I never really cared about college basketball much. As far as I was concerned, the season started in March. At Nebraska, basketball is often an afterthought to our storied football team. The Nebraska team is the smallest in Division One basketball, but they are a gritty bunch.
With their hard nosed defense they had been giving some Big 12 rivals a run for their money this season. For me, I got into Husker basketball when I attended the upset over No. 17 Texas which caused a storming of the court from our fans.
Hopes were high following that game. It was believed that victories over Creighton, Missouri, and Texas gave us a decent tournament resume. We needed to win out at home and add a road victory either at Missouri, K State, Kansas, or Baylor.
Even after losses to Kansas and Mizzou we still stood a chance, or so we believed. Winning by 18 against Texas A & M looked like it was going to be a solid victory against a team in the Top 50 RPI.
But we were doomed from the second ESPN announcer Doug Gottlieb declared victory with 15 minutes remaining in the game. As soon as he called it a Huskers victory I knew it was anything but that.
Whenever you hear an announcer declare victory isn't that when the little warning lights in your head start to go off? If Gottlieb thought it, that means the Huskers thought it too, and so did Doc Sadler.
It showed in the way they tried to run down the clock and did not get one good look at the basket for ten straight minutes. By the time they realized they were in trouble it was too late. A & M was within 5 and the Huskers were floundering.
Two questionable calls gave A & M the ball with less than 5 seconds to play, down by one. The Huskers inability to foul on the final in bounds pass allowed a three pointer to end their March Madness hopes.
If only I had not gone to that Texas game, maybe I would not have been so crushed by that defeat.
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