Men’s Basketball

Heyooooooo!

It’s Friday, so it’s time for a look at Big Ten Basketball standings!

Look at what just happened! Penn State knocked off Ohio State in Columbus to ruin the Buckeyes perfect conference record!

Penn State 82, Ohio State 79: Yes, That Just Happened. - Black Shoe Diaries

Tony Carr’s buzzer-beater ruined an impressive comeback by the Buckeyes and gave the Nittany Lions a stunning upset on the road.

No. 13 Ohio State falls to Penn State, 82-79, in buzzer-beater - Land-Grant Holy Land

The Buckeyes undefeated run in Big Ten play came to an end against PSU.

This kind of stuff happens in basketball - “this” being the “big upset”. It happens to everyone, regardless of whether they’re the best team in the land or not. It’s just that hard playing a crapload of games, whether at home or on the road, and being up for every one of them.

Nebraska sits tied at fourth with Michigan (ahead of Michigan in a tiebreaker because we smashed them earlier in the season at PBA), and ahead of Indiana, who just lost to Illinois. Illinois is no longer winless in conference! Congrats Illini!

Illinois 73, Indiana 71: Big Ten basketball is very bad and please stop making me watch it - The Crimson Quarry

Is Indiana maybe a upper-half Big Ten team? Probably not! They’re booty like every other team in the conference not Ohio State, Purdue, and Michigan State. Let me out of this hell.

Basketball is difficult for Indiana fans this season.

The big question - will Nebrasketball make it to the BIG DANCE?

Nebraska’s RPI sits at 61. It’d be nice if it were higher, but it’s not. It’s probably not going to get a lot of help from the rest of the regular season schedule, which includes:

• Iowa
• At Wisconsin
• At Minnesota
• Rutgers
• Maryland
• At Illinois
• Indiana
• Penn State

Not exactly a murder’s row of a schedule, so there’s a good chance Nebraska can get to 20 wins this season, 20 being a target for teams getting to the dance. The Huskers sit at fourth in the Big Ten, and it would be really really nice to stay there as the Big Ten is not very good this year and might only get four teams into the tourney.

Bottom line - there is a lot of basketball to be played.

What would be nice is if Glynn Watson could come out of his slump in the next few games, turning that slump into an explosion. Not only would it be fun, but it would make Nebraska a team that no one wants to face.

It’s much more fun when basketball is decent. And it is.

Women’s Basketball

Nebraska has emerged from a tough stretch of basketball asserting themselves as a contender in the conference. They sit at 15-6 overall and 6-2 in the B1G with eight regular season games remaining. The logjam of last week has cleared up somewhat and Nebraska is alone in third.

The Huskers have moved up to 56 in RPI and are now getting notice in bracketology predictions and receiving votes in polls.

Of the remaining eight games, there are two likely losses (Maryland), three likely wins (Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana), and three that I previously called toss-ups (Iowa, Michigan Sate, Penn State). I am now leaning win against Penn State and still calling Iowa and Sparty toss-ups. The Huskers won their two games this past week that I previously called toss-ups (@Rutgers by 9 and vs Purdue by 24).

I’m upping my prediction for the season win total and seeing 20 wins as a real possibility for a team that is finding its stride and gaining confidence with every game.