Husker Big Red Daily: Illinois predictions and injury report, previewing a jam-packed weekend for Huskers

Welcome to Husker Big Red Daily, your daily stop for the latest Nebraska football news, recruiting buzz, transfer portal updates, and Huskers headlines. Here’s a quick look at the latest storylines surrounding Nebraska athletics.

Buckle up, Husker fans, it’s going to be a busy weekend, starting with the Nebraska football team’s Friday night game against Illinois.

Both teams are 5-3. However, they are headed in opposite directions. Illinois has won three games in a row, while Nebraska football has lost three in a row.

One of those wins for Illinois was over Oregon in Champaign, where the Huskers will try to win their second Friday night game of the Rhule era. The Huskers won there in 2023 in the “If we die, we die” game, and Nebraska could certainly use a win tonight, which we believe, for some reason, it will get.

Nebraska also got good news on the Thursday night injury report. Gunnar Gottula, who has started every game this season on the offensive line when healthy, was removed from the injury report. He will play. Jamir Conn has also been upgraded to probable.

Now, to the rest of the weekend, with volleyball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.

Nebraska volleyball hits the road for two ranked matchups

The 23-0 Nebraska volleyball team currently leads the Big Ten by two games in the loss column, as it sits at 12-0. Tied with Wisconsin in second place with two losses are the Oregon Ducks, who will host the Huskers this weekend, along with Washington.

First up will be 12th-ranked Oregon. The Ducks could move within a game of Nebraska with a win, so this is a huge match for Nebraska as far as wrapping up the regular-season title.

Through 23 matches, Nebraska leads the country in hitting percentage (.337) and opposing hitting percentage (.110). Bergen Reilly will lead the way for Nebraska after earning Big Ten Setter of the Week honors following two road wins last weekend.

According to Huskers.com, Reilly recorded a season-high 58 assists with nine digs and two aces while setting NU to a .412 hitting percentage. It was the fourth match of the season with a .400-or-better hitting percentage. The Huskers completed the match with five players in double-digit kills for the 12th time in the rally-scoring era, including the first time since 2021.

Reilly tallied 45 assists, a career-high six blocks, five digs and a pair of kills at No. 25 Michigan State on Saturday afternoon.

18th-ranked Washington will host Nebraska on Sunday. The Huskies are 8-4 in the Big Ten. First serve on Saturday night will go out at 9 p.m. CST (Big Ten Network), with Sunday’s match starting at 5:30 p.m. CST (FS1).

Nebraska basketball games on tap

Both Nebraska basketball teams started 1-0 with wins on Monday. The women’s basketball team defeated San Jose State. The men’s team rolled past Le Moyne.

Both teams will be back in action on Saturday. Nebraska will be home for women’s basketball, hosting Western Illinois, the Ohio Valley Conference champion last season. That game will tip off Saturday at 2 p.m. CST on BTN+.

Fred Hoiberg’s team will be in Connecticut to take on Providence (6 p.m. CST, FS1) in an early battle of power-conference teams. Nebraska is ranked 14th in the KenPom rankings. Providence is 51st.

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