Our B.B. non-conference schedule must have created by Kirk Ferentz.
Are you really bagging on Nebraska's non-conference basketball schedule, and doing it with an Iowa reference?
We play at St. John's (Big East), Boston College (ACC), Creighton (Big East), Kansas (Big XIII), UCF (American), and possibly West Virginia (Big XII) if we beat UCF. Yeah, there are Ohio Valley, two Conference USA, Big Sky, and Atlantic Sun teams as well, but those are reasonable mid-majors that help pay the bills and whom Nebraska can't chalk up as automatic W's. Nebraska plays one MEAC team, Delware State. A traditionally pathetic non-conference schedule is littered with WAC, SWAC and MEAC teams, who have absolutely no shot at winning and simply collect their checks and get ready for conference play. That includes Chicago State (Purdue and Iowa have played them), Southern (played Illinois, plays Duke on Friday), Alabama State (plays Iowa and three other Power 5 teams), Grambling (plays Iowa) and others of that ilk. You see the trend here? Iowa's non-conference is pathetic, and yet they're almost guaranteed post-season play and a winning record without having to leave Carver-Hawkeye. Nebraska, even if we were a traditional power instead of an also-ran, plays a schedule that looks like a 9-4 record AT BEST, with 7-6 or 8-5 the more likely outcome. Other than Michigan State, which has enough talent to handle a tough non-conference schedule, no Big Ten team's non-conference schedule has as many major-conference opponents as Nebraska. NOBODY.
Big Ten major non-conference foes (#): Name
ILLINOIS (3-4): DePaul, Wake Forest, Missouri (UNLV?)
INDIANA (4): Seton Hall, Duke, Louisville, Notre Dame
IOWA (3): Virginia Tech, Iowa State, Colorado
MARYLAND (2): Butler, Syracuse
MICHIGAN (4): LSU, North Carolina, UCLA, Texas
MICHIGAN STATE (3): Duke, DePaul, Notre Dame
MINNESOTA (4): Providence, Miami, Alabama, Arkansas
NEBRASKA (5): St. John's, UCF, Boston College, Creighton, Kansas
NORTHWESTERN (4): Creighton, Georgia Tech, DePaul, Oklahoma
OHIO STATE (2): Gonzaga, North Carolina
PENN STATE (2): Pitt, NC State
PURDUE (4): Marquette, Tennessee, Louisville, Butler
RUTGERS (2): Florida State, Seton Hall
WISCONSIN (4): Xavier, Baylor, Virginia, Marquette
Big Ten WAC, MEAC, SWAC and Division II foes (#): Name
ILLINOIS (4): Southern, NC Central, NM State, Grand Canyon
INDIANA (1): Howard
IOWA (4): Chicago State, Alabama State, Grambling, Southern
MARYLAND (4): MD-Eastern Shore, Jackson State, Catholic U.
MICHIGAN (1): Alabama A&M
MICHIGAN STATE (2): Houston Baptist, Savannah State
MINNESOTA (1): Alabama A&M
NEBRASKA (1): Delaware State
NORTHWESTERN (2): Chicago State, Lewis College
OHIO STATE (1): Texas Southern
PENN STATE (1): Coppin State
PURDUE (1): Chicago State
RUTGERS (2): CCNY, Coppin State
WISCONSIN (2): South Carolina State, Chicago State
So the Nebraska-never-plays-anybody trope is old AND inaccurate, especially for a team that is predicted to finish 13th in a 14-team conference and needs all the wins and confidence it can get.