Nebraska Men’s Basketball Remains a 2-Seed in Latest ESPN’s Bracketology Despite Losses by Three 1-Seeds

Nebraska remained a projected 2-seed in ESPN’s Bracketology despite three 1-seeds losing recent games.

The Huskers are a 2-seed for the second consecutive projection according to ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi. His latest projections were released Tuesday morning.

Of his previous 1-seeds, released Friday, only Michigan won its most recent game — an 82-61 rout in Columbus.

Duke lost at the buzzer to rival North Carolina, 71-68. UConn lost to St. John’s, 81-72. Arizona lost at Kansas on Monday night, 82-78, despite the Jayhawks playing without Darryn Peterson, who will likely be a top-3 pick in this year’s NBA draft. The loss was Arizona’s first of the season.

Still, Arizona is the 1-seed in the West and the overall top seed, Michigan is the 1-seed in the Midwest, UConn is the 1-seed in the South, and Duke is the 1-seed in the East.

Nebraska’s status as a 2-seed will get severely tested Tuesday night against 13th-ranked Purdue at Pinnacle Bank Arena (6 p.m., FS1). Purdue is a projected 3-seed. The Huskers are ranked seventh in the latest AP Top 25 Poll.

Nebraska forward Rienk Mast scored 26 points in the Huskers' 80-68 win at Rutgers on Saturday. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

While three 1-seeds were losing, Nebraska won impressively at Rutgers, 80-68, on Saturday, as forward Rienk Mast scored 26 points. Iowa State, Houston and Illinois are the other 2-seeds.

In CBS Sports’ Bracketology, dated Tuesday morning, Nebraska remained a 3-seed. In CBS Sports’ projections, Nebraska would play 14-seed Portland State in the West Region. The Nebraska-Portland State winner would play the winner of 6-seed Kentucky and a First Four winner.

Huskers projected in Big Dance

Here are Nebraska’s last 18 Bracketology projections, where you can see the Huskers’ status 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
* Jan. 23: 2
* Jan. 27: 2
* Jan. 30: 2
* Feb. 3: 3
* Feb. 6: 2
* Feb. 10: 2

For now, Lunardi has the second-seeded Huskers playing 15-seed Merrimack, of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, in a first-round West Region game at Oklahoma City. The Nebraska-Merrimack winner would play the winner of 7-seed Utah State vs. 10-seed USC, also in Oklahoma City.

Arizona is the No. 1 seed in the West, Florida is the 3-seed and Gonzaga is the 4-seed. West Region Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be played at San Jose.

Big Ten teams in the Big Dance

Two Big Ten schools are in Lunardi’s ”Last Four Byes”: UCLA and USC … plus Georgia and Saint Mary’s. “Last Four Byes” teams skip the First Four round.

Lunardi’s “Last Four In” are Texas, Miami, San Diego State and New Mexico. They would play First Four games.

Lunardi’s “First Four Out” are Ohio State, Missouri, California and Virginia Tech. These teams are ranked 69-72 and would miss the cut for the 68-team field.

His “Next Four Out” are Oklahoma State, VCU, Seton Hall and Tulsa. These teams are ranked 73-76.

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

* Michigan (1 vs. winner of 16 New Jersey Institute of Technology vs. 16 Morgan State)
* Nebraska (2 vs. 15 Merrimack)
* Illinois (2 vs. 15 Wright State)
* Michigan State (3 vs. 14 North Dakota State)
* Purdue (3 vs. 14 Portland State)
* Iowa (7 vs. 10 Saint Mary’s)
* Wisconsin (9 vs. 8 NC State)
* Indiana (9 vs. 8 Villanova)
* USC (10 vs. 7 Utah State)
* UCLA (10 vs. 7 Kentucky)

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

ESPN’s power rankings

Nebraska improved one spot to 17 in ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index.

The projection for the Huskers’ wins and losses increased slightly: 26.6 wins and 4.4 losses, from 26.4 wins and 4.6 losses. In the Big Ten, Nebraska’s projections increased slightly: 15.6 wins and 4.4 losses, from 15.4 wins and 4.6 losses.

Nebraska’s projection to win the Big Ten championship increased to 14.5 percent from 12.6 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, and lost to Michigan and Illinois.

* Michigan: 2
* Illinois: 7
* Purdue: 10
* Michigan State: 13
* Nebraska: 17

Duke (21-2) is the top-ranked team Michigan (22-1) second, Arizona (23-1) third, Houston (21-2) fourth and Iowa State (21-2) fifth.

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