What Nebraska basketball needs to do to make NCAA tournament

Nebraska basketball avoided disaster on Sunday at Northwestern. They turned a 2o-point deficit into a quad-1 victory and got another step closer to wrapping up an NCAA tournament berth.

Currently, Nebraska is 17-9. The Husker are also 7-8 in the Big Ten. Their NET ranking is 46th and the Huskers have six quad-1 wins. They are also 5-2 in quad-2/3 games.

Their resume isn’t perfect but this team has proven it can win away from home. It has beaten Washington, Northwestern, Oregon, and Creighton on the road, as well as Oregon State on a neutral court.

In terms of bracketology, Nebraska is on the right side of the bubble right now. According to Bracket Matrix, the Huskers are currently projected in the NCAA tournament in 89 of 90 brackets. The average seed for Nebraska basketball is 9.74.

The seed is trending up and with another road game against Penn State this week, as well as home games against Minnesota, Iowa, and Michigan, plus a road game against Ohio State, there are still at least two quad-1 opportunities available.

Penn State is ranked 78th and would need to move up three spots for it to be a quad-1 win but honestly, the Huskers don’t need quality wins anymore, they just need wins.

What Nebraska basketball needs to do to make the Big Dance

This team won’t miss the tournament with 20 wins. They can get that by winning three of their last five regular-season games, or they could win two of their last five, then win their opening game at the Big Ten tournament.

They have consistently been projected in the field with a losing record in conference play. Nebraska basketball is 7-8 right now. So a 9-11 record would be enough to get them in, assuming they win a game in the conference tournament.

If Nebraska loses that opening game, maybe it would be a first-four team depending on how things went with other bubble teams and potential big stealers. But three wins and it’s hard to see this team being left out.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.