Breaking the Curse: Nebraska's Quest for its First NCAA Tournament Win

After 51 years and eight consecutive losses, the Cornhuskers are on a mission to make history in the NCAA tournament

A Legacy of Disappointment

Kent Pavelka has been calling Nebraska men's basketball games on the radio since 1974, but despite his decades-long career, he has yet to witness the Cornhuskers win a game in the NCAA tournament. With a record of 0-8, Nebraska is one of the only teams from a power conference to have never achieved this feat. Pavelka has seen the team lose as a higher seed and as an underdog, with margins ranging from five points to 21 points. As the years have gone by, fans have grown increasingly resigned to disappointment, and Pavelka is no exception. "I'm pretty long in the tooth here," he said. "I've been thinking, how many more rodeos do I have?"

A New Era of Optimism

However, this winter has brought a sense of optimism to Lincoln and beyond. The Huskers started the season 15-0, earning a program-record No. 4 seed in the tournament. They will face 13th-seeded Troy on Thursday, and for the first time in years, there is a feeling that this could be the year the Cornhuskers finally break their curse. "Here we are, deep into the movie 'Hoosiers,' but it's Huskers," Pavelka said. "And we don't know how it's going to end, but we have a feeling and that this is it. This is the year." The team's success has been fueled by a strong roster, including 6-foot-10 senior Rienk Mast, who transferred to Nebraska two years ago with the goal of being part of the team that would finally win an NCAA tournament game.

The Weight of History

Nebraska's drought is all the more surprising given its membership in some of the country's most powerful conferences. Theoretically, this should provide the team with more resources to recruit and play better schedules. However, despite this advantage, the Cornhuskers have continually been snakebit in the postseason. According to Joe Spagnolo, the executive director of the Hoop Historians, eight Division I men's programs have played in seven or more NCAA tournaments without winning, but Nebraska's situation is unique. The team's struggles are all the more galling given the success of nearby Creighton, a smaller, private school that has become a March Madness staple with a 21-27 all-time tournament record.

A Chance to Make History

For Mast and his teammates, the opportunity to break the curse is a powerful motivator. "I sometimes read comment sections and however good we're doing, there's always comments about, 'They've never won an NCAA tournament game,' and it always gets brought up," Mast said. "If we're good, if we're bad, it's a thing that's still kind of a dark spot of our program, and to be the team that finally, finally gets that first one, yeah — I just want people to stop talking about it, honestly. So we need to get it done this year. This is about as good of a chance as the program has had in decades. So we need to get it done." With their strong roster and favorable seeding, the Cornhuskers are poised to make a deep run in the tournament and finally bring an end to their 51-year drought.

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