BASKETBALL LOSS:

Another Nail in the Coffin that is Husker Basketball or a Tough Road Loss for a Young Husker Team against a PAC 10 Team that is Better than their 2-5 Record Suggests?

At first blush, the 7-1 Huskers looked ready to recover from just their first loss of the season by feasting on a team that had just 1 win--despite having played some unimpressive teams like Yale and Howard.

But if you dig deeper, you might have seen tonight's dogfight coming:

• 3 of Oregon State's 5 losses have been by 6 points, combined.
• Oregon State has a new coach and the players have struggled early to adjust.
• Calvin Hayes was just declared eligible and in his first game of the season tonight he was 3rd in minutes and 2nd in scoring for the Beavers.

Anytime you get beat by 1 on the road, it's easy to look back at the missed chances the team let slip away--and this game had more than it's share. In fact, this game was a mirror of the KU lost today to a 2-6 UMass team at KU's home away from home--the Sprint Center in KC where the Jayhawks have a near perfect record.

In many ways, NU played better today than KU--who trailed by double digits in both halves. The Huskers went toe to toe all night and never trailed by more than 6 but never lead by more than 4. And just like in KU's game, the better team did win today, but you would not have guessed the outcome by looking at the teams records going in.

I guess that's why they play the game.

Some might argue that I have no business comparing NU's & KU's losses today. Sure they are in the same conference, but as programs go, they aren't in the same league, not even close. Add to that the fact that KU lost to a respectable program in UMass, where as the Husker fell in the road to Oregon State, a basketball nobody of a school.

But, it turns out, last year's National Championship provided little benefit for KU today, just as NU's storied NCAA tournament frustration didn't stop the Husker today. Where a program has been can help, sure--it puts fans in the stands and it opens some doors for you on the recruiting trail--but today proved for KU that a team;s history isn't very relevant when you get beat. And if KU's strong history doesn't matter when they get beat by 1, then it is fair to say that NU's lack of (successful) history didn't hold them back today either.

Today's Huskers aren't 0-6 in the NCAA Tournament. They are 0-0. They haven't lost in 37 of the last 38 conference tournaments. Most haven't played in any, or maybe one--only a few have play in 2 or 3.

Just as history didn't change the outcome for NU or KU today, it also didn't play much of a role for UMass or Oregon State. And while some will argue that at least KU lost to a respected program like UMass while NU lost to 'nobody' Oregon State, an astute fan will know that Oregon State has been to the NCAA tournament twice as many times as UMass and has more wins as well.

NU has lost 2 games and looks like a team that will be stuck in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 this year--and you know what: that's about as good or better than most expected from this line-up. They still out hustle every team they play and I suspect they will give us fans plenty of excitement this season. If just one of the 3 adverse rulings had gone Doc's way, this team might be even better right now, but you play with the team you have-nothing more, nothing less.