Big Ten Basketball: 5 takeaways from the 2018 Big Ten/ACC Challenge

By Adam Childs | Nov 29, 2018

SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 02: A Michigan Wolverines cheerleader performs in the second half during the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four National Championship game between the Villanova Wildcats and the Michigan Wolverines at the Alamodome on April 2, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

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LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 11: Glynn Watson Jr. #5 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers puts back a rebound over teammate Brady Heiman #45 during their game at Pinnacle Bank Arena on November 11, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images) /

Nebraska is on a mission

The Cornhuskers won 22 regular season games last year and came in fourth in the big ten during the regular season and still missed out on the NCAA tournament. The knock on them was that they had so few quality wins. They did beat Michigan during the regular season but then got beat by 19 in the rematch during the conference tournament. They followed that up by losing to Mississippi State in the first round of the NIT.

This year they returned almost everybody and wanted to show that they were for real. So far they have shown that they have a very good team and should be taken seriously. Outside of their game against Texas Tech in which they could not hit any shots. They have played really well. They have won every other game coming into the Challenge by double digits including a 23 point blow out of Seton Hall who was a tournament team last year.

They showed that they could win on the road as they beat a good Clemson team by two on Tuesday night. This was a game the Cornhuskers needed to win if they wanted to build their resume and give the selection committee a reason to include them instead of leaving them out.

Can the Cornhuskers win the Big Ten? That is to remain to be seen if they can keep up with Michigan and Michigan State on a consistent basis, but they are proving to the nation that they need to be taken seriously. This is a very good team and with their win Tuesday they showed they can win in a tough environment.

Nebraska just hopes this is the start of a great season.

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