Nebraska basketball: Saturday Big Ten scores go Huskers’ way
The Nebraska basketball team got some help from its conference brethren on Saturday as Minnesota, Penn State and Iowa were all knocked off.
Now that the path has become clear for the Nebraska basketball team to get to the NCAA, scoreboard watching is going to be a daily occurrence for most Husker fans.
The Cornhuskers were off on Saturday thanks to a game on Thursday and a game coming up on Monday. Despite not playing a game, they managed to solidify their bubble spot a bit more as several competitors for that spot lost.
Ohio State vs Minnesota
Yesterday, the Minnesota Golden Gophers were just ahead of the Cornhuskers in the RPI ratings. After their 18 point loss to Ohio State, Nebraska is solidly ahead of Minnesota in the Big Ten standings and the RPI standings.
The Gophers’ loss to the Buckeyes wasn’t a surprise. There are few teams in the country playing better than OSU right now.
What is a bit deflating for Minny and Husker fans alike is the way the Gophers’ season has bottomed out. There was a time when Nebraska’s win counted as a pretty good one for resume fodder.
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These days, the Gophers are losing to anyone and everyone. Still, the 67-49 loss gives the Huskers a little breathing room. That will come in handy, as they have to take on Ohio State Monday night.
Purdue vs Iowa
Iowa is having a season to forget after coming in with fairly high hopes. Unsurprisingly, their bad season continued thanks to an 87-65 loss to Purdue.
Iowa fell to 1-7 in the conference. In the long run, it might actually be better for the Huskers if they were a little better when the two teams face off.
The Hawkeyes are one of those games that would be a “bad loss” should the Huskers come out and have a bad day, when the two squads clash in a few weeks. It’s still always nice to see Iowa flounder.
It’s especially nice to see Iowa flounder the way it has when the Nebraska basketball team is having such a solid season so far.
Northwestern vs Penn State
The Northwestern Wildcats have been having a surprisingly bad season. On the flip side, Penn State has been having a surprisingly good season, somewhat similar to what the Huskers are doing.
In fact, Penn State toppled the Huskers in their matchup last week. The two teams have similar overall records and are close to each other in the standings as well.
That’s why Husker fans should have been rooting for and been happy to see Northwestern best Penn State 70-61.
Once again, considering the Nebraska basketball team will be going into a game Monday it could very well lose, Northwestern taking care of business give the Cornhuskers a little breathing room over the Nittany Lions.
Should Nebraska pull off another upset (it would be the third time this season they’ve beaten a Top 25 team at game time) it will only help their bubble hopes to get some separation from these other teams.