Nebraskans playing Division I men’s basketball
The Creighton men’s basketball team continues to bounce on the NCAA tournament bubble while the major women’s hoops teams in the state remain ahead of the men in a key metric used to determine the postseason field.
The NET rankings on the morning of Feb. 14:
Women’s teams:
» Nebraska is No. 20 (No. 19 last week)
» Creighton No. 31 (33)
» UNO No. 253 (254).
Men’s teams:
» Creighton is No. 71 (74)
» Nebraska No. 178 (198)
» UNO No. 347 (344)
The NET is one tool to help determine the top teams for seeding and inclusion in the NCAA tournament. One part of the system breaks games down into four quadrants, with Quadrant 1 wins being the best and Quadrant 4 victories being the worst. NET rankings are to some degree affected by a team’s opponents. UNO teams are almost always destined to have lower NET rankings because of their peers in the Summit League while Nebraska benefits from its higher-rated peers in the Big Ten.
Creighton’s men (15-8, 7-5) are 3-5 in Quadrant 1. They beat a top-30 NET team at home (Villanova) and two top-75 teams on the road (Marquette and Connecticut). The Bluejays lost home games to Xavier and Iowa State, a neutral-site game to Colorado State and road games at Xavier and Villanova. CU is 1-2 in Quadrant 2, 7-1 in Quadrant 3 (the home loss to Arizona State) and 4-0 in Quadrant 4.
Nebraska’s men (7-18, 1-13) are 1-17 in Quadrants 1, 2 and 3, and 6-1 in Quadrant 4.
volume_off volume_u
UNO’s men (4-22, 3-12) are 0-13 in Quadrants 1, 2 and 3, and 3-9 in Quadrant 4, with home wins over Western Illinois, North Dakota and UMKC. One of UNO’s wins this season came against NAIA Hastings College and is not recognized by the NCAA.
The Husker women (18-6, 7-6) are 1-6 in Quadrant 1 (a home win vs. Michigan), 6-0 in Quadrant 2, and 11-0 in Quadrants 3 and 4.
The CU women (18-7, 13-4) are 2-5 in Quadrant 1 (the road wins at Arkansas and DePaul), 5-2 in Quadrant 2 and 11-0 in Quadrants 3 and 4.
The UNO women (6-18, 2-13) are 0-5 in Quadrant 1 (losses to Iowa State, Creighton, Kansas, Kansas State and South Dakota), 0-4 in Quadrant 2, 1-5 in Quadrant 3 and 4-4 in Quadrant 4.
Of the six teams, only the Nebraska women are projected safely into the NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed by ESPN as of Feb 11. The CU women are projected as a 10 seed.
The CU men are projected as a No. 11 seed by ESPN, squaring off against Miami in a first four game. Bracket Matrix, which makes an average based on dozens of projections, has CU as a No. 12 seed.
Neither the Nebraska men nor the UNO teams are projected into the NCAA tournament. None of the teams are currently ranked in the Associated Press or coaches polls.
NET rankings by conference
Big Ten women: 14 Indiana; 15 Michigan; 16 Maryland; 20 Nebraska; 21 Iowa; 28 Ohio State; 59 Michigan State; 65 Northwestern; 73 Purdue; 88 Minnesota; 130 Penn State; 144 Rutgers; 208 Illinois; 218 Wisconsin
Big East women: 7 Connecticut; 31 Creighton; 48 DePaul; 61 Marquette; 78 Villanova; 105 Seton Hall; 109 St. John’s; 157 Providence; 230 Xavier; 252 Georgetown; 325 Butler
Summit women: 37 South Dakota; 38 South Dakota State; 126 UMKC; 203 Oral Roberts; 212 North Dakota; 216 North Dakota State; 220 Western Illinois; 253 UNO; 285 Denver; 315 St. Thomas
Big Ten men: 9 Purdue; 13 Illinois; 17 Ohio State; 19 Iowa; 23 Wisconsin; 24 Michigan State; 35 Michigan; 41 Indiana; 65 Northwestern; 81 Rutgers; 93 Penn State; 96 Minnesota; 99 Maryland; 178 Nebraska
Big East men: 6 Villanova; 18 Connecticut; 20 Xavier; 28 Providence; 29 Marquette; 33 Seton Hall; 71 Creighton; 87 St. John’s; 101 DePaul; 123 Butler; 217 Georgetown
Summit men: 74 South Dakota State; 131 Oral Roberts; 177 North Dakota State; 207 Western Illinois; 219 UMKC; 221 South Dakota; 300 Denver; 313 St. Thomas; 342 North Dakota; 347 UNO