Big Ten Roundup (Dec. 4): Nebraska Upsets No. 7 Creighton, Gets Indiana Next

Nebraska's final tune-up before Big Ten play was a destruction of No.7-ranked in-state rival Creighton on Sunday, with the Cornhuskers winning 63-53. Michigan State lost at home to Northwestern and Michigan lost to Kentucky. Plus, a football playoff update and the complete bowl schedule in our daily Big Ten Roundup.

Fred Hoiberg is a well-respected basketball coach, but his rebuilding job at Nebraska has been a slow roll. Good things are starting to happen, though.

The best thing happened on Sunday, when Hoiberg's Cornhuskers upset No. 7 Creighton, their in-state rivals. Derrick Walker scored 22 points and Nebraska won 63-53 in Omaha for just the fifth win all-time against a top-10 team on the road. 

Hoiberg has two of those five, wining at No. 10 Wisconsin last year. It's likely that they'll get another chance on Wednesday night, when they play at Indiana, who was ranked No. 10 last week. (The new poll is released at Noon ET on Monday.)

Hoiberg, the former Iowa State and Chicago Bulls coach, went 24-67 during his first three season in Lincoln, taking over for Tim Miles but having to rebuild and entire roster. They are 6-3 now this season, with three straight wins over Power 6 foes, Florida State, Boston College and now Creighton. 

Sunday's win was a bit of a shocker, considering there is Final Four talk around Creighton, their Omaha-based neighbor, and the Blue Jays were 14½-point favorites. 

Walker, a 6-foot-9 fifth-year senior from Kansas City who played at Tennessee his first two years, leads a balanced scoring attack for Nebraska, averaging 16.8 points per game. 

Sam Griesel, a fifth-year senior from Lincoln who transferred in this year after four years at North Dakota State had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds plus seven assists. He's one of five Cornhuskers averaging in double figures so far this season. 

The local boy Griesel celebrated Nebraska's road win with a long embrace with his parents. It was Nebraska's second win in 11 meetings with Creighton overall. The Blue Jays are 6-3 now too, with earlier losses to No. 4 Arizona and No. 2 Texas.

“When I committed here, this was the game that I wanted the most, obviously, for a lot of reasons,” Griesel said. “I just think back to players that I idolized that wore this jersey, that didn’t get this win, and especially in this arena.

"I get a little bit emotional thinking about it just because it means so much to me and so much to this group and to the state. This is a day that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Sunday's other Big Ten games

• NO. 5 PURDUE 89, MINNESOTA 70: Purdue (8-0) had five players score in double figures, led by a career-high 31 points from junior center Zach Edey in an 89-70 win over Minnesota (4-4) in the Big Ten opener for both teams. He also set a career-best with 22 rebounds while freshman guard Fletcher Loyer finished with 20 points and a team-high eight assists. To read the complete story from our Sports Illustrated/FanNation site BoilermakersCountry.com, CLICK HERE 
• NO. 19 KENTUCKY 73, MICHIGAN 69: Michigan's Hunter Dickinson scored 23 points and had nine rebounds, but it was Kentucky that won the showdown in London, 73-69. The overseas battle, rescheduled after it was cancelled during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic season, featured a great battle between Dicksonson and Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe, who had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Michigan (5-3) also has lost to Arizona State and No. 3 Virginia. 
• NORTHWESTERN 70, NO. 20 MICHIGAN STATE: Michigan State (5-4) opened its Big Ten season with a home loss, falling to Northwestern 70-63. Boo Buie was the Wildcats' top scorer, with 20 points. Michigan State shot just 41.8 percent from the field and Northwestern (6-2) bounced back nicely from an ugly home loss to Pittsburgh earlier in the week. “Needless to say, this was a huge win for us,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. “Coming off our performance in the ACC-Big Ten challenge, where we lost badly on our home floor (to Pittsburgh), I was really pleased with our resolve the past couple days.”

College Football Playoff: Michigan, Ohio State both get in

Unbeaten Big Ten champion Michigan claimed the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff, and the Wolverines (13-0) will square off with No. 3 seed TCU (12-1) in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. on Dec. 31.

For the first time ever, a second Big Ten team made the playoff, too, with Ohio State (11-1) claiming a spot after USC lost in the Pac-12 title game. The Buckeyes, whose only loss was to Michigan in the final game of the regular season, got the No. 4 seed and will play No. 1 Georgia (13-0) in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Dec. 31. Georgia is the defending national champion.

This is Michigan's first appearance at the Fiesta Bowl since a 27-23 victory over Nebraska in 1986 when current head coach Jim Harbaugh was the team’s quarterback. This is Michigan's second playoff appearance in a row. They lost to Georgia in the semifinals a year ago. 

Big Ten schools Penn State, Maryland, Purdue, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin also earned bowl bids.

For the complete bowl schedule, CLICK HERE. Bookmark that story folder because we will update it with scores and point-spread updates all month long.