Nebraska basketball Bubble Watch: Huskers remain on outside looking in

The Nebraska basketball team would still be in the NIT if the regular season ended today.

Going into a weekend game against Illinois that shouldn’t have much impact on the Nebraska basketball team’s tourney chances, it turns out those tourney chances are still slim.

We say “shouldn’t” because the Huskers travel to Illinois. A victory over the Illini, who will likely be sitting home after the regular season, isn’t going to sway the selection committee.

That’s the case even though it would mean the Cornhuskers had themselves 21 wins. The only way Sunday’s game could affect Nebraska’s NCAA Tournament chances is if they lost.

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A defeat might just be disastrous if ESPN‘s Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology is to be believed. Despite a solid win over a solid Maryland team, the Huskers are still listed by Lunardi among the “First Four Out.”

The Huskers are in a group that includes Washington, Baylor and Syracuse. The last four in, this time around are Texas, UCLA, USC, and St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies are probably the team that is going to stand out to most Husker fans.

The Atlantic 10 team does have a much better RPI than the Huskers (40th-52nd) but that margin is flipped when looking at Ken Pom ratings (NU is 54th and Bonaventure is 66th). In reality, Texas, USC, and UCLA are also teams that don’t actually have a better argument than the Cornhuskers.

With the “Bubble Race” only tightening up as we hit the home stretch, a loss to Illinois might be the death blow. It’s long been believed the Huskers would have a pretty good shot of making it in if they lose just one more game.

It’s likely that loss would have to come to either Indiana, or Penn State. Of course, these days, Penn State is looking more like a contender thanks to a blowout of Ohio State last night.

These days, the Nittany Lions are right behind the Nebraska basketball team in Lunardi’s list as part of the “Next Four Out.” If nothing else, it appears the last few weeks of the regular season are going to be interesting.