Saturday, March 11, 2006

Implosion at Marquette

UNO gets swept by Northern Michigan this weekend, losing 4-1 last night and 3-2 tonight. Not only did that knock UNO out of the CCHA playoff chase, but it also may prove to be a mortal wound in UNO's NCAA tournament chances. Their PairWise rating plummetted to 14th, which puts them on the outside of the NCAA tournament bubble.

UNO still might find a way to sneak in, though they will need help over the next week. Lots of scenarios out there that can help UNO's strength of schedule and also hoping that teams below UNO in the PairWise ratings don't win their conference championships and get automatic bids.

In many respects, UNO is in the same predicament as Creighton; blowing chunks in their conference tournament and hoping and praying that somehow they might still get in the tournament. At least Creighton knows they will play again, as there is an NIT in basketball.

Speaking of basketball and the NIT, the Husker basketball team sure made things interesting down at the Big XII tournament by beating both Missouri and #19 Oklahoma before sucumbing once again to Kansas. It now looks like Nebraska is in the NIT, which will delay the anticipated coaching change a little while longer. I've heard rumors on all sides, but the strongest ones seem to indicate that Barry Collier has agreed to a buyout of his contract.

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