Now that the NCAA Tournament starts on Tuesday night, analysts are starting to roll out their picks for the earliest upsets. Considering the Nebraska basketball program is 0-7 in the Big Dance, it's not surprising that plenty of talking heads believe Troy could pull off an early 4-13 upset. However, if Vegas odds and spreads are anything to go by, the Huskers aren't the most endangered team on their seed line.
Nebrasketball currently has the second-lowest spread, entering the first round of the tournament with a still spacious 13.5-point spread. That spread is unsurprisingly one of the biggest NU has seen all season. Even with the history of falling short in the tournament, Nebraska hung tough in the Big Ten and, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, is expected to win going away on Thursday afternoon.
So far, Alabama has the honor of being seen as the 4 seed team most likely to get upset in the first round, as they are just 11.5-point favorites over Hofstra. That the Crimson Tide will likely be without one of their leading scorers in Aden Holloway is likely playing a big part in that.
Nebraska basketball enters the NCAA Tournament as a 13.5-point favorite over Troy
Holloway was arrested on Sunday for possession of marijuana, and authorities now say he was found with more than 2 pounds of pot scattered around his house. Should the charges stick and he's convicted, he'd face a minimum of one year in prison. For now, he's been booted off the Crimson Tide campus.
Nebraska's spread isn't that much smaller than the other 4 seeds. Kansas is a 14.5-point favorite over Cal Baptist, and Arkansas is a 15.5-point favorite over Hawaii. In all, while it appears Husker fans and analysts are plenty nervous they're going to see another ugly upset, oddsmakers think the Cornhuskers can finally get their first NCAA Tournament win and do it with plenty of room to spare.