Big Ten Basketball Standings!

What a great game against Michigan last night! A rout no less!

It was refreshing to see Nebrasketball put a complete game together especially against a team like Michigan whom we hadn’t defeated since joining the Big Ten. We hadn’t beaten them since 1964, but that doesn’t mean that much given we didn’t play them on a regular basis.

Purdue and Ohio State continue to be the cream of the conference. Nebraska takes on Ohio State Monday in Columbus. The Buckeyes are currently #22 in the AP and Coaches polls. Winning on the road in the Big Ten is darned hard no matter the opponent, and after beating Michigan it will be interesting to see how the Huskers take on the Buckeyes from a mental standpoint.

Nebraska’s schedule becomes easier after the Buckeyes. They are at Rutgers, home against Iowa, at Wisconsin, at Minnesota, and home against Rutgers in their upcoming games. That’s not exactly a murderer’s row.

Purdue is #3 nationally, while Michigan State has taken a step back the past couple weeks. The Spartans are still ranked #9 in both polls.

If you want to amuse yourself, get a hold of this roundtable from last season when the CN Staff weighed in on whether Tim Miles would be fired:

Tim Miles Future at Nebraska: The CN Roundtable has a thought, but Shawn Eichorst Begs to Differ. - Corn Nation
Nebraska’s athletic director says he’s looking forward to Tim Miles being back next season.

Women’s Basketball

The Husker women are 13-6 overall and tied for 5th in the Big Ten standings at 4-2, within one game of first place for now. With 10 games left, Nebraska plays five of those against teams that are either ahead or tied with them in the standings.

Looking ahead at the ten games left on Nebraska’s schedule, I see four they should win (Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Penn State), four toss-ups (Rutgers, Purdue, Iowa, Michigan State), and two likely losses (both against Maryland). I probably should put Rutgers in the likely loss category as they are a very good team led by a hall of fame coach. I just feel like the Huskers are on a roll and the defensive-minded, control-the-tempo style of Rutgers matches up well with a gritty, never-give-up Husker squad.

If things break as expected (and with a young team like Nebraska, they never do), the Huskers could go 6-4 in their last ten games, resulting in a 19-10 record (10-6 in the conference). The Huskers will need to exceed expectations over these next ten games and grab at least a couple more wins in the conference tourney to have a good shot at an NCAA berth. Meet expectations and they are likely a WNIT team. If things fall apart, they might stay home this postseason (Even with the amount of youth on this team, I don’t see that happening).

Next season, this Nebraska team should be a solid NCAA tourney team. The following season (2019-2020) looks like their best chance to make a run for a conference championship, but whether they can get by the Maryland’s of the word remains to be seen.