Basketball March Madness Central: schedule, seed, opponent and path to the Final Four

The Huskers are the 4 seed in the South.Here's everything you need to know about their opening weekend and the rest of the bracket.

Nebraska's March Madness Central: Schedule, seeds, opponents and road to the Final Four

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Nebraska Men's Basketball will officially dance for the ninth time in program history.

The Huskers are the 4 seed in the South Region.They open against defending Sun Belt champion Troy in Oklahoma City on Thursday.The game will air at 11:40 a.m. CDT on TruTV.

Below is Nebraska's road map, full schedule and pre-game predictions for Nebraska basketball games.

Nebraska (26-6) is the 13th seed in the tournament.They will host Troy (22-11) on Thursday, starting as a 13.5-point favorite.

If the Huskers get past the Trojans, they will face the winner of the No.5 Vanderbilt (26-8) and 12 McNeese (28-5).

The highest seed Nebraska could see in the Sweet 16 is 1 seed Florida.The Elite Eight could specifically feature a rematch with either third-seeded Illinois or second-seeded Houston.

The southern region corresponds to the eastern region.This is where the #1 overall seed accuracy resides.The top seeds there are UConn (2), Michigan State (3) and Kansas (4).

The top seeds in the West Region are Arizona (1), Purdue (2), Gonzaga (3) and Arkansas (4).The top seeds in the Midwest region are Michigan (1), Iowa State (2), Virginia (3) and Alabama (4).

Game odds are updated and may change from time to time.If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and needs help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

NCAA tournament schedule

Madi, 17 plus (First Kat in Dayton, Ohio)

- (16) UMBC mungsuh (16) Howard

- (11) Texas vs. (11) NC State

Wednesday, March 18 (First Four in Dayton, Ohio)

- (16) Prairie View A&M Gegn (16) Lehigh

- (11) Miami (Ohio) vs. (11) SMU

Thursday 19 March (first round/round of 64)

- (1) Michigan vs.To be determined

- (1) Duke vs. (16) Siena

— (2) Houston vs

- (3) Illinois vs.

- (3) Gonzaga vs. (14) Kennesaw State

- (3) Michigan State vs. (14) North Dakota State

- (4) Nebraska vs. (13) Troy

- (4) Arkansas v. (13) Hawaii

- (5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) McNeese

- (5) Wisconsin vs. (12) High Point

- (6) North Carolina vs. (11) VCU

- (6) BYU vs TBD

- (6) Louisville vs.(11) South Florida

- (7) St.Mary's vs. (10) Texas A&M

- (8) Georgia vs. (9) St. Louis

- (8) Ohio State vs. (9) TCU

Friday, March 20 (Round 1/Round 64)

- (1) Arizona and (16) Long Island University

- (1) Florida vs. TBD

- (2) I-Iowa State lwn.(15) Tennessee State

- (2) Purdue vs. (15) Regine

- (2) UConn vs. (15) Furman

- (3) Virginia vs. (14) Wright State

- (4) Alabama vs. (13) Hofstra

- (4) Kansas v.(13) Cal Baptist

- (5) Texas Tech vs. (12) Akron

- (5) St.John's vs. (12) UNI

- (6) Tennessee vs TBD

- (7) Kentucky vs. (10) Santa Clara

- (7) Miami (Florida) v. (10) Missouri

- (7) UCLA va (10) UCF

- (8) Villanova vs. (9) Davlat Utah

- (8) Clemson vs. (9) Iowa

The rest of the tournament

- Second round: Saturday 21 March and Sunday 22 March

- Sweet 16: Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27

- Elite Eight: Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29

- Final Four: 6 p.m.and 8:30 p.m.ET on Saturday, April 4 on TBS at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis

- NCAA Championship Game: 8:30 p.m. ET Monday, April 6 on TBS at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis

Nebraska has struggled against teams with the size to overcome the rebounding battle.The Huskers won't have to worry about that against the Trojans.Nebraska basketball is headed for its first-ever NCAA Tournament win.

Vanderbilt performed well in the SEC Tournament before meeting Arkansas in Sunday's championship game.They should handle McNeese even if Ola Khan returns in March Madness.

At one point, Nebraska and Vanderbilt were among the few undefeated.Since then, both have added several losses to enter the tournament in the same region as the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.

The Commodores force the ball to create defense and steal opportunities.The Huskers have struggled as a team to control the paint, but it could lead to more offense if NU can get Jamarquez Lawrence or Brayden Frager to drive again and break a tie.

Give me Nebraska to get the first two NCAA Tournament wins in program history and advance to the second weekend.

Top-seeded Florida likely awaits in the Sweet 16 for Nebraska.The defending national champions dominate the paint and glass, but don't shoot well from deep.I'm picking the Gators to eliminate the Huskers here, but if Nebraska can keep Florida out of the paint and force more 3-pointers than usual, an upset isn't out of the realm of possibility.

At the end of the day, a win over Troy will bring a monumental monkey off the back of the program.Moving to the second weekend will be the icing on the cake for a great season.Other than that, you have shocked the nation because this program can make solid wood.

Have a question or comment for Kaleb?Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.

2025-26 Nebraska Men's Basketball Schedule

- Oct. 18 Nebraska 90, BYU 89

- 27 octobre Nebraska 91, Midland 50

- Nov. 3 Nebraska 86, West Georgia 53

- 8 nuvembre Nebraska 96, Florida International 66

La 11 Nov. Nebarska 69, Maryland-Eastern Shore 50

- November 15 Nebraska 105, Oklahoma 99 (Sanford Pentagon)

- Nov. 20 Nebraska 84, New Mexico 72 (Hall of Fame Classic)

- Nov. 21 Nebraska 86, Kansas State 85 (Hall of Fame Classic)

- Nov. 25 Nebraska 80, Winthrop 73

- november.29 Nebraska 72, South Carolina Upstate 63

- Dec. 7 Nebraska 71, Creighton 50

- December 10 Nebraska 90, Wisconsin 60

- December 13.Nebraska 83, Illinois 80

- Dec. 21 Nebraska 78, North Dakota 55

- Dec. 30 Nebraska 86, New Hampshire 55

- Jan. 2 Nebraska 58, Michigan State 56

- Jan. 5 Nebraska 72, Ohio State 69

- January 10 Nebraska 83, Indiana 77

- Jan. 13 Nebraska 90, Oregon 55

- Jan. 17 Nebraska 77, Northwestern 58

- Enero 21 Nebraska 76, Washington 66

Jan. 24 at Nebraska 76;Minnesota 57

- 27 janvye Michigan 75, Nebraska 72

— February 1, Illinois 78, Nebraska 69

- February 7 Nebraska 80, Rutgers 68

- Feb. 10 Purdue 80, Nebraska 77

- Feb. 14 Nebraska 68, Northwestern 49

- February 17. Iowa 57, Nebraska 52

- Feb. 21 Nebraska 87, Penn State 64

- Feb. 25, Nebraska 74, Maryland 61

- February 28 Nebraska 82, USC 67

- March 3 UCLA 72, Nebraska 52

- March 8 Nebraska 84, Iowa 75

- March 13 Purdue 74, Nebraska 58 (Big Ten Tournament)

- March 19, Troy 11:40 am TruTV (NCAA Tournament)

Home games are in bold.Always central.

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering college sports since 2014 through radio, podcasting, and digital media.His experience with Big Ten Conference teams spans more than a decade, including time covering the likes of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans.He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has received numerous awards for his sports reporting from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association.Prior to his career in sports reporting, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA rules as SIUE's representative on the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.