Northwestern's Tournament Resume (as of 2/27/17)

[ColumbusCatFan1]

W/L: 20-9 (9-7)
RPI: 50 (Non Con: 39)
SOS: 64 (Non Con: 157)
Vs Top 25: 1-4
Vs Top 50: 3-6
Vs Top 100: 9-9
Last 10: 5-5

Best Win: Dayton (#21)
Bad Losses (100+): None

CHANGES SINCE 2/24:

The 'Cats RPI took another moderate hit (-6) following the loss in Bloomington and is now showing the first signs of weakness (#50). Fortunately, upcoming match ups with Michigan (#46) and Purdue (#20) offer ample opportunity for improvement with only a small possibility of backsliding. SOS continues to trend positive (+2, +10) and by the end of the regular season Northwestern will have played between 18 to 20 games against the top 100.

While Dayton continues to impress (#21), the Badgers suffered yet another defeat on Sunday and have now dropped to #32. Wisconsin would need to beat Iowa and Minnesota in order for NU have a shot at landing an additional top 25 victory. Wake Forest has match ups with Louisville and Virginia Tech on the horizon. A split would likely keep the Demon Deacons from falling out of the top 50.

 

[ParisCat]

Lunardi has us down to a #10 seed as of Monday morning. He has us against #7 South Carolina in Tulsa. Michigan up to #8, MSU up to #9. We're still not one of the last eight in, so not officially on bubble watch (yet).

 

[Hungry Jack]

Just win baby

 

[ColumbusCatFan1]

We're still not one of the last eight in, so not officially on bubble watch (yet).

Yep.

I'm beginning to agree with the premise that beating Michigan or Purdue will lock it up. The at large field is just so weak this year. Losing both followed by a Thursday win in DC would be playing with fire, but might still be enough depending on how the conference tournaments play out and if Wisconsin can sneak back into the RPI top 25.

 

[ParisCat]

Jerry Palm has us UP to a #7 seed, facing Arkansas in Sacramento in the first round. He lists 15 bubble teams. We're not one of them.

 

[Catreporter]

The same thing that killed a 20-win Wildcat team last year is really helping this time: SOS! All BIG teams are top 100 now except Rutgers and even they are 100 pts higher than last year. Plus, the Eastern Washington and New Orleans wins are helping (both lead their conferences).

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Jerry Palm has us UP to a #7 seed, facing Arkansas in Sacramento in the first round. He lists 15 bubble teams. We're not one of them.

I will take that. Might even be able to make it there for the game. For those in the Midwest it also might actually be easier to get to Sacramento price and flight connection wise than some of the other venues that are geographically closer to Chicago but have smaller airports.