Nebraska won 22 games last season, but the Huskers were left out of the NCAA Tournament. They only beat one team that made the NCAA Tournament all season — Michigan — and their best road win was either against 15-17 Northwestern or 15-18 Wisconsin, depending on which team you think was better.

Nebraska went just 9-4 in the non-conference portion of its schedule, losing to four of the five toughest opponents it faced outside of the Big Ten. A home win over a Boston College team that finished 19-16 is all Nebraska had to show for its non-conference schedule, while letting a major opportunity against Kansas slip away in a 73-72 loss.

What a difference a year can make.

The Huskers finished the November portion of their 2018-19 schedule with a 68-66 road win at Clemson in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Monday night and they enter December with a better non-conference resume than they assembled last November and December.

Clemson, which was ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll last week, is a likely NCAA Tournament team and ranked at No. 60 in the NET rankings after Monday. Nebraska also owns a win over Seton Hall (No. 74 NET). Both victories could prove to be better than Nebraska’s best non-conference win last season and the win in Clemson, South Carolina, is better than any road victory it had last season.

Here’s a look at Nebraska’s resume so far this season.

Opponent	Result	Opponent’s NET Ranking*
Mississippi Valley State	Win, 106-37	No. 332
Southeastern Louisiana	Win, 87-35	No. 339
Seton Hall	Win, 80-57	No. 74
Missouri State	Win, 85-62	No. 183
Texas Tech	Loss, 70-52	No. 1
Western Illinois	Win, 73-49	No. 316
Clemson	Win, 68-66	No. 60

*Through Monday, November 26

Plus, the Cornhuskers still have a home game against Creighton and a neutral-site contest with Oklahoma State as part of their non-conference schedule. The Bluejays and Cowboys are ranked No. 41 and No. 66 in the NET rankings, respectively.

As we wrote after the debut of the NET rankings on Monday, it’s only late November and some teams have played eight games, while others have played three. But so far, the NET rankings like Nebraska — a lot. The Huskers are No. 9 after their win at Clemson and with seven Big Ten teams in the top 20, the conference is poised to earn more NCAA Tournament bids than the four it received last season.

Nebraska has home games against Ohio State (No. 2 NET), Michigan State (No. 7 NET), Wisconsin (No. 10 NET), Maryland (No. 15 NET), Purdue (No. 17 NET) and Iowa (No. 28 NET), so it has no shortage of opportunities for quality wins once it enters conference play.

The college basketball advanced statistics website kenpom.com projects Nebraska to enter the Big Ten Tournament with a 20-11 record overall and an 11-9 record in Big Ten play. With a 6-1 record entering December, headlined by a win at Clemson and its only loss coming against Texas Tech (No. 1 in the NET through Monday), Nebraska has started building a non-conference resume that will allow it to make the NCAA Tournament if it can replicate its 22-win campaign and top-five finish in the Big Ten from last season.