Tournament time is near

Pitching with Pritch
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The Cornhusker men and women’s basketball teams are both having pretty good seasons and are coming down to the end. Both will hopefully land in post-season tournaments.

 The men’s team has not made the NCAA tournament very many times but has a chance this year to get it done. The easiest way would be to win the Big 10 tournament and be an automatic qualifier. 

I am going out on a really strong, safe limb here to say “That isn’t happening!” Coach Miles did get one team there since he has been at Nebraska but it isn’t something that happens on a regular basis with the Cornhuskers. 

I have said before I think this is the most talented group of players Miles has had since being at Nebraska. They have played pretty well and at this juncture are tied for fourth in the conference standings with Michigan, who they defeated in the only game the two teams will play in regular season.

 The Huskers have a really good chance to do well with the rest of their regular season conference games. 

By the time this is published, they will have played Minnesota and they will have Rutgers, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana and Penn State left to play. 

Minnesota and Illinois are on the road, while the rest are at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. That is important because the Huskers are 12-1 at PBA, and 3-6 on the road. 

It is nice to play in front of almost 16,000 screaming fans. If the Huskers keep winning, the crowds are going to keep coming and probably get louder with each game. 

If the Huskers could win the home games, and steal at least one of the road games, that would give them a 22-9 record. 

That might just get them into the NCAA tournament. Then if they would be able to win a couple more in the Big 10 tournament that would make it even better. 

Big 10 teams, again at the time I am writing this, are 162-41 on their home courts and 33-69 on the road. Home cooking always tastes the best! 

Minnesota, who is the first game for the Huskers, is 10-4 at home, so it will be a test right from the beginning. When they get to Illinois, they’ll face a team who is currently 11-3 on their home court.

 It is that time of the season when teams want to be playing well. They want to keep getting better and yet stay as fresh as possible. 

It is getting close to tournament times for high schools and colleges. 

This is what the teams have worked for all season long, getting ready for post-season play. 

It is exciting, it can extend the season and give you memories for a lifetime. On the other side of that coin, it can come to a screeching stop with one shot, one turnover, one official’s call. But that coin is fickle, because the memories can be made with all those things going your way, also. 

Fun time of the year just around the corner.

 

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