Northwestern women's basketball bracketology round-up: March 2nd

They just keep moving up. Northwestern women's basketball is now a 7 seed in ESPN.com bracketologist Charlie Creme's latest bracket.The Wildcats were bumped up to 7 after crushing a ranked Rutgers team by 20 points on Wednesday and falling to Maryland, the Big Ten regular season champions, 69-48 Sunday.

While the bump to 7 is a significant improvement from 8 or 9, McKeown and the Cats could really benefit from a couple Big Ten tournament wins. If they remain a 7 seed, NU would most likely face a 2 seed in the second round of the subregional. The 2 seeds in Creme's bracketology are Tennessee, Baylor, Oregon State and Florida State, all really good teams who have a combined total of 13 losses.

Getting several wins in the Big Ten tournament won't be a cake walk. The Wildcats will most likely get Rutgers (21-8, 12-6 conf.) in the quarterfinals, and if they win, Maryland (27-2, 18-0 conf.) should be waiting in the semifinals. If the Wildcats do pull out multiple victories, expect them to move up to a 6 or even a 5 seed.

Creme's bracketology still features seven Big Ten teams: Maryland (1 seed), Iowa (3), Ohio State (6), Rutgers (6), NU (7), Minnesota (8) and Nebraska (9). Considering Rutgers sits at a 6 seed, just beating the Scarlet Knights may be enough for the Wildcats to supplant them as a 6.

No matter what happens in the Big Ten tournament, Northwestern has built a strong tournament resume with 12 wins in conference and an overall record of 22-7.

Here's a look at Northwestern's seeding from several other sites:

RealTimeRPI.com: 7 seed

College Sports Madness: 10 seed