The Nebraska basketball has started to get itself in trouble when it comes to the NCAA Tournament and their chances for making the big dance since they played poorly in the first half against Nortwestern.
Their Monday night loss to Michigan, however, might have just been the loss that officially keeps them out of the tournament. After the 49-46 defeat, things started to plummet when it comes to the Cornhuskers odds for getting into the Big Dance.
Nebraska basketball on its last chances
ESPN has been tracking the chances of teams getting into the postseason for the last few weeks and unfortunately, the Nebraska basketball team has come near its season low. The Huskers are now given just a 49% chance of a tournament bid.
And while that’s bad, there is at least a reason for hope still: “The defeat dropped their tournament forecast percentage slightly below 50% in the ESPN model, but Nebraska's résumé metrics (mid-40s in SOR and WAB) are competitive with other bubble teams.”
NCAA Tournament in doubt for Nebraska basketball team
The other piece of good news is that considering Michigan is a Quad 1 team and ranked in the Top 25 is that the Huskers didn’t fall at all in NET rankings. Of course, that would be better news if NU wasn’t higher than 54. But at least Nebraska isn’t falling out of the Top 60.
NU is still considered “in” by Joe Lunardi as well. They are now among the “last four in” but they’re still getting a spot in the NCAA Tournament thanks to a resume that includes the second toughest Big Ten schedule this year.
The Nebraska basketball team has three more games in the regular season. They’ll host Iowa and Minnesota and travel to Ohio State. Thanks to their resume, it’s not a given that they need to go 3-0. But if they do sweep the rest of the season those dwindling hopes are likely refueled.