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The Nebraska Cornhuskers will face off against the Northwestern Wildcats in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Huskers’ spectacular finish of three-straight road wins and back-to-back wins over ranked opponents combined with Minnesota’s loss to Northwestern earlier today earned the No. 13 seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the Huskers. That marks the first time since the 2019 tournament that Nebraska will not be the No. 14 seed.
Officially official
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 7, 2022
Who do you have cutting down the nets at the #B1GMBBall tourney? pic.twitter.com/KGVogUDRYP
The Huskers will face off against Northwestern on Wednesday in the opening game of the tournament at 5:00 p.m. CST. The Wildcats swept the Huskers in both games during the regular season, falling 87-63 in Lincoln on Feb. 5 and 77-65 on Feb. 22 in Evanston. The two teams have never played one another in the Big Ten Tournament.
Nebraska was the No. 14 seed for the past two tournaments in 2020 and 2021. Previously the Huskers were last the No. 13 seed in the 2019 tournament. The 2020 and 2021 No. 14 seed marked the first time the Huskers were the absolute bottom of the seeding bracket in Big Ten Tournament history. The high-water mark came with the No. 4 seed in the 2018 Big Ten Tournament.
Unfortunately for Nebraska, the Huskers have never advanced further than Friday in the Big Ten Tournament. Also, since the bracket expanded to 14 teams for the 2015 Tournament, no team that started play on Wednesday has advanced to further than Friday. However, a shorthanded Husker squad did just that in the 2019 Tournament as the No. 13 seed, falling 66-62 to fourth seeded Wisconsin.