NCAA Tournament March Madness

#88 Northern Iowa

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Projection: likely out

Northern Iowa looks like an outside team because its few meaningful wins—road victories at UC Irvine and Murray State and a convincing neutral-site result against Loyola-Chicago—are outweighed by damaging setbacks at Belmont, at Valparaiso, at Southern Illinois and by losses to Tulsa and Wichita State that undermine its resume. The defense has been a true identity and kept the Panthers in every game, yet offensive inconsistency produced several low-output defeats that cost them resume-building credibility away from home. The remaining schedule still presents clear chances to repair the case with matchups against Drake, a trip to Indiana State and more meetings with Southern Illinois and Illinois State where road victories would carry real weight. Without a short run that includes solid road wins and a signature scalp, the profile will likely leave them on the outside looking in.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/6CS Northridge178W86-57
11/9S Dakota St219W65-58
11/14Furman188W70-54
11/18N Illinois317W70-57
11/22@UC Irvine118W70-69
11/25(N)Loyola-Chicago314W72-51
11/26(N)Tulsa60L63-60
12/6Wichita St93L74-69
12/13Oakland138W75-63
12/17@IL Chicago122W60-54
12/22@St Mary's CA32L63-58
12/29Valparaiso154W58-48
1/1Indiana St212W75-66
1/4@Evansville297W62-48
1/7Belmont61L78-65
1/10@Bradley134L75-69
1/13IL Chicago122L69-61
1/17@Valparaiso154L54-44
1/21@Illinois St89L59-54
1/24Murray St108W81-76
1/28@S Illinois114L65-50
1/31Evansville297W71-55
2/6Bradley134W61-49
2/9@Murray St108W89-60
2/12@Belmont61L91-86
2/15Drake20284%
2/18@Indiana St21268%
2/21S Illinois11469%
2/25Illinois St8961%
3/1@Drake20266%