Nebraska’s hire of Fred Hoiberg immediately changes the landscape of college basketball in the Cornhusker state. That could be a problem for the Creighton Bluejays.
Six years ago, I wrote an article for Bleacher Report with a similar headline as this one. I talked about how Creighton basketball moving to the Big East was going to hurt Nebraska basketball in ways people did not yet understand. With Nebraska’s recent hiring of Fred Hoiberg, the tables may be about to turn.
Full disclosure — I’m a Creighton season ticket holder. In no way am I happy about writing this article. But I’m also a realist.
There are three Division 1 basketball programs in the state of Nebraska: Creighton, Nebraska and Omaha. A running joke — at least amongst Creighton fans — was that the Omaha Mavericks would win an NCAA tournament game before Nebraska would. The Huskers are the only Power 5 program in the country without a win in the NCAA tournament. Omaha — on the other hand — has been close to punching a ticket to the tournament twice since beginning the Division 1 transition process back in 2011.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball program — affectionately referred to as “Nebrasketball” by many of its supporters — has lagged in on-court success behind its two in-state peers recently. In addition to Omaha threatening a tournament appearance a couple of times, Creighton — playing in the Big East — has raised both internal and fan expectations to the point where missing the NCAA Tournament means a disappointing year.
Creighton’s rise since joining the Big East has coincided with Nebraska’s struggles since joining the Big Ten. Nebraska has no real basketball history to lean on, despite top-notch facilities and some of the best fan support in the country. Top recruits want to play for prestigious programs with rich tradition and a track record of churning out NBA talent.
The Huskers have no prestige, very little tradition and a limited track-record of NBA talent. Creighton — comparatively — has Nebraska basketball beat in all three categories.
To make matters worse, Creighton has had a player drafted in each of the last two NBA Drafts — both of whom were Nebraska natives. Nebrasketball can’t even lock down its own borders, let alone consistently recruit with the Big Ten elite.
The arrival of Fred Hoiberg has the potential to be a game-changer for both Creighton and Nebraska. Hoiberg brings a resume at both the collegiate and NBA levels that can overcome what Nebraska basketball lacks in history, tradition and NBA avenues.
Now, Nebraska basketball can look both in-state and national recruits in the eyes and promise everything that Creighton head coach Greg McDermott has been promising them for years: big crowds, a commitment by the university to the program and a chance to play in the NBA.
The Huskers and Bluejays play every season, and rarely does the outcome of that game play a role in how each team finishes. This past season was an example of just that, as the Huskers won the matchup but finished with a worse record. Be that as it may, the happenings in Omaha and Lincoln can and often do have a two-way butterfly effect.
Moving forward, the two schools will continue to compete for the same recruits. Both coaches will have those recruits in the stands during these games — recruits who very well could be undecided between the two programs. These recruits will start to pay more attention to the rivalry, and any momentum Fred Hoiberg gains will not go unnoticed.
Creighton basketball has built itself up as the premier basketball program in the state of Nebraska over decades and cemented its status in recent years by joining one of the premier conferences in college basketball. Now, with Fred Hoiberg in the fold, Nebrasketball will begin the process of chipping away at that cement — and the entire demolition process might not take very long.