1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
The 1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
This was the first season for Nebraska in the Big 12 Conference, which took on that name after adding four schools from the disbanded Southwest Conference; the conference had been known as the Big Eight Conference since 1964, and was the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association before that. Nebraska was placed in the North Division with the four other Midwest schools in the conference, plus Colorado, all of which were in the conference prior to 1996; the Oklahoma schools joined with the former SWC members to form the South Division.
Nebraska participated in the very first Big 12 Championship Game by winning the North Division. They were upset by the unranked winners of the South Division, Texas. They still played in an Alliance bowl, the Orange Bowl, where they beat Virginia Tech.
Schedule
Roster and coaching staff
Game summaries
Michigan State
Arizona State
Colorado State
Kansas State
Baylor
Texas Tech
Kansas
Oklahoma
Missouri
Iowa State
Colorado
Texas
Virginia Tech
Rankings
| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Final |
| AP | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Coaches | 6 |
Awards
| Award | Name |
| All-America 1st team | Aaron Taylor, Jared Tomich, Grant Wistrom |
| All-America 2nd team | Chris Dishman |
| Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year | Grant Wistrom |
| All-America Freshman 1st team | Ralph Brown |
| All-Big 12 1st team | Chris Dishman, Jon Hesse, Jared Tomich, Mike Minter, Jason Peter, Aaron Taylor, Grant Wistrom |
| All-Big 12 2nd team | Eric Anderson, Michael Booker, Kris Brown, Jeff Ogard, Jamel Williams |
| All-Big 12 3rd team | Scott Frost, Terrell Farley, Ahman Green |
| All-Big 12 honorable mention | Ralph Brown, DeAngelo Evans, Brendan Holbein, Vershan Jackson, Jesse Kosch, Brian Schuster, Eric Stokes, Jon Vedral, Jamel Williams |
| Big 12 Coach of the Year | Tom Osborne |
NFL and pro players
The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1996 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.| Name | Team |
| Dan Alexander | Tennessee Titans |
| Eric Anderson | Amsterdam Admirals |
| Michael Booker | Atlanta Falcons |
| Kris Brown | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Mike Brown | Chicago Bears |
| Ralph Brown | New York Giants |
| Chris Dishman | Arizona Cardinals |
| Clint Finley | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Jay Foreman | Buffalo Bills |
| Scott Frost | New York Jets |
| Ahman Green | Seattle Seahawks |
| Jon Hesse | Green Bay Packers |
| Russ Hochstein | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Sheldon Jackson | Buffalo Bills |
| Vershan Jackson | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Eric Johnson | Oakland Raiders |
| Chad Kelsay | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Bill Lafleur | Barcelona Dragons |
| Joel Makovicka | Arizona Cardinals |
| Mike Minter | Carolina Panthers |
| Tony Ortiz | Scottish Claymores |
| Jason Peter | Carolina Panthers |
| Carlos Polk | San Diego Chargers |
| Mike Rucker | Carolina Panthers |
| Eric Stokes | Seattle Seahawks |
| Jared Tomich | New Orleans Saints |
| Larry Townsend | Berlin Thunder |
| Adam Treu | Oakland Raiders |
| Eric Warfield | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Steve Warren | Green Bay Packers |
| Jamel Williams | Washington Redskins |
| Jason Wiltz | New York Jets |
| Grant Wistrom | St. Louis Rams |
| Jon Zatechka | Berlin Thunder |