ESPN College GameDay panel debates Nebraska's NCAA Tournament resume

Nebraska has lost its last four games heading into Sunday’s regular season finale against Iowa. As it stands, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Cornhuskers as one of his ‘Last Four Out‘ teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Before the Huskers take the court against the Hawkeyes, ESPN’s College GameDay debated whether Nebraska has done enough to earn their spot into the Big Dance. Out of the Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Jay Williams and Seth Greenberg, only Greenberg has them in if the season ended today.

“The committee doesn’t look at how many games you won in a row or lost in a row,” Greenberg explained to his co-hosts. “They look at your whole body of work. Win at Northwestern, win at Oregon, win at Creighton, Indiana, UCLA. That’s five Quad 1 wins. They might not be the best conference in America, but with the depth of that conference — winning on the road in that conference is really difficult.

“Yeah, at times they kind of had a little bit of a head scratcher. But I think 5-10 against Quad 1, and winning on the road — I’ve got them in.”

Bilas chimed in, adding some of Nebraska’s most recent stats to the mix to help support the arguement that the 17-13 Huskers have not done enough to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think the only problem is they’ve lost five of their last six, and they’re 5-11 in their last 16,” Bilas responded. “And even though it’s not written down for the committee anymore, how you do in your last 10 games and all that, the individual committee members are still able to consider that. And I think how you are playing toward the end of the season, who you are at the end is still important.”

This sparked debate over whether individual committee members biases and how that impacts the selection process. Several weeks ago when Vanderbilt was on the bubble, Commodores head coach Mark Byington noted that bottom line for teams on the bubble is to take the decision out of the selection committee’s hands entirely.

Regardless, to go along with their 5-10 record against Quad 1 competition, Nebraska also currently ranks No. 57 in the current NET Rankings. They have the No. 36 strength of schedule in the country this season, but are No. 59 in strength of record.

As the postseason looms, tip-off between the Huskers and Hawkeyes is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET and will air live on FOX.