The Tim Miles Era Marches On at Nebraska

The fate of Husker basketball coach Tim Miles has been a hot topic for Nebrasketball fans over the past two years. Last season, following an extremely disappointing outing, the mob was at the gates, pitchforks in hand, demanding Miles be fired.

He wasn’t.

To the great lamentations of many, Miles was retained for the 2017-2018 season. The grumbling only grew more intense when numerous transfers made the news during the off-season. “Miles lost the team,” doubters said. “He doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.”

Needless to say, expectations were... modest (alright, they were basement floor-level) for what we’d see out of this season’s Nebraska basketball team. But then, the unexpected happened—the Huskers started winning. And kept winning. A lot.

Sure, it was a “down year” in the Big Ten, no doubt about it. But the truth remains that other mediocre teams could have taken advantage of that, and they did not. Miles’ team did. In spite of the disheartening end to the season (a loss to Final Four team Michigan in the BTT, an insulting seed in the NIT, and a subsequent loss there), the season as a whole was a surprising success. And so, unlike last year, the announcement that Miles would be staying in Lincoln for at least another year was not especially surprising. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t generate OPINIONS.

Bill Moos

Nebraska’s AD was excited about Nebraska’s progress and firmly supportive of Miles, but also stressed that expectations needed to remain high and the program moving forward.

“In my opinion, that (the Huskers’ successful season) merits more time to build the program,” Moos said. “You go and finish in the top four in the conference, that means you’ve coached well, you’ve recruited well and you’ve prepared well.” But he also offered a caveat: “You’ve got to reinvest in success or you can go from where we are now to right down the tank again. Unfortunately, that’s what happened the last time we went to the NCAA Tournament (in 2013-14). For whatever reason, we didn’t build upon that.”

Nebraska Sports Media

“Please don’t tell me Moos should re-evaluate expectations if Isaac Copeland and/or James Palmer decide they want to make money playing this beautiful game. No excuses. Get more transfers, if necessary. Get some younger players to raise their game. Take the next step. Stop with the rationalizations. Miles’ seventh season should end in the Dance. That has to be the minimum expectation at this point.” — Steve Sipple, Lincoln Journal-Star

Super Amazing OTE Experts

Jesse Collins: Nebraska Basketball is a pit of disappointment and despair. Since the NCAA tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, Nebraska is .539 overall and a fairly dismal .408 in conference play. Oh, and they have yet to win one measly NCAA Tournament game. So that’s a thing. I say all this to point out that this job isn’t exactly the greatest place on earth. Nonetheless, I must admit I was full on “Let’s go ahead and fire Tim Miles” train last year.

This is the part where I have to admit he did a hell of a job this year. Late season losses aside, Nebraska looked prepared, fairly loose, and dare I say good for much of the year. Thirteen conference wins, and the highest winning percentage in conference for Nebraska means the extension coming for Miles is well deserved.

While the overall record is still nothing special - sitting at .500 overall at Nebraska, and sitting at .426 in conference, I’m not sure he has a statue waiting at the end of the road, but credit is due. Tim Miles made Nebraska fun this year.

BRT: I’m a pretty big Tim Miles fan, so I was happy to hear this. However, I’m also the type of terrible fan who believes that Nebrasketball might have a ceiling and who is actually ok with that. Stating a belief that Nebraska might not be able to potentially be the best at every single sport it offers is unpopular talk in the Cornhusker state, and quickly gets one labeled a “bad fan.”

But here’s the thing. Even while playing third-fiddle (I’d argue that volleyball might actually be the Cornhusker State’s second sport, though I’m sure there are those who disagree with me) in the minds of fans who were by and large expecting a dismal season, Husker fans still attended games. Last season, which sucked, Nebraska still ranked 11th in the country in attendance. I went to an early-season game this year (against Stetson, and it was a terrible game) and was astonished by how full the arena was. It’s tough to justify getting rid of a coach who is popular with fans and who is putting butts in the seats.

Eventually, the demanding Husker fans will get their way. For a fanbase that is infamous for demanding nothing less than absolute success, the naysayers will eventually win out. Even if Miles starts getting his teams to the Tournament with consistency (which would be so fun!), there will always be a faction that is angry that it’s not the Final Four. History has shown that in Nebraska, that faction has a lot of pull. But for now, Tim Miles rides again. Perhaps this summer he’ll take the plunge on that kitchen remodel?