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This was supposed to be the year. That is, the year in which coach Bill Carmody finally led Northwestern to its first NCAA Tournament berth in program history. The stage was set: With senior forward John Shurna and junior guard Drew Crawford returning, a failure to qualify for the most gripping postseason tournament in sports surely would not come down to a lack of talent.
Most, if not all, preseason prognosticators pointed to the Wildcats having more than enough firepower to qualify for the field of 68. Some optimists even believed they could contend for a championship in what has turned out to be the nation's best conference.
But after a crushing two-point loss to Purdue at home Saturday, those preseason tournament hopes now look like nothing more than a pipe dream.
The Cats flashed their NCAA Tournament potential throughout the non-conference portion of their schedule, winning 10 of their 12 games, including three against opponents from the six major conferences.
I know what you're thinking — the Baylor game. Yes, the then-No. 7 Bears walked into Welsh-Ryan and made the Cats look like a JV team. But with Scott Drew's squad now vying for a one-seed come March, that Dec. 4 loss doesn't look so bad.
Like the Baylor loss, the Cats' other nonconference slip up — an eight-point loss at then-No. 23 Creighton — did little to hurt their postseason resume. The Blue Jays are a near lock for an at-large bid out of the Missouri Valley Conference and they're generally regarded as one of the best mid-majors in the land.
Then, the conference season happened, and all those nonconference wins were quickly forgotten.
In the nation's best conference, there are no cupcakes. I try to avoid clichés, and this one is one of the most overused: Any team can win on any given night. For this year's Big Ten though, the adage is particularly fitting. Even perennial conference bottom-dwellers like Penn State and Iowa have pulled off impressive upsets.
While the Cats have yet to fall to either the Nittany Lions or the Hawkeyes, it's been the other games against "beatable" opponents that have plagued them. The worst part is that many of those losses have come down to the wire.
After an impressive 12-point home win against Penn State on New Year's Day snapped a two-game losing streak and pushed their conference record to 1-1, the Cats had confidence going into their home matchup with Illinois three days later. The Fighting Illini were coming off a 15-point beatdown at Purdue.
Yet, thanks to a last-second blocked shot by Meyers Leonard, the Fighting Illini left Evanston with a one-point win.
The Cats promptly followed that tough loss with an even more heartbreaking defeat at Michigan. This time, missed free throws from junior Alex Marcotulio were the deciding factor in the game's waning moments.
Saturday's loss to the Boilermakers now joins the club, thanks to a clutch, off-balance jumper from Robbie Hummel with eight seconds remaining.
That's not to say that the Cats haven't been blown out this season. Consecutive losses at Wisconsin and Minnesota by a combined 35 points certainly qualify. But in-conference road losses are excusable, right? Not if you want to play meaningful basketball in March.
Regardless of how they got here, the Cats currently sit at 12-8 with a 2-6 conference record. Their future looks bleak, to say the least. With just 10 games remaining, an NCAA tournament berth appears farther away now than it has all season.
But their ultimate goal may not be unattainable. The Cats have four winnable games against Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa and Purdue on the horizon. If they are really one of the nation's best 68, they'll take advantage.
Chris Johnson is a Medill freshman. He can be reached at christopherjohnson2015@u.northwestern.edu
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