The quest for Nebraska’s first NCAA Tournament win

There are 365 Division I college basketball teams in America. Of those 365 schools, 79 are power conference teams. Of those power conference teams, 78 have won at least one NCAA tournament game. The one school that has never won a game in March Madness is the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Nebraska has never been a basketball powerhouse, with the majority of the school’s resources and attention given to football. The Cornhuskers have only qualified for eight NCAA tournaments in 129 seasons as a program. Season 130 wasn’t expected to be different, as the Cornhuskers were projected to finish 14th in the CBS Sports Big Ten preseason poll. The team won the College Basketball Crown tournament last season, but was expected to be a potential bubble team going into the season.

The Cornhuskers have blown their preseason expectations out of the corn field. After beating Oregon on Jan. 13, Nebraska is 17-0, the best start in program history, and ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll, tied for the highest ranking in program history and the first time the team has been ranked in the Top 10 since the 1965-66 season.

Nebraska’s undefeated run has produced many memorable moments, starting with a six-point win over Oklahoma. Junior Pyrce Sandfort and senior Rienk Mast combined for 54 points.

Nebraska also won the Hall of Fame Classic, defeating a tournament hopeful team in New Mexico, where freshman guard Braden Frager scored 20 points, and then defeating then-undefeated Kansas State 86-85 in the final. Sam Hoiberg, the son of head coach Fred Hoiberg, knocked down a free throw with one second left to win the game.

The Cornhuskers made one more statement before Big Ten play, a 71-50 win over Creighton. The Cornhuskers opened the game on a 15-2 run and never trailed in a rout at Pinnacle Bank Arena, where Nebraska has won 39 games and counting over the last three seasons.

Nebraska opened Big Ten play with a 30-point statement win over Wisconsin. Mast scored 17 points and secured 10 rebounds for a double-double. Frager had 15 points off the bench. The Cornhuskers prepared for their biggest tests of the season, at No. 13 Illinois and at home against No. 9 Michigan State.

Before the game against No. 13 Illinois, a prominent college basketball reporter made a deal with Nebraska. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports Network said on his show, Inside College Basketball Now, that if Nebraska made the NCAA Tournament and won a tournament game for the first time in school history, he would travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, before next season and host a happy hour for Nebraska fans.

The Cornhuskers hit the road for their biggest challenge: then-No. 13 Illinois at the State Farm Center. The game was tied at halftime and in the final minute before senior guard Jamarques Lawrence hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer for the win. The Cornhuskers returned home for a Jan. 2 meeting with No. 9 Michigan State, which was another photo finish, with Nebraska winning by 2. The team currently sits at 17-0 and 6-0 in Big Ten play.

Nebraska is already in the midst of the best season in program history and still has the chance to get even better. The Cornhuskers only face three ranked opponents the rest of the season, with two of those games at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Overall, Nebraska has an incredible chance of winning its first NCAA Tournament game this March.

Nate Johns is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jzn5275@psu.edu.