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Around SBN: Jeremy Lin Continues Rampage, New York Wins On Road

Hoops Thoughts: It's got a beat, but can you Dance to it?

It's amazing what one little win over Texas can do for you.

On Friday, Nebraska was on NOBODY's NCAA radar.  By Saturday night, the wishful thinking had begun.  But is it that wishful?

The Huskers are 5-4 right now, and have 3 home games left.  All three home games are winnable -- Colorado and Iowa State are struggling mightily on the road, and Texas A&M is sitting at a woeful 3-6 in conference.  But that's just enough to get the Huskers to 8-8 (and a likely decent NIT seed).  The Huskers will have to get AT LEAST to 9-7 if they want to go dancing, and probably 10-6 to not sweat heavily on Selection Sunday.  Mark Shlabach on ESPN.com's Bubble Watch sums up Nebraska's resume nicely:

Nebraska [15-7 (5-4), RPI: 69, SOS: 61] The Cornhuskers' body of work looks similar to Kansas State's résumeacute;. Nebraska's best victories came against Missouri and Texas, and it has won three games in a row to get back into the bubble picture. But Nebraska still has much work to do. Like the Wildcats, the Cornhuskers have little to show from their nonconference schedule. They have a so-so victory over Creighton, but six of their 10 nonconference wins came against teams ranked No. 200 or lower in the RPI ratings. Worse, Nebraska lost to RPI No. 212 UMBC 66-64 on Dec. 23.

So, the Huskers are going to need to get some road wins or make a really deep run in the Big XII tournament to make the Dance.  I think one road game is certainly winnable -- Baylor.  The Bears are really struggling at 3-7 in league, and could be 6-9 or worse going into the final game against NU, which could give them very little to play for.

The trip to KU is hard to imagine the Huskers winning.  NU has won in Lawrence exactly once in my lifetime, in 1999.  If the Huskers can win this one, it would be huge for their tournament hopes.

The big question marks are this Saturday's game against Mizzou and two Saturdays from now at Kansas State.  Nebraska has already beat both these teams this season, and a sweep over either would be huge.  Can they do it?

  • Nebraska has won 2 straight in Columbia, and Doc is 6-2 against Mike Anderson.  Missouri is coming off a huge, emotional, last-second win over their arch-rival, and may be a little hung-over.  For some reason, this matchup has favored NU lately.
  • Kansas State will be coming off a mid-week trip to Mizzou, and remembering the 22-point shellacking in Lincoln earlier this year.  Nebraska has 2 wins in Manhattan this decade.

I think the Huskers could win either of these games, but I'm not sure they will.  That said, the fact that we can have this discussion with the smallest team in Division I two months after losing to Maryland-Baltimore County, is pretty impressive.  Of course, we could easily win BOTH those games, turn around and lose at home to Colorado and Iowa State.  Such is the plight of Husker hoops.

I'm going to stand by my 8-8 conference prediction for the time being, but I think that the first winning conference record in a decade is easily within reach.

Joe Ganz inspires, Fran Fraschilla praises Huskers

The Journal-Star has an interesting story today, about something Paul Velander heard Joe Ganz say, which he's brought to the Husker Basketball locker room: "Live within the team."

The same story also references Fran Fraschilla's Feb. 9 blog entry where he praises Doc Sadler's work at Nebraska.  Fran took a rare opportunity to watch a Husker practice, and he was full of kind words.  I won't say too much about it; take a chance to read it for yourself.

Poll
What do you think of the Huskers' post-season chances?
Dancing in the NCAA Tournament
14 votes
NIT-bound
75 votes
Chillin' in the CBI
1 votes
Going to that other new tournament
4 votes
Staying home
8 votes

102 votes | Poll has closed

Comment 6 comments  |  0 recs  | 

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If Schlabach is right...

…and I’m not convinced he is, then basically K-State, Nebraska and Texas are fighting for two spots. I have to believe the Big 12 gets five in, because there isn’t much in the mid-majors this season and the SEC (big time) and the Pac-10 (to a lesser extent) are down this year.

Barring a massive collapse, Texas is in. They had good wins in the non-conference and their losses aren’t that bad. So I’m guessing that it’s between K-State and Nebraska for the last Big 12 bid.

We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats

by TB on Feb 12, 2009 8:21 PM CST reply actions  

isn't

the problem here that Nebraska can’t get anyone to play us?

I mean – there’s nothing to win for someone playing Nebraska. We’re like the Fresno State football of basketball. if you lose, you look dumb. If you win, well, you were supposed to.

Texas gets in because people will play them.

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by Jon Johnston on Feb 12, 2009 9:54 PM CST up reply actions  

We CAN get people to play us, but...

If I recall, there was an opportunity to schedule one of the big ACC schools (North Carolina, Wake, or Maryland — I can’t remember which) a couple years ago, but they wanted either a 1-year, they-host game only or a three-year deal where we play on the road in years 1 and 3.

One of the whisperings for improving basketball scheduling has been talk of major package scheduling, where we make a deal to get a home-and-home football series and a home-and-home basketball series with a big-name two-sport school (Ohio State, for example) — usually this would include baseball series, women’s hoops, etc, too.

Otherwise, the best thing we can do to improve the schedule is be willing to play tough mid-majors, accept road trips to top programs, and push to get into the early-season tournaments. Maybe another made-for-TV event like the Big XII-Pac 10 series (we get USC on the schedule next year from that). Maybe Big XII-SEC?

Got Corn?

by huskerlibrarian on Feb 13, 2009 12:11 AM CST up reply actions  

FYI

Fran Fraschilla’s blog entry looks to be insider only.

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane

by JLew on Feb 12, 2009 9:03 PM CST reply actions  

Sorry...

Here’s two passages that are “highlights” from the long Doc part:

Watching Sadler’s team practice and play is a joy because I honestly don’t think there are five teams in all of college basketball that play harder or get more out of their ability than Sadler’s club. Every single drill was carried out at full speed because the players’ energy level was equaled by their head coach and then some. And every piece of instruction to the players was met with total attention.

Many high-school basketball coaches like to travel in the fall to watch college teams practice. Usually, it is a visit to a team that is nationally ranked, has cache and a famous coach to rub shoulders with. If I were those coaches, I’d do myself and my team a favor and make the trip to Lincoln instead, especially when the Big 12 team there isn’t any bigger than your high school team.

Got Corn?

by huskerlibrarian on Feb 13, 2009 12:04 AM CST up reply actions  

nice

write ups.

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by Jon Johnston on Feb 13, 2009 1:27 PM CST up reply actions  

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