Transparent Cornhuskers

Nebraska's early season success could be less deceptive than years past

Dec. 18, 2007

By Phil Kasiecki

Special to CSTV.com

	PHIL KASIECKI Phil is the Sr. Editor of Hoopville.com, and contributes regular content to CSTV.com. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- 1/15: Don't Write In The Hoyas Just Yet 1/8: The Sun Is Starting To Shine On These Devils 1/1: Three Teams Ahead Of The Pack 12/28: Terps Taking Much-Needed Break 12/18: Transparent Cornhuskers 12/11: Biggest Of The Big Five 12/4: Hardwood Series Draws Rave Reviews 11/27: Beware of the Pirates 11/20: Not Necessarily Rebuilding In Miami 11/13: Atlantic Sun Already Out-Doing Itself 11/5: Speedier Spartans 10/24: Jayhawks Looking Much The Same 10/20: George Mason Returns To Top Of CAA 10/13: Graves Gives It One More Shot 6/27: Blossomed Green Ready For Next Level 6/5: Senior Standing 3/28: Points of Emphasis 3/21: A Season of Unpredictability 3/14: X-Factors: Friday's Games 3/13: X-Factors: Who to Watch on Thursday 2/28: Orange Closing In On NCAA Tournament 2/21: Familiarity Creates Parity Within Conferences 2/7: Big East Having A Down Year 1/31: Tale Of Two Divisions 1/23: Not A Sure Bet 1/17: In CAA, It's VCU 1/8: Providence Success No Surprise 12/18: Turning The Corner? 12/5: ACC and Pac-10 Back on Top 11/29: Questions Abound in Early Polls 11/20: Nothing Small About These Wins 10/30: MVC Has Cracked the Code 10/25: Neal Ready To Move Towson On Up 6/25: NBA Draft - P. O'Bryant 6/24: NBA Draft - C. Simmons 4/04: Final Four Reflection 3/29: A Colonial Invasion 3/22: The Value of Experience 3/15: X-Factors, Part II 3/14: X-Factors, Part I 3/11: Xavier's Home Court Advantage 2/21: Can The Colonial Step Up? 2/15: A Tiger Changes His Stripes 2/11: Patriot League Powers 2/08: The Lone Rangers 2/01: Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk 1/23: Rough Rides on Welcome Wagon 1/17: Not a Normal Start 1/16: Blue Devils Poised For Final Four 1/11: Eagles' Difficult ACC Childhood 1/09: As Good As The Hype 1/03: Contenders and pretenders

Could this be a different Nebraska team that's putting up a good non-conference record? Is Saturday's win over Oregon a fluke?

The answers to those questions won't be apparent right away, but it's possible that they could be "yes" and "no." Still, given the track record of Nebraska teams, the questions have to be asked.

As the Huskers now stand 8-2 and have a light enough schedule remaining that they should be 11-2 when Big 12 play starts, they once again have a nice non-conference record built largely on home games. But this has happened before, and the Big 12 results haven't been pretty.

In 2003-04, the Cornhuskers won their first five games -- all at home -- en route to a 10-1 start that included just two road games. They went 6-10 in Big 12 play, lost right away in the Big 12 Tournament, then went to the NIT. In 2005-06, they again won the first five (all at home) en route to a 10-3 start, then finished 7-9 in Big 12 play and lost in the first round of the NIT. Last season was more of the same: an 11-3 start with five straight home wins to open, then a 6-10 Big 12 mark.

Anyone who is a doubter can be forgiven. The common denominator in all of these seasons is that the Cornhuskers weren't challenged a great deal in non-conference play and rarely left home, so the nice record was deceiving.

But a look at this season yields some reason to think it could be different this time around. Nebraska still doesn't leave home much, as they've played away from the Devaney Center just twice and lost both games -- to Creighton and Western Kentucky.  They have some better wins -- the Oregon win now really stands out, and they've also knocked off Arizona State and Rutgers. Their 2-0 mark against Pac-10 schools helps.

And senior Aleks Maric, the best player in America no one knows about, can see this team getting better in a crucial area: toughness.

"If you look at the Western Kentucky game, I think we were tough then, but obviously we had a lot of lapses and we were careless with the ball," Maric said after Saturday's upset over the Ducks. "But I think that overtime [in the Western Kentucky game] really brought it out of us, and we've been practicing hard ever since."

The inability to win on the road is certainly a question mark, but neither was an easy road game. The unfortunate thing is that we won't get another chance to see how they might fare away from home until Big 12 play starts. There, the schedule isn't quite as favorable, as they get Texas A&M and Texas on the road only (in addition to Oklahoma State).

Saturday's win is the latest of a number of good ones for the Big 12, which is riding high in the RPI right now and looking deeper than anyone might have figured before the season. Kansas, Texas and Texas A&M figured to be good, but after that it was anyone's guess. Now it looks more solid, with Baylor at 7-1 having won at Wichita State and Notre Dame, Oklahoma quietly playing well at 8-3 (their recent loss to Stephen F. Austin aside), Missouri at 8-3 and sure to be a tough out for anyone, and Kansas State having posted a 7-3 mark with senior David Hoskins out all season thus far.

One can put Nebraska in that mix as well. But the Cornhuskers are being cautious about their success, especially Saturday's win. They don't want to make the win over Oregon out to be more than it is, especially since a poor Big 12 showing could render it irrelevant when March comes.

"I don't think any of us really know [what it means] until we see what we do in conference play," said head coach Doc Sadler after the game. "If you do what you'd like to do in conference play, then this win is huge. If you don't take care of your business and do what you need to do, then it's just another win."

Sophomore guard Ryan Anderson, who scored 21 points and had nine rebounds in Saturday's win, sees how they can do that.

"I think also the win can help us, but we have to stay humble and keep working hard, because this game can also hurt us," he said.

Nebraska isn't without areas for improvement. Opponents shoot nearly 40 percent from three-point land against them, and that stat was particularly acute against Oregon as the Ducks made 14-of-31 from behind the arc. They also go small aside from the 6-foot-11 Maric, often with a four-guard lineup that has Anderson playing inside, which means their rebounding edge thus far this season may be a little deceptive.