With Selection Sunday officially here, the Nebraska basketball team got some good news, and it got some bad news. The good news is that the Huskers are playing where most fans wanted them to play, in Oklahoma City. The bad news is that NU was dropped to a 4-seed after limping to the finish line, going 6-6 in their final 12 games, including losing their first and only Big Ten Tournament game this season.
The other piece of bad news is that the Huskers drew a pretty tough 13 seed to face off against in the Sun Belt tourney champ, Troy. Anyone who thinks the Trojans are a team that can't hang with major schools needs to look no further than what they did early in the season against USC.
When the two Trojan squads faced off in Los Angeles this past November, Troy gave Nebraska's Big Ten rival all it could handle as the game eventually went all the way to triple overtime. Eventually, the home squad managed to post a 107-106 victory. Clearly, while Troy wouldn't be able to hang in a major conference for a whole season, they can rally for a game, and that should have NU fans nervous.
Nebraska basketball's rebounding struggles meet their match against a Troy team that wins on the boards
How Troy not only took USC to the limit but also won the Sun Belt and posted a 22-11 record this season will also make Nebraska backers uncomfortable. The Trojans have a lot of height and tend to win games by crashing the boards hard.
Rebounds, especially in the last month, have been a real problem for the Cornhuskers. One might call it their Achilles heel. Most of the Huskers' losses this season have involved them getting beaten on the boards badly.
One other piece of good news is that Nebraska fans won't have to wait long to see if Fred Hoiberg's squad can get its first NCAA Tournament win in program history while overcoming its rebounding issues. While times haven't been announced just yet, Nebraska and Troy will face off on Thursday. Not having to sit and watch a full day of games before ever playing could be good for a team that's looked tight over the last month.