NCAA Tournament March Madness

#321 N Illinois

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Projection: likely out

Northern Illinois’s resume is defined by a couple of credible moments and a string of damaging losses, with a road triumph at Loyola-Chicago and a home victory over Central Michigan standing out but being outweighed by difficult trips to Wisconsin, Grand Canyon and Northern Iowa and poor results at home against Lindenwood and on the road at Bradley; those setbacks leave the team short on signature wins and weak on proven success away from home. The path forward is clear: they must convert upcoming conference chances — particularly games at Eastern Michigan, at Ohio and at Ball State and home contests against league rivals — into wins and avoid further bad losses in hostile arenas to repair the ledger. Until they show sustained road or neutral-site victories against respectable opponents, the cumulative effect of those earlier defeats will keep their standing precarious in a committee’s eyes.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3ULM352W102-82
11/7@Wisconsin38L97-72
11/10@Grand Canyon88L88-59
11/18@Northern Iowa98L70-57
11/21@Loyola-Chicago293W76-59
11/25@Austin Peay181L77-59
12/2Lindenwood251L99-64
12/6@Bradley115L84-55
12/13@Elon155L85-79
12/20C Michigan317W74-73
12/31Buffalo175L81-67
1/3@Kent150L77-73
1/6Toledo166L75-61
1/13@E Michigan20717%
1/17Massachusetts17931%
1/20@Ohio18815%
1/24@Ball St32441%
1/27W Michigan24643%
1/31@Miami OH975%
2/11Bowling Green11819%
2/14@C Michigan31738%
2/17@Buffalo17514%
2/21Ohio18832%
2/24@Toledo16613%
2/28Ball St32463%
3/3Kent15025%
3/6@Akron562%