There’s a lot of discussion that surrounds basketball polls. Both the Associated Press and Coaches polls bring with them notoriety and respect from the college basketball community. On top of that, it doesn’t hurt when March Madness comes around to get a coveted spot in the NCAA tournament. There’s one team though that has received the short end of the stick for too long, and it feels like after Tuesday that’s going to change. The Nebraska Cornhuskers aren’t a fluke, which the top 25 voters need to recognize.
Tuesday night, the 10-1 Cornhuskers came up huge. When the no. 8 Michigan Wolverines came to Nebraska, they were riding high. On December 19, they beat no. 3 Baylor Bears and followed it up with a New Years Eve thrashing of rival Ohio State. The Cornhuskers weren’t intimidated, beating the Wolverines. They didn’t just beat them, they left them reeling after a 79-58 drubbing of one of the biggest of the Big Ten.
It’s easy to say that they Nebraska should be in the top 25 from a performance like that, but their affection in the heart of the poll voters should’ve been there weeks ago. Nebraska opened the season with a 12-0 record. In those dozen games, they featured some lowkey impressive victories. The Cornhuskers beat the current top team in the East, the Creighton Bluejays; a Wake Forest team that has an 11-3 record; and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, to start Big Ten conference play.
When you compare the Cornhuskers season to teams that’ve spent time in and out of the polls, the snub sticks out. For instance, fellow Big Ten team Ohio State. The Buckeyes started the year ranked, and only just fell out of the top 25 after losing 90-71 to the same Wolverines that Nebraska humbled.
The two Big Ten teams do share a trend though. Nebraska, like Ohio State, played a less-than-challenging non-conference schedule. So far, Nebraska has taken everything that’s come their way, except one minor slip-up.
It came against the Michigan State Spartans, in a close 72-69 defeat. The loss came after an eight-day layover for the holidays and the loss came on the road. Even though their 14-1 record isn’t as nice looking as a 15-0 version, Tuesday’s victory made up for that loss and then some.
The Cornhuskers suffocated the Wolverine offense. For example, the Wolverines star Naz Hillmon came into the game averaging 20.9 points and 9.2 rebounds. Against the Cornhuskers defense, Hillmon scored only 10 points and seven rebounds. Nebraska held Michigan to only eight first quarter points. That’s the second lowest amount per quarter for Michigan all season. Only the no. 3 Louisville Cardinals bettered that with a six-point second quarter in their early season 70-48 victory.
There’s an argument to be made that maybe Michigan just wasn’t ready. After all, they came in riding strong performance after strong performance. Even so, for most of the season the Cornhuskers have lived the adage of focusing on their next opponent. It’s led to dividends in the conference standings, but now it needs reflected in the polls.
Nebraska doesn’t have much time to celebrate their Wolverines victory. Sunday, they start a monumental week of games. First up are the no. 22 Iowa Hawkeyes visit to Lincoln, Nebraska. It doesn’t get any easier from there. Next is a trip to no. 6 Indiana Hoosiers, followed by another Sunday matchup against Iowa. This time, in Iowa City.
If Nebraska can come away victorious in a couple, or all three games, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be in the picture to win their first Big Ten title since 2014.
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