With the Nebraska baseball team finishing the season with a sweep over Minnesota, the Huskers once again look like they should be in line to host a regional. If and when that comes to be, Will Bolt and his squad will have one heck of a home-field advantage on tap. The big question now is whether NU will get the respect they demand and whether they can solidify things by winning the Big Ten Tournament for the third straight season.
While none of the three wins over the weekend were easy, baseball officials know that it's more about winning than blowing a team out. In baseball, even the worst teams can knock off some of the best on one special day. It's possible that the Huskers' showing fight in every single game earned them a little extra love from analysts. Saturday was the craziest with a comeback in the ninth inning from trailing 6-1 to eventually win 7-6. Whatever the close wins did to the Huskers' resume, it bumped them up high enough in the RPI that it seems like a series at Haymarket Park is almost a given.
The Nebraska baseball team moved all the way up to No. 9 in the RPI early Sunday morning. The sweep also earned them a nice, long wait until they have to take on the next opponent in the Big Ten Tournament. The Huskers clinched the No. 2 seed right behind UCLA, and that means they get a bye all the way to the single-elimination portion of the tournament.
With every B1G baseball team now qualifying for the tournament, the Big Ten competition starts on Tuesday with the 12-seed facing off against the 5-seed, while No 6 takes on No. 11, the 7-seed takes on the 10-seed, and then No. 8 and No. 9 battle in the first round. That portion is a double-elimination tournament all on its own, with the top-4 seeds awaiting the four teams that emerge from that dustup.
Will Bolt can push Nebraska baseball closer to hosting with another Big Ten title run
Nebraska now gets to sit, wait, and watch until 5 pm on Friday. While there's no way to tell who will take on the Huskers in that first game, the possibilities are Ohio State, Michigan, Rutgers, or Washington. One of those teams will come out of the "loser" bracket of the double elimination.
The Cornhuskers have not faced either Washington or Rutgers this season, thanks to the Big Ten's massive size. They took 2-of-3 from the Wolverines earlier this year, and against Ohio State, Will Bolt's squad played its worst series of the season.
Should Nebraska win that Friday game, they'll face off in the semifinals against the winner of Oregon vs one of the aforementioned four teams that come out of the winner's bracket in the semifinals. The tournament is set up so that if all goes right, the Huskers and UCLA won't face each other until the Big Ten Tournament finals.
With the Nebraska softball team looking like it will make short work of its own Lincoln Regional, Will Bolt's squad would love a chance to do the same. In fact, with the Huskers sitting at No. 9 in RPI ratings, should NU win the Big Ten Tournament, an argument could be made once again to be in line for Super Regional hosting.
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