Nebraska Men’s Basketball Now a 3-Seed in Latest ESPN Bracketology

Nebraska last two men’s basketball victories are the kind that garner national attention. Especially Friday night’s 58-56 win over Michigan State.

Such attention is warranted for the 15-0, 10th-ranked Huskers.

Nebraska moved up to a 3-seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest ESPN Bracketology, which was released Tuesday.

As a 3-seed, if the seeds hold true once the actual tournament begins, Nebraska is on the edge of an Elite Eight berth. Yes, the Huskers’ magical ride continues and their stature in Bracketology is just another benefit of what Nebraska has done on the court — over and over again.

Nebraska’s latest win was Monday night at Ohio State, 72-69. Winning conference road games goes a long way with the NCAA Selection Committee and with Lunardi, apparently. Ohio State is ticketed as a “last four in,” meaning a First Four game against another 11 seed, NC State in this week’s projections.

The Huskers, who are 0-8 in NCAA Tournament games, next play at Indiana (11-3, 2-1) on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT (Big Ten Network). Bracketology has the Hoosiers as one of the “last four byes,” meaning the last teams to skip the First Four round.

Here are Nebraska’s last eight Bracketology projections:

* Nov. 18: 11 seed (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

Nebraska remains one of only six undefeated teams in Division I, along with Arizona, Michigan, Iowa State, Vanderbilt and Miami (Ohio).

Lunardi’s other 3-seeds this week are BYU, Alabama and Houston, which was a Final Four team in 2025.

Huskers in the NCAA

For now, Lunardi has the third-seeded Huskers playing 14-seed Wright State (the automatic qualifier from the Horizon League) in a first-round West Region game at Oklahoma City. The Nebraska-Wright State winner would play the winner of 6-seed Virginia vs. the winner between 11-seeds Baylor and Oklahoma, who would play a First Four game.

Arizona is the No. 1 seed in the West, and Gonzaga is the second seed. West Region Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be played at San Jose.

Lunardi’s other No. 1 seeds are: Michigan (Midwest), UConn (East) and Iowa State (South) — the same as last week.

Lunardi’s ”Last Four Byes” are Saint Louis, LSU, Indiana and Miami. His “Last Four In” are NC State, Ohio State, Baylor and Oklahoma. His “First Four Out” are Boise State, Butler, Virginia Tech and Tulsa. His “Next Four Out” are TCU, Oklahoma State, Creighton and California.

Lunardi again has 10 Big Ten teams — tied with the SEC for the most teams in the field — in his latest Bracketology projections (with seeding and projected first-round opponents in parentheses):

* Michigan (1 vs. winner of 16 Merrimack and Maryland Eastern Shore)
* Purdue (2 vs. 15 Vermont)
* Nebraska (3 vs. 14 Wright State)
* Michigan State (4 vs. 13 Lipscomb)
* Illinois (4 vs. 13 UNC Wilmington)
* Iowa (6 vs. 11 VCU)
* USC (8 vs. 9 St. John’s)
* UCLA (9 vs. 8 Auburn)
* Indiana (10 vs. 7 Clemson)
* Ohio State (11 vs. 11 NC State in First Four; winner vs. 6 Villanova)

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

ESPN’s power rankings

Nebraska moved up four places to 23 in ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index. Six weeks ago, Nebraska was 38th.

The projection for the Huskers’ wins and losses is 24.4 wins and 6.6 losses. Last week’s projections were 23.1 wins and 7.9 losses. In the Big Ten, the projection for Nebraska is 13.4 wins and 6.6 losses. Last week’s projection was 12.1 wins and 7.9 losses.

Nebraska’s projection to win the Big Ten championship increased to 3.8 percent from 0.4 percent.

Five Big Ten teams are ranked ahead of Nebraska in ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index:

* Michigan: 1
* Purdue: 6
* Illinois: 10
* Michigan State: 18
* Indiana: 20
* Nebraska: 23

Michigan (13-0) is the top-ranked Power Index team with Gonzaga (16-1) second, Duke (13-1) third, Arizona (14-0) fourth, and Iowa State (4-0) fifth.

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