The sixth season of the Fred Hoiberg era gets underway Monday when Nebraska hosts Texas-Rio Grande Valley in a nonconference game in Lincoln, Neb. to open the 2024-25 season.The Cornhuskers are coming off their first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade, losing to Texas A&M in the first round and finishing the season 23-11 overall. They return starters Juwan Gary and Brice Williams but otherwise have a mostly new roster that was bolstered by the transfer portal.”Our biggest challenge is going to be our rotation, and who we’re going to play, because we certainly have a lot of guys who are capable,” said Hoiberg, who is 63-94 with Nebraska.The Cornhuskers’ most notable additions are guards Connor Essegian (Wisconsin), Rollie Worster (Utah) and Ahron Ulis (Iowa) as well as frontcourt players Berke Buyuktuncel (UCLA) and Braxton Meah (Washington). The big men will help fill the void lost by Rienk Mast, who led the Cornhuskers in rebounding last season but is sitting out this year due to knee surgery.Texas-Rio Grande Valley will be making its debut under new coach Kahlil Fennell, who was previously an assistant at BYU under now-Kentucky coach Mark Pope. The Vaqueros are also in a new league, joining the Southland Conference after 11 seasons in the Western Athletic Conference.