Does Northwestern Qualify for the NCAA Tourney with a Winning Record?

[Alaskawildkat]

Definitely a theoretical question, but Coach Collins recent comment that the only post season game NU would play in this year would be the NCAA Tournament. That got me to questioning, should lighting strike do the Wildcats qualify having had a winning record?

 

[Max_Power]

NU kept Indiana out and that may be all we get.

 

[MC_Cat]

NU kept Indiana out and that may be all we get.

We pass on Crown good luck Hoosiers go get that banner!!!

 

[MC_Cat]

Well no Hoosiers either:

Indiana Will Not Take Part In College Basketball Crown; Season And Mike Woodson Era Is Over

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The 2024-25 Indiana men’s basketball season, and the Mike Woodson coaching regime, is over. Indiana was not selected for the 68-team NCAA To

www.si.com

 

[EagerFan]

"Indiana has only been in the NCAA Tournament two times since 2016."

So NU has been to the tourney more than Indiana since 2016? Wild.

 

[stpaulcat]

Given the refs this year, they deserve it.

 

[Davidgolds5]

we were the second lowest Kenpom team to not make the tournament.
Ohio State 39
NU 45
1-46 outside of NU and OSU all made the tournament.

 

[hdhntr1]

NU kept Indiana out and that may be all we get.

dOSU as well

 

[Hungry Jack]

Had we held on vs Iowa and Nebby, and pulled off the game vs Michigan or UCLA, we make it.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Had we held on vs Iowa and Nebby, and pulled off the game vs Michigan or UCLA, we make it.

If the Queen had balls, she would be the King!

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

If the Queen had balls, she would be the King!

Would he/she? In 2025?

 

[Hungry Jack]

If the Queen had balls, she would be the King!

What about Hillary?

 

[loyolacat]

14 SEC teams!. Anyone know what the Big10 record was in head to head non-cons with the SEC? But the losses to Dayton and Butler had to factor in. But making the dance has become the metric by which we judge a season a success and that just takes away from evaluating the season on lots of other factors. NU probably overachieved after the injuries. had a team that just played hard, got to see the development of some of the young kids, ate too much stale popcorn. some great wins and really tough losses...but being disappointed that we are not in the dance is probably just a sign that this team was well liked and we wanted to see the journey continue.
To me the regular season should be the most important factor....If you want to prove you belong in the tournament prove it by a at least competitive non-con schedule and showing up during your conference season by at least winning half of your games. The Conference tournaments are really just a joke...a tv money maker...a chance for fans to travel...etc.

 

[macarthur31]

SEC had six teams sporting sub .500 conference records earn bids to March Madness.

• Texas (kp44) went 6-12 in conference play and are in Dayton for a "First Four" tilt vs Big East's Xavier
• Oklahoma (kp38) went 6-12 in conference play and grabbed a 9 seed. They will face UConn.
• Vandy (kp49) went 8-10, and the 'Dores nabbed a 10 seed and will face St. Mary's (7)
• Arkansas (kp40) went 8-10, and the 'backs also took a 10 seed. They get the Jayhawks (7)
• Georgia (kp34) went 8-10, and the 'dawgs ended up with the 9. They get the Zags (8)
• Miss. State (kp32) went 8-10, and those 'dawgs pulled the 8, they tilt with Baylor (9).

While this seems on its face, egregious considering the mental model of "gotta be at least .500 in conference to qualify", kenpom considered the SEC a class of its own with regards to conferences by Net Rating (which this would be the efficiency of a team expected to go .500 in conference play):

1. SEC +22.03
2. B1G +17.93
3. XII +17.15
4. Big East +13.51
5. ACC +9.46
6. Mountain West +8.38

Northwestern was +16.18 in Net Rating, which means in the aggregate they were closer to a 10-10 conference team than their record 7-13 showed.

However, even if you flip the road loss to Iowa (30 foot buzzer beater) and home loss to UCLA (Nick non-call) to get us to 9-11, we'd be in OSU/Indiana territory and likely get left off. They would probably even do the thing they did to West Virginia, where they cited injured players as a negative on their campaign.