Nebraska basketball: Road to NCAA Tournament becomes clear

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The Nebraska basketball team has a clear shot at the NCAA Tournament. They’re smack dab in the middle of the upper tier of the Big Ten.

The Friday night games in the Big Ten have helped vault the Nebraska basketball team onto the NCAA Tournament bubble.

The Huskers are now in fourth place in the conference thanks to holding a tie breaker over Michigan. Considering the consensus is that the Big Ten will get six teams, the Cornhuskers have a legit shot.

Sitting at 14 wins so far, it’s a safe bet that 20 victories will get Nebraska an at-large bid. 19 wins and a conference tourney win would do the same thing.

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The question now is just where and when those six other wins are going to come from. The good news is that there is exactly one more ranked team left on the schedule.

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At the same time, it’s far too early in this apparent turnaround to think the Cornhuskers are just going to dominate their Big Ten brethren. At Rutgers, vs Ohio State and at Minnesota stand out as games the Huskers are going to need to step up in order to win.

The good news is that most of the rest of the toughest games on the schedule are in Lincoln. That includes Maryland, Penn State and Indiana. At Wisconsin seems like the game that will really be the toss-up.

Wisconsin is having a down year, but the Huskers haven’t played great on the road. Not headed for a tournament bid itself, it’s a safe bet the Badgers would love to be a thorn in the side of the Huskers chances.

Ranked 63rd in the Kenpom rankings, the Cornhuskers are squarely on the bubble. A win on Monday night would solidify a resume that isn’t quite a tournament lock just yet. Of course, in order to do that, Nebraska basketball would have to knock off an Ohio State team that is 7-0 in conference.

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