Matt Rhule describes his court rushing experience after Nebraska’s upset of No. 1 Purdue
Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule got in on some court-storming fun after the Cornhuskers men bested No. 1 Purdue on the hardwood on Tuesday night. And though he quickly got out of the excited melee, he shared how it reflects so well on Nebraska.
For one, there was an intense winter storm that raged on throughout the game, making travel to and from the arena a challenge unto itself. With classes not slated until later in January, there wasn’t a captive audience of students to necessarily fill the arena, either.
“But on a snow day, when there’s no students in town, to have enough people there to storm the court, that’s all you need to know about the University of Nebraska,” Rhule said to On3’s Jesse Simonton.
However with his two daughters, aged 8 and 10, in tow, Rhule wasn’t going to spend too much time amidst the rowdy fans.
“We got here and there’s ice everywhere. I had my two daughters, they’re 10 and 8. We were courtside and they played amazing, obviously. What a temendous win. As it got down toward the end, I was there with our AD Trev Alberts and some students started to talk about storming the court. I took my (10-year-old) daughter with me on the court. It was fun for about a minute then I had to get out of there. Once I got out there I could feel us getting smothered, I grabbed her and said, ‘We gotta go.’ But what was really cool was to watch that game, and to be by the bench, and watch the game and to see the guys that were banged up going back to the training room and sprinting on to the sidelines to loosen up but then they went out there to compete and play. That was a joyful moment.”
USA Today shared Rhule and others final Coaches Poll ballots
Final Coaches Poll ballot for Nebraska HC Matt Rhule
- Michigan
- Washington
- Texas
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Florida State
- Missouri
- Oregon
- Mississippi
- Ohio State
- Arizona
- Penn State
- LSU
- Notre Dame
- Oklahoma State
- Clemson
- Oklahoma
- Kansas State
- Tennessee
- Kansas
- North Carolina State
- West Virginia
- Louisville
- SMU
- Liberty
First thing to look for is how many conference foes Rhule wound up voting for, with three being the answer. Michigan, who won the national championship, finished at No. 1 for Rhule, while Ohio State just snuck into the top 10. Penn State was two slots behind the Buckeyes following a 10-3 year under James Franklin.
Nebraska only played the Wolverines, losing by 38 in September.
You can maybe even raise the number to four if you want to include Oregon and Washington, who just wrapped up their final season in the Pac-12. Although, Nebraska has neither on the 2024 schedule in the first year of the new-look Big Ten.
The notable omission from Rhule may not be too big of a surprise, considering they are Nebraska’s biggest rival at the moment. Iowa may have finished No. 22 in the poll but cannot be found on Rhule’s ballot. Instead, he rounded out the top 25 with two Group of Five schools.
Rhule will be hoping by this time next season, his team will be in the final Coaches Poll and on his own personal battle. Between recruiting at a high level and working the NCAA transfer portal well, Nebraska will certainly be hoping to be in consideration for the top 25 in 2024.