NCAA Tournament March Madness
#56 Northwestern
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Projection: likely out
Northwestern’s profile is built around a handful of encouraging high points and a fair share of damaging setbacks, with the neutral-site win over South Carolina and the gritty road victory at DePaul standing out as its best evidence that it can beat quality opponents away from its home floor, while neutral defeats to Virginia and Oklahoma State and a poor trip to Wisconsin highlight an inability to close the gap with the league’s upper tier. The bulk of the remaining slate hands Northwestern several home games against manageable opponents such as Jackson State, Valparaiso and Howard where it should pad its resume, but it also forces pivotal tests against Ohio State, Illinois and Minnesota at Welsh‑Ryan and brutal road swings to Michigan State, USC and UCLA that will define whether its profile contains the necessary marquee victories. Put simply, Northwestern has shown flashes that selection committees notice and a small number of bad losses that they cannot ignore, so its fate now hinges on converting the softer home dates and seizing at least one of the clear chances at a quality road or home scalp coming up.
| Date | Opponent | Ranking | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/3 | Mercyhurst | 327 | W70-47 |
| 11/7 | Boston Univ | 249 | W76-52 |
| 11/10 | Cleveland St | 301 | W110-63 |
| 11/14 | @DePaul | 117 | W81-79 |
| 11/21 | (N)Virginia | 23 | L83-78 |
| 11/23 | (N)South Carolina | 92 | W79-77 |
| 11/27 | (N)Oklahoma St | 50 | L86-81 |
| 12/3 | @Wisconsin | 26 | L85-73 |
| 12/6 | Ohio St | 36 | 51% |
| 12/13 | Jackson St | 319 | 98% |
| 12/16 | Valparaiso | 196 | 92% |
| 12/20 | (N)Butler | 41 | 43% |
| 12/30 | Howard | 311 | 97% |
| 1/3 | Minnesota | 109 | 78% |
| 1/8 | @Michigan St | 11 | 14% |
| 1/11 | @Rutgers | 127 | 65% |
| 1/14 | Illinois | 17 | 35% |
| 1/17 | Nebraska | 48 | 57% |
| 1/21 | @USC | 28 | 26% |
| 1/24 | @UCLA | 33 | 28% |
| 1/29 | Penn St | 93 | 75% |
| 1/31 | Washington | 59 | 62% |
| 2/4 | @Illinois | 17 | 17% |
| 2/8 | @Iowa | 31 | 27% |
| 2/11 | Michigan | 1 | 15% |
| 2/14 | @Nebraska | 48 | 35% |
| 2/18 | Maryland | 90 | 74% |
| 2/24 | @Indiana | 24 | 25% |
| 2/28 | Oregon | 83 | 72% |
| 3/4 | Purdue | 5 | 26% |
| 3/7 | @Minnesota | 109 | 58% |