Nebraska basketball: What are the odds Tim Miles is out?

Could the Nebraska basketball coach really be on the hot seat after a Cinderella season?

The Nebraska basketball season seemingly went from uplifting and unexpected to yet another frustration quicker than anyone expected. That is, if you are someone who checks Twitter pretty religiously.

The same Cornhusker fans that were quite excited about the job Miles had done heading into the final Sunday of the season had changed their tunes once the final horn sounded at the team’s NIT loss to Mississippi State.

Yes, Husker fans are a fickle bunch. Yes, those calling for Tim Miles head were likely overreacting a bit.

No, Tim Miles has not guaranteed himself an extension, despite posting the best regular season record in quite some time. The season honestly couldn’t have ended much worse.

If Miles is getting quite a bit of negative attention, he’s largely responsible for it. He did an awful lot of jawing in the weeks leading up to Selection Sunday.

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The Huskers went into the first Big Ten conference tournament game knowing that a victory over Michigan likely got them off the bubble and into the NCAA tournament. That’s what was especially galling about the blowout loss.

That ugly loss, in a game where it looked like the Cornhuskers were either disinterested or scared, was followed by a week of talking from the team about how they still belonged in the big dance. The selection committee disagreed.

Then the selection committee decided the Huskers were just barely good enough for the NIT. According to Tim Miles, the team was angry … he was angry. Then they went to Starkville and played poorly again.

The question now has to be, if, as the head coach you can’t get your team to walk the walk, should you be the one talking the talk anymore? Speaking of talk, there was quite a bit last season that Miles had lost the team at the end of the 2016-17 season.

While he didn’t lose the team this year, one has to wonder whether his coaching was the reason for the turnaround, or whether it was simply James Palmer, Isaiah Roby and Isaac Copeland putting together very good seasons.

As others have pointed out, they played a pretty soft schedule. They didn’t get a ton of big wins.

Maybe the uptick in talent, paired with a down conference year and a soft schedule otherwise was the perfect storm that made Miles look like he did a better job than he did.

People know what Bill Moos is willing to do after a terrible football season to a coach that isn’t the right fit. Tim Miles is meeting with him next week.

We might be about to find out what Bill Moos does after a pretty good season, but with a coach who might not be the right fit. It seems unlikely the Nebraska basketball team will be firing their head coach.

Is it possible Miles will leave that room without an extension? If he does, will he really be coming back in the 2018-19 season?

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Those questions seemed silly entering the Big Ten tournament. Now that the team has gone one and done in that and the NIT, we’re back to wondering just how hot a seat Tim Miles is sitting on.

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