Turns out Bo Ryan’s basketball team can outscore Bret Bielema’s Wisconsin football squad. The Northwestern men’s basketball team found out the hard way in the first game of the most important stretch of its season.
The embarrassing blow-out loss at Illinois was supposed to be the mulligan, no-show game this season for the Wildcats.
But early Sunday afternoon was the first time I’ve regretted my (not-so) bold prediction from early November that NU would make history in 2011.
It’s simple. The NCAA Tournament invitation hourglass is running out.
The Cats still have an outside chance of matching last season’s program-best 20 wins, but they have limited opportunities to impress the selection committee with quality wins against teams that matter and are bound for the postseason.
Sweeping Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and potentially Penn State will not be enough to receive that first highly coveted invite to the Big Dance.
For Carmody’s Cats to realistically keep their March Madness dreams alive, they need at least two wins in this four game stretch against three ranked Big Ten opponents and Ill-Annoy.
After failing miserably against No. 18 Wisconsin, NU’s trip to the land of the Golden Gophers is a must-win game.
The Cats’ failure to clean the defensive glass against the Badgers could be an ominous sign for what’s to come in Minneapolis. Coach Tubby Smith’s lineup boasts solid size up front with Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson. Smith’s team is also outrebounding opponents by seven this season.
However, the Cats won’t have their hands full with standout senior point guardAl Nolen, who broke his foot Sunday in the Gophers’ win over Michigan. I guess injuries don’t only affect those who wear white and purple.
The most promising piece of evidence that the Cats can win Wednesday night is the team’s tendency to respond after rough losses. Following the aforementioned embarrassment in Champaign, NU controlled the tempo for nearly the entire game the next time out in the 93-81 win against Indiana.
After the trip to Minnesota, the Cats will host the unanimous No. 1 team in America. No. 12 Purdue could easily upset Ohio State in Columbus, but the updated polls won’t be released until after the Cats get a crack at the Buckeyes on Saturday.
Ohio State is undefeated, but they’ve been challenged throughout conference play. The Buckeyes have won five Big Ten games by a margin of five or fewer points.
This season Florida State showed Duke, a team that had basically received a free pass to the Final Four, that anything is possible in college basketball.
These are student athletes, not professionals. And the Cats know firsthand that off-days are part of college basketball.
Wins against Minnesota and the possibility for an uber upset against the Buckeyes would make this column irrelevant and propel the Cats back into NCAA Tournament contention.
But until that actually happens, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler really shouldn’t be taking the most heat in this city for not showing up this past Sunday.
Justin Schecker is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected]
