Forget the NCAA Tournament, Nebraska Men's Basketball is on the Big Ten Tournament Bubble

The dream of a return trip to the NCAA Tournament is gone for Nebraska men's basketball.

Now, the Huskers are playing to not be in the absolute basement of the Big Ten Conference.

With the league expanded to 18 teams, the conference tournament is now just for the top 15 teams. That means three teams will see their seasons end on Sunday.

Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams (3) shoots the ball during the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions. — Nebraska guard Brice Williams shoots the ball during the Huskers' loss at Penn State on Feb. 19. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Nebraska sits at 7-12 in the league with one game to go. That's tied with Northwestern and Rutgers, but trailing 7-11 Minnesota. The Big Red are just ahead of 6-12 Iowa and USC.

Six teams bunched up and trying to not be the odd man out. When tiebreakers involve multiple teams, they look at the round-robin record. The Huskers are 1-4 against that group.

Nebraska has played in a conference tournament game every season since 1977, the first year of the Big Eight Tournament.

The simple math is that Sunday's regular-season finale for the Big Red is a play-in game for the Big Ten Tournament. The winner of Nebraska vs. Iowa at Pinnacle Bank Arena will go to Indianapolis while the other will sit below the cutoff.

Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Juwan Gary (4) dribbles the ball as Ohio State Buckeyes guard John Mobley Jr. (0) defends. — Nebraska forward Juwan Gary dribbles the ball as Ohio State guard John Mobley Jr. defends during the first half Tuesday night in Columbus. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

However, there is a single path that puts Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament with a loss on Sunday. Here is how it can be done:

Minnesota wins at least once against Wisconsin (Wednesday) and Rutgers (Sunday)
USC beats both Washington (Wednesday) and UCLA (Saturday)
Northwestern loses to Maryland (Saturday)

That's it. One Minnesota win, two for USC, and a Northwestern loss and Nebraska is in the Big Ten Tournament, even on a five-game losing streak. If USC drops either of those games, the Huskers will know the task at hand for final game.

Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Sam Hoiberg (1) makes a three-point basket during the second half against the Maryland Terrapins. — The Nebraska bench celebrates after a three-point basket by Sam Hoiberg (1) against Maryland on Jan. 19. | Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

But to remove any doubt, Nebraska must win on Sunday. NU has had several "must-win" games over the past few weeks to lock up an NCAA Tournament berth. This time, it is simply to make the league tournament. Fred Hoiberg needs to get this done to remove at least one talking point against him in what is likely to be a long offseason.

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