NCAA Tournament March Madness

#108 Northern Iowa

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Projection: likely out

Northern Iowa’s profile reads like a team with an elite defense and a sputtering offense, and that split explains why it looks unlikely to make the field. The résumé has real highs in a neutral-site drubbing of Loyola-Chicago and a gritty road win at UC Irvine plus comfortable home wins over Furman and Oakland that show the defense can carry the team, but those positives are undermined by damaging losses such as the home setback to Belmont, road defeats at St. Mary’s and Valparaiso, and an untimely home loss to Illinois-Chicago. Committee eyes will focus on the lack of signature road wins and the tendency to struggle to score late in tight games, and the slate of remaining conference dates — including trips to Murray State and Belmont and several home chances against the likes of Drake and Bradley — are the only clear ways to shift perception. If Northern Iowa secures road victories and avoids more bad losses it can climb back toward consideration, but without those results its résumé will likely remain on the wrong side of the cut.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/6CS Northridge204W86-57
11/9S Dakota St189W65-58
11/14Furman174W70-54
11/18N Illinois315W70-57
11/22@UC Irvine125W70-69
11/25(N)Loyola-Chicago309W72-51
11/26(N)Tulsa59L63-60
12/6Wichita St99L74-69
12/13Oakland129W75-63
12/17@IL Chicago150W60-54
12/22@St Mary's CA32L63-58
12/29Valparaiso158W58-48
1/1Indiana St194W75-66
1/4@Evansville289W62-48
1/7Belmont63L78-65
1/10@Bradley137L75-69
1/13IL Chicago150L69-61
1/17@Valparaiso158L54-44
1/21@Illinois St86L59-54
1/24Murray St9154%
1/28@S Illinois13847%
1/31Evansville28991%
2/6Bradley13769%
2/9@Murray St9132%
2/12@Belmont6325%
2/15Drake16475%
2/18@Indiana St19461%
2/21S Illinois13869%
2/25Illinois St8653%
3/1@Drake16454%