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Big games are nothing new to the Devaney Center and Nebraska women's basketball. After all, the Huskers have earned six straight postseason tournament bids and play in the nation's best conference - the Big 12, which right now is leading the nation in conference-wide RPI for the third consecutive season.
But, Sunday's game between No. 20 Nebraska and No. 5 LSU has a truly unique feel for women's basketball in December. First, it is potentially the first non-conference home game in school history to feature a pair of top-25 teams. That's right. I've looked through everything I have on record for the last 35 years of Nebraska women's basketball and cannot find another home non-conference game that matches this magnitude.
In fact, the last time Nebraska played a non-conference game anywhere that featured a pair of top-25 teams came on Nov. 27, 1998, when No. 24 Nebraska lost to No. 12 UCLA at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii. The previous season, Nebraska played two top-25 games in true road non-conference games, the last one coming on Dec. 7, 1997, when No. 13 Nebraska lost at No. 11 Arizona, 68-56, in Tucson. A couple weeks earlier, No. 21 Nebraska lost to No. 6 Connecticut in the championship game of the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 21, 1997, in Storrs, Conn.
So, Nebraska has experienced some big regular-season non-conference games, but never in the Devaney Center.
Sunday's game with LSU features a pair of top-20 unbeatens, which gives this game a national stage. Nebraska's game with the Tigers will not be the only game of the day featuring a pair of top 20 teams. No. 6 Baylor will face No. 14 Arizona State in Las Vegas on Sunday night. But that game will be played with little local fanfare on a neutral court.
Nebraska's game against LSU could have the widest national implications in the country's two most powerful women's basketball conferences, and it could be played in front of one of the nation's largest crowds. It will also feature a pair of Naismith Trophy candidates in Nebraska's Kelsey Griffin and LSU's Allison Hightower. If you want to know why the Huskers are in position to play a non-conference game of this magnitude at home, read Curt McKeever's feature on Griffin in the Dec. 18 edition of the Lincoln Journal Star.
The Huskers are gunning for one of the largest non-conference crowds in school history. In order to set that record, Nebraska needs to attract more than 6,042 fans to the Devaney Center. The Huskers have had only three non-conference crowds in school history larger than 4,600, including last year's 62-58 win over No. 24 Arizona State on Dec. 28, 2008. That was the game before the Huskers played LSU last season in Baton Rouge. The Sun Devils went on to the 2009 NCAA Elite Eight.
Nebraska's second-largest non-conference crowd in history came with 5,993 fans at an NCAA First Round game against San Diego on March 17, 1993. The Huskers rolled to an 81-58 win for NU's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
The non-conference attendance record was set way back on Dec. 21, 1996, in a 75-46 win over Southwest Texas State. That means Nebraska is 3-0 at the Devaney Center in non-conference games with an attendance of more than 4,600. To take it a step farther, Nebraska has played 26 home non-conference games in front 3,000 or more fans. The Huskers are 23-3 in those games, including three wins over top-25 opponents.
The Huskers are also 3-1 all-time in home games against SEC opponents, with the lone loss coming way back in 1989 against Georgia.
Nebraska's Top 5 Women’s Basketball Crowds of All-Time
1. 13,226 ? NU vs. #17 Kansas State, Feb. 26, 2000 (W, 65-56)
2. 13,135 ? NU vs. #15 Iowa State, Feb. 7, 1999 (W, 68-67)
3. 12,181 ? NU vs. #22 Iowa State, Feb. 28, 1998 (W, 68-60)
4. 11,465 ? NU vs. Colorado, Feb. 22, 1998 (W, 78-53)
5. 10,221 ? NU vs. #11 Texas Tech, Feb. 21, 1999 (L, 62-75)
Largest Non-Conference Crowds in NU History
1. 6,042 ? vs. Southwest Texas State (Dec. 21, 1996 ? W, 75-46)
2. 5,993 ? vs. San Diego (NCAA First Round, March 17, 1993 ? W, 81-58)
3. 4,652 ? vs. #24 Arizona State (Dec. 28, 2008 ? W, 62-58)
Join the crowd and follow the Huskers this weekend against No. 5 LSU and beyond.
Go Big Red!
Jeff Griesch
Nebraska Media Relations
Husker Sports Network Analyst