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Nebrasketball Meme of the Game: ‘R-U in a Rut?’ Edition

After the Huskers took care of business at Rutgers, the Meme Army did its thing.
Dave Feit|
Nebrasketball Meme Army Meme of the Game
Nebrasketball Meme Army Meme of the Game | Dave Feit

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Nebraska CornhuskersRutgers Scarlet Knights

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.

No. 9 Nebraska traveled to Piscataway, New Jersey to take on Rutgers.  The Huskers were playing their first game in a week, which gave Rienk Mast time to recover after illness sent him to the emergency room.  The time off clearly helped as Mast had his first 20-point game since the Creighton blowout in December.  Rutgers closed with a late flourish to soften the margin of an 80-68 win.   

The game at Jersey Mike’s Arena was a sellout, mostly due to the One Piece anime trading card being given away as a promotion.  This was referenced in many of the memes. 

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

Nebrasketball Meme Army Meme of the Game

“One Piece Sam Hoiberg” - @BigGlennNetwork 

Runner-up 

“Runza > Jersey Mikes” - @HuskerGI 

Honorable Mention 

“Actual Poverty Program” - @AfNebby 

Honorable Mention 

“You just lost to KaRienk” - @FrancescoSirena 

Honorable Mention 

“One Piece Handshake” - @cdj80 

Honorable Mention 

“You lost to Rienk Mast” - @AhmonGreen

Honorable Mention 

“One Pryce” - @jorster 

Honorable Mention for foot fetishists 

“We just defeeted you” - @cltsfrmngtn 

Honorable Mention for professor trolling 

“My physics lab professor went to Rutgers” - @ShowThemTDs 

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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