While there are still 14 games left in the season, the clock is very much ticking loudly for the Northwestern Wildcats. Right now, they’re projected to be in the dreaded Wednesday slate/opening day of the Big Ten Tournament and you know what that means- you have to win the whole conference tourney in order to get into The Big Dance.
After having reached the 2017 NCAA Tournament, but missing out last year, Northwestern basketball will certainly be very disappointed if they can’t qualify for this year’s edition. If you’re going to be betting on the tournament like so many people do, then you should check out some of these USA online casinos. Tourney betting is the primary reason why this sport is so much more popular in the postseason than it is in the regular season and the disparity is so much greater than in other sports. Therefore, missing out on the tourney isn’t just bad, it’s devastating.
“At home you got to find a way and we just weren’t able to do that,” NU basketball coach Chris Collins said after his team blew a second half lead and fell by 10 in their last home game, versus the #25 Iowa Hawkeyes. It was a golden opportunity missed for the Northwestern Wildcats, who were taking on a ranked team that was missing Tyler Cook, their leading scorer and rebounder by a considerable margin.
The team is still looking for its first signature victory this season, as guard Ryan Taylor has previously had three chances (Indiana, Michigan and Oklahoma) to hit a game winning shot that would have provided the Cats an actual resumer builder. Two were buzzer beaters and the other was in the waning seconds of regulation.
Imagine if any or all had gone in, but, like Homer Simpson said: “if ifs and buts were candy and nuts…how does that rest of that go?”
This one was decided down the stretch, and not in the final seconds but after the game Collins spoke highly of how Taylor, a transfer from Evansville, is adjusting.
“I feel like the last few games he’s starting to get his legs underneath him,” Collins said.
“He’s learning where his spots are. He’s getting more comfortable in the system.”
So when all is said and done, where could the Northwestern Wildcats end up this postseason? Let’s take a look at how they have done so far.
Northwestern Wildcats Season Resume
Record: 10-7 Conference record: 1-5
Rankings/Metrics:
Sagarin#52, KenPom #49, NET (what the NCAA is using instead of RPI now) #55
Key Wins: None
Bad Losses: The Fresno State (NET #63, Sagarin #60) setback is an eye sore. No shame in losing to Michigan, but man oh man was that a signature win which almost was. Ditto for Indiana and Oklahoma.
Michigan State is Michigan State, you know that, but wow, you got to put up more resistance than they did. The Spartans could have easily won that one by much more than the final margin of 26, had they really wanted to.
The @HolidayBowl trophy on display. #B1GCats #b1g #northwestern pic.twitter.com/osKhtQfFmw
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) January 10, 2019
Bottom Line:
This team has a ton of work to do just to even get a NIT berth. We were very hesitant this season to believe all those Big Ten power rankings that had the Northwestern Wildcats in the #11-#12 range. We had been thinking more #8-#9, but now we have seen the light. Those power rankings are/were actually pretty spot on in this case.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.
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