Nebraska vs Minnesota Odds, Picks and Predictions: Golden Gophers Get Put Out of Their Misery

A 16-seed could upset a 1-seed next week and it would not be as big an upset as the Minnesota Golden Gophers winning the Big Ten tournament would be.

That pipe dream begins against the Nebraska Cornhuskers tonight in Chicago, and it's likely to end rather quickly.

Check out my free college basketball picks and predictions for Minnesota vs. Nebraska on March 8 below.

Nebraska vs Minnesota best odds

Nebraska vs Minnesota picks and predictions

Finally, this Minnesota Golden Gophers season can be put out of its misery. It was never going to be a good year for the Gophers, but losing 12 games in a row through the crux of Big Ten play turned a bad season into one that will have head coach Ben Johnson on the hot seat next year.

That losing streak may have broken Minnesota. Going 9-8-2 against the spread in the conference was respectable, as was going 4-4-1 ATS on the road in conference play. But that latter thought includes going 1-4 ATS in the Gophers’ last five road games, losing all five games outright and by an average of 18.6 points.

Remove an embarrassing 35-point loss at Rutgers on Feb. 1 and that average would still be a 14.5-point deficit. Minnesota stopped competing away from home.

That screams of a team that has quit on its year and it would be hard to fault. Since opening the season with a 1-point win against Western Michigan, the Gophers have probably had a pretty good idea of how futile this campaign would be.

Want more evidence of a team that has psychologically broken? Minnesota shoots 61.5% from the free-throw line and turns the ball over on nearly 20% of its possessions.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are far from a powerhouse, but they closed the season strong, winning six of their last eight games to charge up the Big Ten standings, relatively speaking.

Nebraska was worse off than both Ohio State and Wisconsin as January ended, but leaped over both of them in February to be gifted with this matchup to open the conference tournament.

The ‘Huskers went 6-2 ATS — as well as SU — in that stretch, exceeding expectations in all ways. This is a team that hasn't quit, even though it had a vague reason to in January.

How little of a chance does Minnesota have of a run through this tournament? Ken Pomeroy gives the Gophers less than a 0.01% chance of winning on Sunday.

The only power conference teams also with odds so minuscule that they demand a “less than” sign are the likes of Louisville, Cal, and South Carolina, teams that went a combined 8-50 in regular-season conference play. Minnesota’s 2-17 fits right in with them.

Frankly, this could become a rout. The Gophers do not do anything inherently well, while the ‘Huskers’ stingy defense should deflate Minnesota’s want-to even more... if that is yet possible.

My best bet: Nebraska -5.5 (-110 at SugarHouse)

Nebraska vs Minnesota spread analysis

Consider Louisville’s loss to Boston College on Tuesday in the first round of the ACC tournament.

The Cardinals have had a comparable season to the Gophers’, while the Eagles are not as decent as the ‘Huskers but are still better than half the country. Louisville reached halftime with a lead before crumbling entirely in the second half to lose by 18 despite being only 6-point underdogs.

The quality of the teams is similar, the spread is the same, and the lesser team has shown the same lack of motivation for months. Minnesota might play well early, but once it realizes a win would prolong this miserable season, some apathy may quickly arise.

Since Jan. 28, the Gophers have lost by fewer than six points, or won outright, just twice. Most notably in that stretch, they lost by 11 at Nebraska.

The ‘Huskers were 8-point favorites on Feb. 25. Adjusting for this neutral court, the 6-point spread makes some sense, but then again, Nebraska outperformed that 8-point edge two weeks ago.

Nebraska vs Minnesota Over/Under analysis

Six straight Minnesota games have gone Over their pregame totals by an average of 15.3 points. Seven straight Nebraska games have gone Over their pregame totals by an average of 11.4 points.

This total of 136.5 adjusts for some of that, with the Gophers’ pregame total averaging to only 131.7 in those six games, while the ‘Huskers’ seven-game streak averaged 137.2. However, the sheer ease with which these teams have cleared totals of late suggests this one should also be in jeopardy.

If continuing to doubt Minnesota’s motivation, the trend of Overs likely agrees. Defense requires more want-to and focus, and those are increasingly lacking for the Gophers.

Nebraska vs Minnesota betting trend to know

In going 5-1 ATS to close the season, Nebraska outperformed the spread by an average of 9.4 points, a number that jumps to 13 points per game if excluding the one ATS loss, also the only outright loss in the stretch. Find more college basketball betting trends for Nebraska vs. Minnesota.

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