According to Panther Nation, Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson announced on his radio show that Northwestern, along with the Panthers and Virginia Tech, will participate in the Cancun Challenge tournament this basketball season. A source confirmed that NU will play in Cancun. One team has yet to be announced.
The four "home teams" that will meet in Cancun will also be matched with smaller schools for campus site games. The only one announced so far is Albany, according to Blogging the Bracket.
Northwestern played in the Las Vegas Invitational last year, competing against Missouri and UCLA, so this should be a bit of a step down. Virginia Tech will be rebuilding under new coach Buzz Williams, while Northern Iowa may be the best team in the field so far, as the Panthers return their top six scorers from last season:
http://twitter.com/jonrothstein/status/468380359764492288
Northwestern's full 2014-15 non-conference basketball schedule has yet to be announced. However, we know that the Wildcats will play Georgia Tech at home in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, as well as Stanford at home and Butler on the road.