It’s an arduous road to the Final Four. The Nebraska women have never advanced out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. But these Huskers displayed during the past four months that they’re different than any other group to play at NU. Nebraska will be favored, on the basis of its No. 1 seed, to advance to San Antonio. The path the Huskers must travel:

First round

• Sunday in Minneapolis

• Opponent: No. 16 seed Northern Iowa (17-15)

Focus all eyes early on Nebraska’s ability to shoot. Sure, the Huskers can make a living inside and on defense against UNI, but if the shooting doesn’t improve from Nebraska’s two Big 12 tournament games (36.3 percent from the field; 19.5 percent from 3-point range), it may be a short postseason for NU. Northern Iowa center Lizzie Boeck, at 6-foot-2, is a handful. She averaged 17 points and eight rebounds in the Panthers’ run to the Missouri Valley tournament crown. Behind Boeck, though, UNI lacks the size to match Nebraska’s strength on the block. NU figures to dominate the paint with Kelsey Griffin, Cory Montgomery and Catheryn Redmon. And really, after a grueling Big 12 schedule, this figures to feel like a relief for the Huskers once they shake the normal jitters. A Northern Iowa win would be historic. Just one No. 16 seed has won a game in the tournament — Harvard over Stanford in 1998 — and it’s not likely to happen in Minneapolis.

Second round

• Tuesday in Minneapolis

• Opponent: No. 8 UCLA (24-8) or No. 9 North Carolina State (20-13)

The Huskers appear to possess a significant edge over both potential opponents. The Bruins and the Wolfpack made runs to the championship games of their respective major-conference tournaments before deficiencies were exposed. Nebraska looks capable of handling UCLA in much the same way that fellow No. 1 seed Stanford beat the Bruins three times this year, including a 70-46 rout in the Pac-10 tourney. UCLA lost to Big 12 also-rans Kansas and Texas Tech in December. As for N.C. State, a meeting with Nebraska would appeal to fans around Lincoln, with former Lincoln Southeast star Marissa Kastanek running the offense for the Pack. Kastanek, the ACC freshman of the year, would present an intriguing matchup for standout NU freshman Lindsey Moore. Of the teams at Williams Arena, North Carolina State brings the most tradition, with 20 NCAA appearances. Young coaches Kellie Harper, in her first year at N.C. State, and Nikki Caldwell, in her second season at UCLA, bring championship pedigree as former Tennessee players and protégés of coaching legend Pat Summitt.

Sweet 16

• March 28 in Kansas City, Mo.

• Likely opponent: No. 4 Kentucky (25-7) or No. 5 Michigan State (22-9)

No. 12 Bowling Green of the Mid-American Conference and 13th-seeded Liberty of the Big South look unlikely to make it through the first round Saturday in Louisville. So the survivor from Minneapolis would probably face a power-conference foe in the Wildcats or the Spartans. Allyssa DeHaan, the 6-foot-9 Michigan State center who set the NCAA career record for blocked shots, poses a problem for all foes. She sat during the Big Ten tournament, in which Iowa eliminated MSU, but looks ready to play this weekend. The Spartans finished second in the Big Ten regular season behind Ohio State. Kentucky is just 4-4 since Valentine’s Day, but it played No. 1 seed Tennessee close in a 70-62 loss in the Southeastern Conference tourney finals. UK coach Matthew Mitchell is another former Summitt pupil — a trend among potential Nebraska foes this month. Junior forward Victoria Dunlap, the SEC player of the year, leads Kentucky in scoring, rebounding, blocks and steals. It sounds a lot like a certain Husker; the Dunlap-Griffin battle alone, with a spot in the Elite Eight at stake, would be worth the price of admission at the Sprint Center.

Elite Eight

• March 30 in Kansas City, Mo.

• Likely opponent: No. 2 Notre Dame (27-5) or No. 3 Oklahoma (23-10)

It’s hard to imagine a bracket that leaves any team other than the traditionally powerful Fighting Irish or Sooners alive for the final round of play in the Kansas City regional. But for the sake of discussion, sixth-seeded Georgia Tech and No. 7 Wisconsin stand the best shot to pull a shocker. Forget about Arkansas-Little Rock and Vermont — losers to Nebraska this season by a combined 61 points — and South Dakota State and Cleveland State. Notre Dame lost three times this year to Connecticut but played the Huskies tighter in each meeting. The Irish are a high-scoring bunch led by super frosh Skylar Diggins, the 2009 Gatorade national player of the year for all sports. Other than the three losses to UConn, Notre Dame fell to St. John’s and Georgetown in September without 6-foot guard Lindsay Schrader, who leads the team in rebounding. The guard-driven Irish might have a difficult time against Nebraska’s post presence — just as Oklahoma did in the Huskers’ 80-64 win in Norman last month as Griffin scored 30 and grabbed 13 rebounds. Don’t underestimate the Sooners, though, who lost major star power to graduation and injury but managed to make the Big 12 tournament final and still pose a threat under battle-tested coach Sherri Coale.

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