A year after being left out of the NCAA Tournament, and controversially so in some quarters, Tim Miles made sure he challenged his team in non-conference play. He scheduled up and got some help along the way, but that wasn’t all there was to this. The Cornhuskers had to win some of those games, too.
Thus far, they have generally done that. The latest instance was a 79-56 thumping of former conference rival Oklahoma State on Sunday.
In years past, when we didn’t have the level of detail available that we do now, most would have figured Nebraska a mortal lock for the NCAA Tournament. For a long time, a widely-cited statistic revolved around teams in the power conference who had .500 or better records in conference play making the NCAA Tournament. We know better now, especially since we can look more critically at non-conference schedules, and also at who a team beat.
Simply put, last year’s Nebraska team didn’t get the quality wins they needed – they had the quantity, but not the quality. Other than Michigan, they did not beat a single team that was a lock for the NCAA Tournament, not helped by the fact that it was a down year in the Big Ten.
This time around, they have both quality and quantity early on. And the Big Ten is not having a down year, which will only help.
Nebraska is now 9-2 with wins over Seton Hall (a blowout), Clemson (on the road), Creighton and now Oklahoma State. The best of those is probably the one over Creighton at the moment, though the one over Seton Hall is right there; the jury is out on Clemson and Oklahoma State. All the same, the important thing is they are winning some of these games.
The meat of non-conference play is done now. All that remains is a visit from Cal State Fullerton and another from a non-Division I school. When Big Ten play starts in earnest – the Cornhuskers split their first two earlier this month – they begin with two straight and four of six on the road.
A lot of basketball remains to be played, and a lot can change. Nebraska basketball is not the easiest job in the power conferences – nowadays, even football isn’t what it used to be, for that matter – but Miles may be on the verge of getting them in the NCAA Tournament again. After not missing by much a year ago, that would be a nice change of result.
Side Dishes
Houston improved to 10-0 as they held off Saint Louis 68-64. It’s worth noting that many thought a dip would be coming for this team given significant personnel losses, but the Cougars have continued to win and not just against stiffs.
Mohegan Sun Arena was home to a tripleheader in the Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off. Rhode Island pulled away from West Virginia 83-70, dropping the Mountaineers to 6-4 as they shot below 33 percent from the field and committed 15 turnovers while forcing just nine. Tulsa continued their fine start as they edged Dayton 72-67, and Drexel rallied from a 16-point deficit to knock off Quinnipiac 92-83.
Tonight’s Menu
The slate is light, although the action includes a few late ones out west.
- Fresh off their win at Georgia on Saturday, Arizona State remains in SEC country for a visit to Vanderbilt (7 p.m.)
- Davidson tries to bounce back from a heart-breaking loss on Saturday on the road at Wake Forest (7 p.m.)
- Northern Colorado tries to bounce back from a loss on Saturday in a tough road matchup at New Mexico State (9 p.m.)
- The best matchup further west is a toss-up between all three: MAAC contender Rider traveling to Washington State, Pepperdine visiting Oregon State and Portland hosting Seattle, with all three tipping at 10 p.m.
