Nebraska Didn't Deserve to Beat Iowa After Embarrassing Coaching Blunder

The Cornhuskers coaching staff let them down in the final minute against the Hawkeyes

Mar 26, 2026; Houston, TX, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes guard Tate Sage (24) reacts in the second half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the South Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Toyota Center. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Nebraska was one of the biggest stories of the NCAA Tournament, winning its first ever March Madness game in program history in the Round of 64, and in its biggest moment the players were failed by the coaching staff.

The Cornhuskers, after leading by ten early in the game, were down by three, 71-68, with 58.8 seconds left and had just called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout Iowa threw a full-court pass which led to a 3-point play after a foul was committed on the layup from Alvaro Folgueiras.

Immediately on the replay it was shown that Nebraska only had four players on the court for the inbounds and it’s why Folgueiras was wide open. The sequence confirmed that Nebraska didn’t deserve to win and it was all on head coach Fred Hoiberg’s shoulders.

“I've never been in a situation like that,” he said after the 77-71 loss.

“I know [the referees] always count to make sure there's not six. I don't know the rule on that with four. But, yeah, I mean, again, it was a miscommunication, and unfortunately it happened. But as far as the rule, I've never been a part of anything like that.”

The fashion in which the season ended for Nebraska is disappointing considering the job the coaching staff did earlier in the year to get the Cornhuskers off to a 20-0 start and a Top 5 ranking inside the AP Poll.

Hoiberg tried to mask some warts that were exposed late in Big Ten play and managed to not only get one NCAA Tournament, but rally in a thriller against Vanderbilt in the Round of 32.

It’s a basketball season that nobody will forget anytime soon in Lincoln but the questions of ‘what if’ will linger around conversations about this team for quite some time.

“I was pretty shocked to see Alvaro wide open,” Bennett Stirtz said about Nebraska only having four players on the floor.

“I didn't even know they had four players on until we were in the locker room. Kael [Combs] threw a great pass. We were able to move on the baseline, so that helped out a lot, and [Folgueiras] had a nice dunk.”

It’ll be an all-Big Ten Elite 8 on Sunday when the Hawkeyes battle Illinois, who upended Houston in its home city, with a trip to the Final Four hanging in the balance.