The Nebraska Cornhuskers are turning heads-and for good reason. Sitting at 20-1, they’ve emerged as one of the most surprising stories in college basketball this season.
This isn’t just a feel-good run or a case of catching teams off guard. Fred Hoiberg’s squad is putting together a legitimate résumé, and it's time the national conversation starts reflecting that.
But not everyone’s on board just yet. During a CBS Sports segment on Thursday, analyst Isis Young expressed skepticism about Nebraska’s Final Four potential.
Her take? Nebraska hasn’t played enough top-tier competition in the Big Ten to be considered a serious contender.
“To date, they have played mostly the bottom half of the Big Ten,” Young said, before adding that if the Huskers beat Illinois, Rutgers, and Purdue in their next three games, she’d be willing to revisit the conversation.
Now, it’s fair to want more evidence before crowning a team as Final Four-worthy. But the idea that Nebraska has coasted through a soft schedule doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. In fact, it’s just not accurate.
Let’s break it down.
The Big Ten is an 18-team conference this season, which means the line between “top half” and “bottom half” is thinner than ever. Nebraska has already faced five of the other eight teams currently in the top half of the standings.
That includes a 30-point statement win over Wisconsin, as well as victories over Michigan State and Ohio State. They also edged out Illinois on the road-yes, that same Illinois team Young says she needs to see Nebraska beat in the future.
And even their lone loss in that stretch? A tight, three-point game at Michigan.
That’s not a cupcake schedule. That’s a team taking care of business against real competition.
Sure, Nebraska has also faced teams like Minnesota, Northwestern, Washington, Oregon, and Indiana-programs that currently sit in the lower half of the standings. But that’s the nature of an 18-team conference.
You’re going to get a mix. And through 10 Big Ten games, Nebraska has played an even split: five games against top-half teams, five against the bottom half.
That’s balance, not avoidance.
And it’s not like other top programs are being held to this same impossible standard. Purdue, for example, is in the middle of a three-game skid, yet no one’s rushing to remove them from the Final Four conversation. So why is Nebraska being asked to run the table against three tough opponents just to be taken seriously?
The truth is, the Huskers have already proven a lot. They’ve shown they can win big, win close, and win on the road.
They’ve shown defensive grit and offensive versatility. And as they head into a stretch that includes Purdue and a rematch with Illinois, they’re not just surviving-they’re thriving.
Over the next 10 games, Nebraska will face only four teams currently in the top half of the Big Ten. That’s not to say the road gets easy, but it does mean the Huskers are in a strong position to keep building on what they’ve already accomplished.
Whether or not they end up with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is still to be determined. But what’s clear right now is this: Nebraska isn’t some fluky upstart. They’re a well-coached, battle-tested team that’s earned its spot in the national spotlight.
It’s time to stop questioning whether they belong in the conversation-and start recognizing that they’ve already kicked the door in.