Nebraska coach Tim Miles has one of the best benches in all of college basketball, one fans across the country would enjoy watching in the NCAA tournament this year.
But let's not judge the Cornhuskers' "Bench Mob" solely on their playing talent. In fact, it's their acting talent in elaborate celebrations that makes the benchwarmers stand out.
Recently, their timely themes included holding up "10" signs as if they were dunk contest judges for NBA All-Star weekend. The bobsled routine to tie into the Winter Olympics was hilarious and genius.
And while videos of its bench routines pick up millions of views on social media, Nebraska also passes the eye test when it comes to an NCAA tournament team. The Cornhuskers are deep. They have a Big Ten player of the year candidate in James Palmer Jr. They have toughness and experience.
But they still are on the outside looking in.
The Big Ten has four teams seemingly locked for March Madness bids: Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan (last time only four Big Ten teams went dancing was 2008). Nebraska is the lone bubble team with realistic hopes, but it has work to do based on current projections from ESPN's Joe Lunardi and CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm.
Like many bubble teams, the Cornhuskers are struggling to find résumé-building victories. This season, the NCAA tournament selection committee changed the lingo and how it evaluates quality wins.
The new evaluation process places even more value on quality wins in true road games and neutral courts. Wins against top-50 RPI teams are still good, but it's more complicated than that now.
