The Big Ten Conference released its preseason Players to Watch list and preseason coaches' poll on Thursday morning. Senior Chance Hroch as well as juniors Cade Povich and Spencer Schwellenbach represented Nebraska on watch list.

Hroch is in his first season at Nebraska after transferring from New Mexico State. A first-team all-region and all-conference selection in 2019, Hroch went 10-1 with a 2.74 ERA in 15 starts, notching 69 strikeouts in 85.1 innings as a junior.

Povich transferred to Nebraska last season from South Mountain CC. A Bellevue, Neb., native, Povich made four starts last year and was 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA, but in his team-high 21.1 he struck out 26 and walked just two.

Schwellenbach received third-team preseason All-America accolades from Baseball America and second-team honors from D1Baseball in 2021. Both publications tabbed him as a utility player. Over his first two seasons at Nebraska, Schwellenbach batted .281, starting all 59 games he has played in for the Huskers. He played 44 games as a freshman in 2019 and 15 games as a sophomore in 2020 before the season was cut short due to COVID-19.

The Huskers are scheduled to open the 2021 season on Friday afternoon in Round Rock, Texas, with the first of four games against the Purdue Boilermakers. First pitch is set for 3 PM and it will be video streamed live on BTN+. The game will also be carried on the Learfield/IMG Husker Sports Network, including for free on Huskers.com and the Husker Mobile App.

Nebraska was not one of the top six teams listed in the preseason coaches' poll.

1. Michigan
2. Indiana
3. Ohio State
4. Iowa
5. Maryland
6. Illinois