Huskers firmly 'in the discussion' with NCAA Tournament committee

After taking another important step forward in its path towards earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament with its win at Minnesota on Tuesday night, Nebraska remains firmly in the bubble discussion.

The biggest unknown facing the Huskers at this point, though, is where exactly they currently stand in those conversations within the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.

Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen, who is serving as chairman of the Division I men’s basketball committee this season, took some time on Wednesday to discuss where NU is in their eyes at this point of the season.

“I’m a fan of Coach Tim Miles, and I’ve had an opportunity to see Nebraska play a number of times,” Rasmussen said during an NCAA teleconference. “They certainly are playing very well with what they have, and they will be in the discussion.

“We certainly have a large number of games yet to play, Nebraska has some key games yet to play, and not only will their discussion be impacted by how they do, but it certainly will be impacted by those that they will be compared to and how they do.”

Nebraska’s case to make the Big Dance gets stronger with every victory, but the problem for NU is its lack of what the committee has defined as “First Quadrant” wins.

With Michigan falling to Northwestern on Tuesday night, the Huskers do not have a first quadrant win on their resumé, going 0-6 against such opponents (Kansas, Purdue, Michigan State, Ohio State, Creighton, and St. John's).

Nebraska is 3-2 vs. the next group in the second quadrant, with wins over Michigan, Northwestern, and its first over Minnesota. The two losses were to Central Florida and Penn State.

Rasmussen said while the quadrant system has helped the committee organize and compare potential tournament resumés, they also would factor in how a team’s overall record came about.

Not only will there be just as much value placed on games played during the first half of the season as those played in the second half, the committee has also made it a point to try and see as many games in person as possible.

Rasmussen has seen Nebraska play in person several times this season, including the 75-65 loss at Creighton (where NU only trailed by three points in the final minute) and the 73-72 loss at home to Kansas (where the Huskers fell a missed last-second shot shy of pulling off the upset).

“I think I speak for the entire committee in saying that you do get a different perspective when you see a game in person as opposed to seeing one on television or digitally,” Rasmussen said.

Another key factor in play for Nebraska is strength of schedule. As of Wednesday, the Huskers rank 105th nationally in overall strength of schedule.

What hurts is their non-conference S.O.S. ranks a dismal 286th, mainly due to three games against teams ranked 319th or higher in the current RPI (Marist, 319; Stetson, 326; Delaware State, 351).

However, Rasmussen said the committee would also take into account “intent of scheduling,” meaning the number of quality non-conference games played, where they were played, and then how the results of those games came to be.

In other words, just because Rasmussen watched NU lose two straight games to Creighton and Kansas doesn’t mean those losses won’t still carry solid value in the Huskers’ overall body of work.

“The committee really looks at teams that have challenged themselves in the non-conference,” Rasmussen said. “It is a resource that we look at. We also look at their intent of scheduling - did they schedule some games away or at neutral sites in the non-conference? What did they intentionally do that they didn’t have to do? Did they challenge themselves?

“Sometimes the non-conference strength of schedule is a little deceptive because it doesn’t necessarily account for where that game was played or how that result came or what the results were. So it does take into account the record of the team you played, but not the location and not the result. So while we do look at non-conference strength of schedule, it is one of many factors that we look at.”