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Nebrasketball Meme of the Game: Cats-in-the-Bag Edition

After the Huskers beat the Northwestern Wildcats by 19 points Saturday at PBA, the Meme Army reported for duty.
Dave Feit|
Nebrasketball Meme Army Meme of the Game
Nebrasketball Meme Army Meme of the Game | Dave Feit

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Nebraska CornhuskersNorthwestern Wildcats

Over the last few seasons, the long-suffering Nebraska basketball fan base has celebrated wins by flooding the responses of their opponent with memes, GIFs, gags and trolling with surgical precision.

The game goes final, the other school's social media team posts the final score on Twitter, and then the real fun begins.

It is unclear when the first postgame meme was sent, but there is agreement as to when the phenomenon exploded: after Nebraska's 63-53 upset of No. 7 Creighton in December 2022.

Since then, the regular participants have adopted a collective name: The Nebrasketball Meme Army. Thousands of Husker fans now seek out these memes and share their favorites.

But most of us lead busy lives and don't have time to scroll through 300+ responses (many of which are repeats). That is where the Nebrasketball Meme Army Meme of the Game (NMAMG) comes in.

We at the NMAMG believe that by celebrating excellence in the art of meme-making we can collectively elevate the Nebrasketball fan meme game to keep pace with the rapidly improving product on the court.

The Nebraska Meme Army Meme of the Game committee rewards: 

  • Humor. Does it make us laugh?
  • Originality. The "Rienk Mast / Bottom Text" meme format is a classic, but creativity is key.
  • Topical relevance. Bonus points for references to opponents, star players, or key moments. The meme about Berke Büyüktuncel's bloody lip from the Wisconsin game is a great example.
  • Little to no AI usage. We prefer our memes to be organic, farm-to-table creations.
  • Does not cross the line. The committee understands that the memes are — at their core — intended to troll the opponent after a loss. But this can be done without being demeaning, obscene or any type of -ist. Keisei Tominaga flipping off Penn State is a classic image, but we're going to keep it PG-13.

In the eyes of the committee, the classic "You just lost to Gary, Indiana" meme (featuring forward Juwan Gary, and used after defeating Indiana) is the gold standard. It checks every box.

Once again, it was NU (Nebraska) versus NU (Northwestern) at NU (Nebraska).  Much like the first game in Evanston, Northwestern played Nebraska close in the first half.  But in the second half the Huskers pulled away.  Cale Jacobsen made some huge three-point shots.  Pryce Sandfort led the way in scoring with 29.  Sam Hoiberg was brilliant in everything he did (14 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals.   

Nebraska won 68–49.  The real NU improved to 22-3 on the season.  The Huskers' next game is Tuesday night at Iowa. 

Without further ado, let's get to the Memes of the Game!

Nebrasketball Meme Army Meme of the Game 

“Ag Economics Alumnus Andrew Morgan” - @Nebrasketball04

Runner-up

“The One with the Friends Reference” - @HuskerGI

Honorable Mention 

“Kent Pavelka’s Voice” - @huskerfan4life9 

Honorable Mention 

“Northwestern Nebraska” - @AhmonGreen 

Honorable Mention 

“Sam will steal your heart” - @jorster 

Honorable Mention – Deeeeep cut award 

“Quit Big Ten?” - @cdj80 

Best of the “Roses are Red” category (tie) 

“Nothing rhymes with purple” - @eliash10 

“Hold this L from the real NU” -@cdj80 

“This is Kendall Blue” - @FeitCanWrite 

Congratulations to all our winners!

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Dave Feit
DAVE FEIT

Dave Feit began writing for HuskerMax in 2011. Follow him on Twitter (@feitcanwrite) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/FeitCanWrite)

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