To be honest, I forgot how irrational Nebraska fans can be.
Yes, all college sports fans can be irrational. College sports fandom is something of an irrational act, consisting of tying your emotions to the actions of largely unpaid 17-23 year-olds, many of whom are wearing colorful spandex.
But Nebraska fans.
In March of 2018, Nebraska men’s basketball fans thought their team had a shot at making a certain postseason basketball tournament that is not the NIT. Few others thought their team had a shot, but they did, and when they didn’t make said tournament, they were pissed.
This is not unusual.
What was unusual was that Nebraska fans didn’t check their fury at the NIT door. They kept the fire raging. And when the NIT Selection Committee rewarded them with a possibly-unfair-but-certainly-hilarious 5-seed (Joe Stunardi had them getting a 3), they let the world have it. Few fanbases will get upset about their seeding within the NIT. Nebraska’s will. And they don’t even care that much about basketball. Relatively speaking. Not relatively speaking they care a ton about basketball. They get better attendance than a lot of quote-unquote basketball schools.
So, we shouldn’t be too surprised that the Cornhusker faithful (read the word Cornhusker five more times and tell me college sports fandom isn’t inherently silly) have reacted the way they have to the coronavirus, most recently through one of their media outlets (Their radio and TV outlet? i.e., a significant media outlet?) posting a poll asking if Nebraska would’ve played through a coronavirus outbreak comparable to the massive one presently ravaging Wisconsin’s football program (the poll was taken down shortly after it was posted, but when I last checked it, the answer “No” was in the lead by about 14 percentage points). They’re fiery. It’s been a while since they’ve won in a sport most of the nation’s sports consciousness pays attention to. They’re easy to make fun of (I love the state of Nebraska, but again: Cornhuskers). They’re like a kid at your middle school whose dad made a bunch of money on a computer startup in the 80’s but it’s not the 80’s anymore and plenty of people have computers so what that kid’s dad did isn’t that cool and also the kid’s kind of a dork but he’s fervently convinced he deserves respect, and now, he’s lashing out.
But there’s something else at play here too.
Dedicated readers of The Barking Crow likely remember that only two collegiate men’s basketball programs have made the last two NIT’s. There’s Harvard, of course, where great minds play basketball. And then there’s Nebraska.
In other words, how can you blame Nebraska fans for being a little high on their horse (probably a combine, not a horse)? They’re in the midst of one of the most successful currently-in-progress runs in the sporting world. They do deserve more respect than they’re getting. Although, to be clear, “No” was still the correct answer in that poll.
Until Nebraska misses the 2021 NIT, I say we cut them some slack. Or just respond to their outbursts with compliments on their currently-in-progress NIT appearance streak. Show them we care.
