NCAA Tournament March Madness

#327 N Illinois

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Projection: need to automatically qualify

Northern Illinois’ résumé is built around a couple of tidy highlights and a long string of damaging losses that leave little wiggle room, with the nonconference win over ULM and an eye‑opening road victory at Loyola‑Chicago standing out against a backdrop that includes heavy road defeats at Wisconsin, Grand Canyon and Northern Iowa plus a puzzling loss at home to Lindenwood and a similarly lopsided trip to Bradley. Those big losses, particularly away from home, swamp the resume because the quality scalps are limited and most of the remaining chances to climb come against conference opponents such as Central Michigan, Buffalo, Toledo and Ball State or on difficult road trips to places like Kent and Akron, so the committee will value any road or neutral wins now more than ever. In short, the best moments prove the team can compete but the severity of the losses and the lack of multiple signature wins make the conference tournament the clearest path to the big dance.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3ULM354W102-82
11/7@Wisconsin38L97-72
11/10@Grand Canyon102L88-59
11/18@Northern Iowa98L70-57
11/21@Loyola-Chicago291W76-59
11/25@Austin Peay191L77-59
12/2Lindenwood249L99-64
12/6@Bradley125L84-55
12/13@Elon17114%
12/20C Michigan31357%
12/30Buffalo20435%
1/3@Kent1288%
1/6Toledo15426%
1/13@E Michigan20718%
1/17Massachusetts17730%
1/20@Ohio19917%
1/24@Ball St32138%
1/27W Michigan24242%
1/31@Miami OH1207%
2/11Bowling Green11617%
2/14@C Michigan31335%
2/17@Buffalo20417%
2/21Ohio19935%
2/24@Toledo15411%
2/28Ball St32160%
3/3Kent12820%
3/6@Akron542%