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College basketball week 8: 5 biggest takeaways

By Chris Stone

Dec 31, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Villanova Wildcats guard Jalen Brunson (1) shoots against the Creighton Bluejays at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Villanova Wildcats guard Jalen Brunson (1) shoots against the Creighton Bluejays at CenturyLink Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 1, 2017; College Park, MD, USA; Members of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrate after defeating the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2017; College Park, MD, USA; Members of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrate after defeating the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Nebraska is building a decent NCAA Tournament resume

It’s not often that teams sitting at 8-6 after 14 games have a legitimate shot of making the NCAA Tournament, but so it is with the Nebraska Cornhuskers provided that things break their way. Nebraska had as good a week as anyone in the country outside of the Oregon Ducks last week, picking up a pair of road wins over Indiana and Maryland. Add in a neutral site win over Dayton and the Cornhuskers already have a trio of quality wins with the bulk of Big Ten play still to come.

The problem, of course, is in the loss column. Six losses is an awful lot at this stage, but five of them — Clemson, Creighton, Kansas, UCLA and Virginia Tech — won’t cause the Selection Committee to bat an eye. It’s the 70-62 home loss to Gardner Webb, though, that will stick out come March.

That bad loss means there’s more pressure on the Cornhuskers to pick up additional quality wins during conference play. With the likes of Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin in the league, though, there should be plenty of opportunities.

KenPom currently projects Nebraska to finish with 8-10 in the conference and 14-16 overall, which certainly wouldn’t be enough to make the Big Dance, but if a few of those projected losses flip to the win column and the team can win a couple games in the Big Ten tournament, then the Cornhuskers could find themselves on the right side of the bubble on Selection Sunday.