Know thine enemy
As you almost certainly know by now, Texas A&M is taking on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament tonight. To learn a bit more about the Huskers team and the temperature of their fanbase heading into this game, we reached out to the folks at Corn Nation, SB Nation’s Nebraska team site, to learn more.
What’s the vibe of the Nebraska fanbase going into this game? Obviously a lot has been made of the Trev Alberts connection between these two programs, but does that actually matter to Husker fans?
Jarek Shearer: The fanbase is mostly confident that this could finally be the year Nebraska wins an NCAA tournament game. The Trev Alberts news was a fairly big shock, but that has calmed down since the hire of a new A.D. That being said, if Nebraska can win, we hope it sticks in the craw of Trev Alberts.
Jon Johnston: Nebraska MBB has been like this – every game and I mean EVERY GAME I have watched us and expected us to fall apart and lose. It’s been my life story with Nebrasketball and I’ll be 62 in June. Personally, I am trying to not think about this much. The fanbase is cautiously optimistic I’d say. Who’s Trev Alberts?
Patrick Gerhart: We have Trev’s replacement. All is well and we have quickly moved on. Nebrasketball just needs to get their first NCAA Tournament win.
Nebraska infamously has never won an NCAA Tournament game (and darnit I hope we won’t be the first). Obviously just getting back to The Dance is a big thing for y’all’s program, but how desperate are folks to finally win one?
Jarek: Spinal Tap desperate. On a scale of 1-10 it’s definitely an 11, at least for me. Only the second opportunity this century and therefore Nebraska has to take its opportunity.
Jon: I’m running out of time! Like Jarek said, this is our first NCAA tourney appearance since 2014!
Patrick: This is all Nebrasketball fans want. Will we get killed by Houston right after? Most likely, but we probably won’t care.
I think most A&M fans have heard about Tominaga, but who are some other Nebraska players we should watch out for?
Jarek: Rienk Mast is the biggest name people need to watch out for. A big who can shoot the ball from beyond the arc and leads Nebraska in assists per game. He’ll provide some matchup problems for many teams.
Jon: Juwan Gary is a guy who can score, he’s very athletic, and he plays very good defense. Josiah Allick has a giant head of hair, and he plays like it’s on fire all the time. Nebraska doesn’t lose if he scores more than six picks (is that not weird?).
Patrick: Josiah Allick. The man has flow. Respect the flow. Oh yeah, watch out for C.J. Wilcher coming off the bench. He can score 10 before you know it.
What are the Huskers biggest strengths and biggest weaknesses as a team?
Jarek: I’d say the biggest strength is the overall ball movement that has gotten a lot more open looks throughout the season. The biggest weakness is the propensity to give up a boatload of offensive boards, which is a specialty of Texas A&M.
Patrick: Strength – Making it rain. Weakness – Road games.
Alright, give me your score prediction, and if you have the Huskers winning (I assume you do), how far do you think y’all can go?
Jarek: I think this game has a real chance to go to the wire. I think the Huskers get off the snide and win 71-67. The Huskers are good enough to reach the sweet 16, but also capable of getting blown out by A&M.
Jon: Nebraska Nebraska 85, Aggies 76 – If Nebraska is going to win, they’re going to have to hit their threes. Thing is – they tend to get hot (not just one guy) and start raining, so if that happens, the Huskers will score a lot. As to how far? I’m only thinking one game at a time because I’m conditioned that winning a NCAA tourney game will never happen, and if it does, it might signal the end of the world.
Patrick: University of Nebraska 89 Texas Agricultural & Mechanical University 81. As stated above, we will most likely bow out at the hands of Houston in the second round. I don’t like our chances but stranger things have happened.