Nebraska Basketball: To save Tim Miles job, Huskers must start winning

While many fans see it as a foregone conclusion that Tim Miles will be hired as head of Nebraska basketball, it’s not a sure thing, especially if the Huskers can win some games.

It’s not a secret that the Nebraska basketball team has been on a tough run lately, losing seven consecutive games to drop the Huskers out of NCAA tournament contention.

When Nebraska basketball went on the road and beat Indiana to get to 3-3 in the league it felt like a turning point. It felt like this team was going to stick around the entire season and get back to the big dance for the first time since 2014.

However, after that game, the wheels fell off and when Isaac Copeland when down for the season with an injury, the Huskers went into a complete tailspin and while the pressure has been on Tim Miles at times in recent years, his seat has never been this hot.

Tonight, the Huskers can attempt to get back on track with Minnesota coming to town and in all honesty, if Nebraska wants to even reach the NIT, it needs to start winning some games but more than that, winning will be required to save Miles job.

On Tuesday, Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos spoke on his weekly radio spot about two of the big issues surrounding Husker athletics right now and one was Maurice Washington, but the other is the status of Miles.

And, according to the Omaha World-Herald, here is what Moos had to say:

“Tim Miles is a good coach, very passionate,” Moos said. “I wanted to get a feel for what their thoughts were.”

Moos was referring to a meeting he had with Miles and the coaches a couple of weeks back. Of that meeting, Miles said his future was discussed and that retention was an option. Miles was also told by Moos to “tune out the outside noise.”

For that to happen, Nebraska has to start winning and Wednesday night against Minnesota at the Vault would be a great time to start. The Gophers are 16-8 overall but have lost three straight games.

The Huskers follow up Minnesota by hosting Northwestern before taking a trip to Penn State and then ending the regular season with games against four consecutive ranked opponents. I guess in some ways, the tough schedule could be a good thing.

If the Huskers somehow won their next seven games, they would likely get in the tournament, so I guess there is that. But in a more serious sense, if Miles wants to keep his job, he probably at least needs to get NU to the NIT and unless Nebraska basketball starts winning soon and by soon meaning tonight, that won’t even be a possibility.