Nebraska Men’s Basketball Maintains Its 2-Seed in Latest ESPN Bracketology

The undefeated Huskers should get inspiration from what Indiana’s football team accomplished.

Nebraska's Rienk Mast (51) and Pryce Sandfort (21) defend against Northwestern's Tre Singleton (8). | David Banks-Imagn Images

When your team is a projected No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament — as Nebraska is — your team potentially is extremely close to a Final Four.

That’s where Nebraska’s undefeated men’s basketball team remains today. The Huskers again are projected to be a 2-seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology, which was released Tuesday morning. This is the second consecutive Bracketology that Joe Lunardi slotted the Huskers as a 2-seed for the 68-team field.

Of course, seedings rarely hold up in any sport, especially the chaotic NCAA Tournament. A team is one cold shooting game — usually coupled with the opponent shooting the lights out — away from being eliminated. Still, a 2-seed is a 2-seed. And that’s the prestigious label the Huskers will carry Wednesday night against Washington at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Fire up the Indiana tape

Wouldn’t this scenario be cool? Before practice, Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg cranks up a video of the Indiana football team winning the national championship. Show the celebration, show Fernando Mendoza’s amazing touchdown run.

Show how miracles happen — literally.

Want some motivation before an average, 10-8 Washington team comes to town? Want to inspire your team to dream big dreams, but not get ahead of themselves?

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza rushes into the end zone for a touchdown against Miami during the College Football Playoff national championship game. | Grace Hollars / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Whether you like the Hoosiers or not, their story might be the sports story of the year, if not the decade. It’s certainly an all-timer in college football.

The Hoosiers are perfect motivation for any team, anywhere.

Huskers projected in Big Dance

Lunardi has Gonzaga, Houston and Purdue as the other 2-seeds. Nebraska and Purdue are the only Big Ten teams undefeated in conference play.

Nebraska is ranked seventh in the latest AP Top 25 Poll. The Huskers are one of only three undefeated teams in the nation along with Arizona and Miami, Ohio.

Here are Nebraska’s last 12 Bracketology projections and you can see the Huskers’ progression through the season:

Nov. 18: 11 (Last four in)
Nov. 25: 10 (Last four byes)
Dec. 2: 8
Dec. 9: 7
Dec. 16: 5
Dec. 23: 4
Dec. 30: 4
Jan. 6: 3
Jan. 9: 3
Jan. 13: 3
Jan. 16: 2
Jan. 20: 2

For now, Lunardi has the second-seeded Huskers playing 15-seed UT Martin in a first-round South Region game at Oklahoma City. The Nebraska-UT Martin winner would play the winner of 7-seed SMU vs. 10-seed Texas A&M, also in Oklahoma City.

UConn is the No. 1 seed in the South, Iowa State is the 3-seed, and BYU is the 4-seed. South Region Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be played at Houston.

Lunardi’s other No. 1 seeds are: Arizona (West), Michigan (Midwest) and Duke (East).

Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg has his team rolling along at 18-0 and ranked seventh in the AP poll. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Lunardi’s ”Last Four Byes” are Auburn, Texas A&M, NC State and Seton Hall. “Last Four Bye” teams skip the First Four round.

His “Last Four In” are USC, Ohio State, New Mexico and Texas. “Last Four In” teams play in the First Four round.

Lunardi’s “First Four Out” are Virginia Tech, Baylor, Santa Clara and UCLA. These teams are ranked 69-72 that missed the cut.

His “Next Four Out” are Stanford, Indiana, Missouri and LSU. These teams are ranked 73-76.

Lunardi has nine Big Ten teams — the SEC leads the way with 10 teams — in his latest Bracketology projections (with seeding and projected first-round opponents in parentheses):

* Michigan (1 vs. winner of 16 Bethune-Cookman vs. Maryland Eastern Shore)
* Nebraska (2 vs. 15 UT Martin)
* Purdue (2 vs. 15 East Tennessee State)
* Illinois (3 vs. 14 UNC Wilmington)
* Michigan State (3 vs. 14 Portland State)
* Iowa (7 vs. 10 Seton Hall)
* Wisconsin (9 vs. 8 Georgia)
* USC (10 vs. 10 New Mexico; winner vs. 7 North Carolina)
* Ohio State (11 vs. 11 Texas; winner vs. winner vs. 6 St. John’s)

Selection Sunday is March 15. The Final Four is April 4-6 in Indianapolis.

ESPN’s power rankings

Nebraska improved one place to 19 in ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index. Eight weeks ago, Nebraska was 38th.

The projection for the Huskers’ wins and losses is slightly better than the last rankings: 26.5 wins and 4.5 losses. Last week’s projections were 25.9 wins and 5.1 losses. In the Big Ten, the projection for Nebraska is better at 15.5 wins and 4.5 losses. Last week’s projection was 14.9 wins and 5.1 losses.

Nebraska guard Jamarques Lawrence celebrates after a play against Indiana. | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Nebraska’s projection to win the Big Ten championship increased to 27.3 percent from 20.2 percent.

Four Big Ten teams are ranked ahead of Nebraska in ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index. Nebraska has defeated two of the teams ranked ahead of it: Illinois and Michigan State. The Huskers visit Michigan on Jan. 27, and play host to Purdue on Feb. 10.

* Michigan: 2
* Purdue: 6
* Illinois: 9
* Michigan State: 15
* Nebraska: 19

Duke (17-1) is the top-ranked team with Michigan (16-1) second, Gonzaga (19-1) third, Houston fourth (17-1), and Arizona (18-0) fifth.

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