After Nebraska basketball ended the regular season on a high by upsetting Iowa, you have to wonder, does Tim Miles have any hope of saving his job?
The last couple of months have been just awful for the Nebraska basketball team and its fans as the Huskers slogged their way through an extremely difficult schedule with loss after loss.
Finally, Nebraska basketball was able to give fans something to cheer about Sunday, as the Huskers pulled off an incredible come-from-behind win over Iowa that required a nine-point comeback to win in overtime 93-91.
When head coach Tim Miles walked off the floor for what some presume will be the final time, it got me thinking, does he have any chance of saving his job?
After the way the Huskers collapsed at the end of the regular season, it would take something pretty spectacular and my guess is that only a Big Ten tournament championship would do it.
Obviously, that sounds like a long shot and truthfully, there probably isn’t more of a long shot in college basketball this week than the Huskers, who are seeded 13th in the Big Ten tourney in Chicago.
For starters, Nebraska basketball would need to do something no Big Ten team has ever done and that’s win five games in five days to win the tournament championship. Michigan has won four straight to win the last two tournaments, but even then the Wolverines were seeded much higher.
They also didn’t have only seven scholarship players, which is what Nebraska suited up against Iowa Sunday. But still, the Huskers beat a team that is likely headed to the NCAA tournament and just a couple of weeks back, they beat a Minnesota team that should also be part of the 68-team field.
That means Nebraska is still capable of beating quality teams, even if James Palmer, Isaiah Roby and Glynn Watson have to basically do everything themselves. What remains to be seen is if they can do it at a neutral site.
At the very least, a win over Rutgers could help Nebraska get into the NIT and it would guarantee a winning record. That’s something at least and with nine wins now over top 100 teams in the NET rankings, Nebraska deserves a berth in the 32-team NIT field.
But that wouldn’t help Miles and maybe nothing will, except something that seems impossible, such as winning the Big Ten tournament championship.