LINCOLN — Nebraska’s on the verge of Big 12 exclusivity, one win away from cementing this season as one of the best ever in the 14-year history of women’s basketball in the conference.

If the Huskers win at Kansas State Saturday, they’ll finish the regular season with a perfect 29-0 record. No Big 12 team has ever made it this far without a loss.

Certainly, the way No. 3 Nebraska finishes the year — in the conference and NCAA tournaments — will have a more lasting impact on the team’s legacy. After all, March is when champions are crowned.

But the Huskers (28-0, 15-0) have already joined an elite group of Big 12 standard-setters, and a win Saturday at Kansas State (13-16, 5-10) could set them apart as having an undefeated regular season.

“I think it’d be a tremendous accomplishment, so obviously we’re going to strive to make that happen,” NU coach Connie Yori said. “It would be a rare thing. It’s not something that happens every day.”

Only 14 other women’s basketball teams, including No. 1 Connecticut (30-0) this year, have ended the regular season with a perfect record. Texas finished 34-0 and won the NCAA title in 1986, though the Longhorns were in the Southwest Conference back then.

Since the Big 12 was formed in 1996, the 2005-06 Oklahoma team has been the only squad that’s managed to make it through league play without a defeat. Nebraska could become the second Saturday.

On the men’s side, Kansas’ perfect 16-0 run through the conference season in 2002 hasn’t been matched. The Jayhawks are the only Big 12 men’s team to win a national title (2008).

“Every team wants to go undefeated,” NU senior Vonnie Turner said. “When I’m 30 years old or 40 years old, I can look back and tell my kids, ‘Hey, that was me. I did that with these girls.’”

Of course, the rarity of Nebraska’s season-long performance naturally sparks debate as to where the team ranks among top Big 12 teams of the past.

Yori’s not going to join that discussion — at least not now.

“I think this will be something that we’ll look at after the season, if this actually unfolds in that direction,” she said. “We’ll look at it after the season and say, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool that we were able to do that.’”

Baylor won the NCAA championship during the 2004-05 campaign, but its season wasn’t flawless. The Bears dropped road games to Nebraska and Texas before their late-season surge.

After suffering its lone league loss in 2003, Texas ripped off 17 straight wins before dropping a Final Four game to Connecticut.

When that 2005-06 OU team went 16-0 during the Big 12 regular season, it lost four nonconference games that year. The Sooners ended up losing in the Sweet 16.

Oklahoma was the national runner-up after a three-loss regular season in 2002. Last year, the Sooners were 15-1 in league play, but they lost the Big 12 tournament title game. That team ultimately ended its season in the Final Four.

“I think (Nebraska) should be commended for it. I really do,” 13-year OU coach Sherri Coale said during a phone interview last week. “I think the consistency with which they’ve performed has been incredibly impressive. ... Everybody’s gunning for you every night. If you have even one subpar night, anybody can knock you off. That’s the nature of this.”

Contact the writer:

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com

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