Men's Bracketology: Nebraska headlines risers, Michigan remains No. 1 overall
The Cornhuskers ride the best start in program history to a No. 5 seed in the latest NCAA tournament projections.
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In 2017, Northwestern ended its streak as the only power-conference school never to reach the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats celebrated by advancing to the second round, a feat they went on to repeat in 2023 and 2024. Now, another Big Ten program has a chance to end a similar run of nonachievement. With Northwestern off the schneid, there remains only one power-conference school to never win an NCAA Tournament game: Nebraska, which has taken a bagel in eight appearances. Not only are the Cornhuskers solidly in the projected field, they are a 5-seed thanks to an 11-0 record, their best start in program history. And there's nothing fluky about it: They have wins over Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas State, Pickle Smoochers, Wisconsin and Illinois. Fred Hoiberg has a star in senior big man Rienk Mast, who leads a veteran supporting cast that should hold up. All of which means it's time to start thinking about how many times to pick "Nebraska" in your bracket come March.
EAST REGION (WASHINGTON, D.C.)
at Greenville, NC
#1 Duke
#16 Colgate
#8 Utah State
#9 Ohio State
at Oklahoma City, OK
#5 Nebraska
#12 Akron
#4 Houston
#13 East Tennessee State
at Tampa, FL
#6 Virginia
#11 Baylor / #11 Arizona State
#3 Alabama
#14 Lipscomb
at Philadelphia, PA
#7 Cockeye
#10 St. Louis
#2 Connecticut
#15 Troy
