 10 Huskers open the season this weekend at Roadrunner Field in San Antonio with five games in three days, including two matchups against No. 1 Texas and two against Washington. It’s about as aggressive an opening slate as you’ll find anywhere in the country.
Nebraska was ranked in all four major preseason polls and enters the season with expectations that reflect last year’s results: a 43-15 record, a Super Regional appearance and a roster that brings back a lot of talent.
The Huskers return 18 letterwinners, 97% of their innings pitched and 84% of their at-bats from an offense that set program records in 16 statistical categories. Jordy Frahm is back after sweeping national and conference player and pitcher of the year honors, anchoring a group with big expectations heading into the new season.
The schedule:
Friday, Feb. 6: Washington (1:05 p.m.), Texas (6:05 p.m.)
Saturday, Feb. 7: Texas (3:35 p.m.), UTSA (6:05 p.m.)
Sunday, Feb. 8: Washington (10:05 a.m.)
Every game will be streamed on ESPN+, with free radio broadcasts available through Huskers.com and the official Husker app.
Big Ten volleyball tournament momentum is real
After years of discussion, Big Ten coaches met virtually this week, and Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly said she expects the conference to add a postseason volleyball tournament. It would likely begin in 2027.
There has been resistance to a Big Ten volleyball tournament over the years, but that seems to be changing. The SEC’s addition of a volleyball tournament in 2025 probably highlighted what’s possible, especially as it didn’t derail the teams. Texas A&M still won the national title.
To make a tournament work, Busboom Kelly said the Big Ten would likely reduce its regular-season slate from 20 conference matches to 17. Logistics remain— think host sites, scheduling and travel—but the philosophical hurdle seems to be clearing.
For Nebraska specifically, Busboom Kelly indicated that tournament play could be beneficial. Volleyball already stands out as one of the few Big Ten sports without a postseason conference event.
Speaking of volleyball, spring will bring the Huskers three exhibition matches in April, including their annual match outside Lincoln and Omaha.
Nebraska expands scholarships in a major way
Nebraska Athletics made a significant structural announcement in years this week, unveiling a three-year plan to substantially increase scholarships across its programs.
Beginning in the 2026-27 academic year, Nebraska will add 78 scholarships—48 for women and 30 for men—bringing the total to 360 scholarship student-athletes. Additional increases are planned in each of the next two years, ultimately reaching an estimated 433 scholarships by 2028-29.
“This will not only help each of our teams compete at a high level, but it will also better support many student-athletes in their education and pursuit of a college degree,” athletic director Troy Dannen said in a statement.
By the end of the plan, Nebraska will fully fund the maximum allowable scholarships for women’s sports and approximately 80 percent of the maximum for men’s sports. Deputy athletic director Kristen Brown emphasized how closely the move aligns with long-standing Title IX goals.
“The opportunity to provide all Husker female student-athletes with scholarships is the latest example of that commitment,” Brown said.
The shift is enabled by the House settlement finalized last summer, which removed NCAA scholarship caps and replaced them with roster limits. Schools can now offer partial or full scholarships to every athlete on a roster within those limits.
This move, paired with the recent addition of women’s flag football, puts Nebraska at 25 varsity sports—15 women’s and 10 men’s—and reinforces a philosophy the department has been pretty clear about: if there’s room to expand opportunity, Nebraska intends to take it.
Hope you’re ready for a weekend of the Olympics (and the Super Bowl too). We didn’t mention the Super Bowl above, but former Husker Jake Peetz will represent Nebraska in the big game as a member of the Seattle Seahawks staff.
And there’s softball and basketball and you name it. It’s that time of the year. Best to enjoy.
I don't think the quality of the article would have been lessened by leaving out that sentence discussing Texas A&M.