Nebraska basketball can thank the Iowa Hawkeyes for finally knocking them out of the Top 10 teams in the country. The good news is that the Huskers fell just three spots, and if they can string a few wins together, they could get themselves back into their historic spot in short order.
In Monday's AP Top 25 update, Nebraska dropped to No. 12 thanks to a loss to unranked Iowa at the beginning of last week. More than the loss was just how bad the Huskers looked in the 57-52 defeat. That they didn't drop further is both a testament to AP voters believing Fred Hoiberg's team is legitimately good, paired with a 20+ point win over Penn State on Saturday.
Nebraska is one of five teams that are ranked in the AP Top 25. Michigan fell to No. 3 after losing to Duke, Purdue is No. 8, and Illinois is No. 10 in the latest rankings. Right behind the Cornhuskers is the Michigan State Spartans at No. 13 despite not looking great over the last few weeks.
Nebraska basketball drops to No. 12 in AP poll after loss to Iowa
NU has what should be a chance to get a big win on Tuesday night when they take on Maryland. Then, a West Coast swing against UCLA and USC. While neither former Pac-12 team is ranked, they're both sitting at 18-9 on the season and on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Fred Hoiberg's squad then finishes the regular season at home with a chance to get revenge on the Hawkeyes.
Should Nebraska go 3-1 in this stretch, they should be sitting pretty in the Top 10 when the Big Ten tournament starts.