Nebrasketball in the 2020s
For decades, Nebraska had an advantage over Northwestern in the realm of college basketball. Sure, Nebraska was not a Big Ten member until the start of this decade, but even as a Big Eight and then Big 12 program, Nebraska — in a head-to-head comparison with Northwestern — was objectively better and more successful than the Wildcats. Nebraska had made the NCAA Tournament. Northwestern had not.
Then came 2017. Northwestern not only made its first NCAA Tournament; the Wildcats then won their first NCAA Tournament game over Vanderbilt before losing to Gonzaga in the round of 32. Suddenly, in the battle of the two “NUs,” (that’s a real debate, by the way, over which “NU” is the REAL NU when Northwestern and Nebraska fans are in the same room…) Northwestern had overtaken Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are now the ONLY Power Five conference program without an NCAA Tournament victory. It defies all description. It doesn’t seem remotely possible. Yet, it is true, and that is the big challenge facing Nebrasketball in the coming decade of Big Ten hoops.
Remember this about Nebraska on the hardwood: The Cornhuskers were once a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They were not only supposed to win their 3-versus-14 first-round game; they had a real shot to make the Sweet 16 and do some damage in their bracket. However, coach Danny Nee’s team was ambushed by one of the masters of the NCAA Tournament upset in that era of college basketball history, Xavier’s Pete Gillen. Nebraska was a 6 seed in 1994, but No. 11 seed Pennsylvania knocked off the Huskers in Long Island, New York. Not once since the creation of the NCAA Tournament in 1939 has Nebrasketball been able to get over this particular roadblock.
This season, Nebraska is in complete rebuilding mode. The Huskers did just beat Purdue, but their collection of really bad early-season losses makes them highly unlikely to reach the Big Dance this coming March. Nevertheless, optimism runs high in Lincoln. Fred Hoiberg had an unpleasant tenure as the coach of the Chicago Bulls. He is back in his natural ecosystem, college basketball, coaching Nebraska after previously guiding Iowa State to the Sweet 16. It does seem like only a matter of time before Nebraska, under Hoiberg, wins that elusive first NCAA Tournament game. Yet, given how snake-bitten Nebraska has been, one should always allow for the possibility that a banana peel could emerge in the middle of the road, and that Nebraska might slip on it.
