Northwestern Basketball: How Can the Wildcats Make a Late NCAA Tourney Surge?

Any fan of college basketball is well aware of the 73-year-old monkey weighing down the Northwestern University Men’s Basketball team. 

Since the NCAA tournament’s inaugural year in 1939, the Wildcats are the only team in any of the big six conferences (Big East, Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Pac-12) not to receive a single berth. 

It is no surprise then that with any spurt of success, the media and fans alike will beat the “Is This the Year?” question to a pulp.  The 2011-2012 campaign has been no different as the Wildcats stunned No. 7, Michigan State, in mid-January. 

As fans stormed the newly designed court, new heights of hope and confidence were reached.  The then 12-5 Wildcats sported a 2-3 conference record in the Big Ten (which is arguably the best conference in the nation this year), a top-25 RPI and a top-10 strength of schedule. 

Within two weeks however, Chicago’s Big Ten team dropped three straight, including blowout losses at the hands of unranked Minnesota and then-unranked Wisconsin and a heartbreaking two-point loss against Purdue back in Evanston. 

At 2-6 in the Big Ten, the tournament discussion was all but over, the excitement had died down, and the feelings of optimism had turned to disappointment.

With a slew of winnable contests on the schedule, the Wildcats had no option but to go on a run—a run that hopefully would end at the Big Dance. 

Defeating a hapless Nebraska team received no attention, yet the win on the road against cross-state rival Illinois this weekend has placed Northwestern back in the conversation. 

In late December, Joe Lunardi, renowned bracketologist, proclaimed Northwestern would most likely need to be 9-9 in the Big Ten to receive a bid.  Currently at 4-6, the team would need to go on a 5-3 run through February and early March to attain the .500 mark. 

However, with games remaining against Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue and two against Iowa, the Wildcats will have plenty of opportunity to propel themselves above the chaotic mix in the middle of the nation’s deepest conference. 

Three games against ranked opponents—Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State—the latter two being at home, provide multiple chances for a second signature win to be placed before the eyes of the Selection Committee.

Early season wins against LSU and Seton Hall in the Charleston Classic may also loom large for the Wildcats’ chances.  The Pirates have gone on to a respectable season in the vaunted Big East with wins over West Virginia and Connecticut, while the Tigers have a signature win against top-25 Marquette on their resume.     

For the Northwestern Wildcats to make their first NCAA tournament in history, for them to drop the 73-year-old monkey off their back, it’s simple—they need to go 5-3 in their remaining games. 

With a possible signature win and a Big Ten tournament win added to that, there is no reason why come March 11th—Selection Sunday—Northwestern fans won’t be sitting on their couches with something they haven’t had...

A chance.