Remember when Northwestern basketball was decent — not NCAA Tournament-level good, but NIT-level good? Merely being an NIT team would seem like paradise for Northwestern right now, given how far (and how quickly) the Wildcats have fallen since making their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2017. Northwestern is 1-15 in the Big Ten, 6-20 overall, and is immersed in an 11-game losing streak. The Wildcats and the Nebraska Cornhuskers have both been buried at the bottom of the Big Ten throughout the season. They have become the two teams everyone in the Big Ten wants to play… which leads us to the point of this article:
Northwestern, as bad as it is and as off-the-radar as it has been this season, will play a role in shaping the Big Ten race for three double byes at the conference tournament in a few weeks. The Wildcats might not win any of the games they play, but their remaining schedule is one of several plot points in the five-way race for the second, third, and fourth seeds at the Big Ten Tournament.
The five Big Ten teams tied for second place at 10-6 in the conference are Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Penn State, and Iowa. Of those five teams, none play Nebraska, so that’s an easy win opportunity none of those teams have in the next two weeks. This leaves Northwestern as the team everyone wants to have on the schedule.
As it turns out, three of the five Big Ten teams tied for second have the Wildcats on their remaining slate: Wisconsin is one, which is why the Badgers have to like their path to a double bye. Illinois and Penn State are the other teams which have Northwestern on their schedule. Iowa and Michigan State have the objectively harder paths to a double bye.
Northwestern will try to play spoiler in the coming weeks. Whether the Wildcats can do so in a meaningful way is another matter. Nevertheless, the fact that three of the Big Ten teams tied for second play Northwestern in the coming weeks — while two don’t — certainly stands out as a good reason to favor some teams over others in the race for a Big Ten Tournament double bye.