A Scottie Lindsey-less loss at home to Illinois was worrisome, but Northwestern pulled off a huge win at the Kohl Center, showing it can win without its leading scorer. Two games against Maryland and Rutgers loom large this week, and could determine whether the Wildcats will continue to rise in the projected NCAA Tournament seeds.

DISCLAIMER: This post is not in any way meant to jinx Northwestern’s chances. We just report.

ESPN - 7 seed

After briefly dropping to an 8 seed after losing to Illinois, Northwestern is back in good favor with Joe Lunardi. As of Feb. 13, he predicts an all-Wildcats matchup in the West Region with Northwestern taking on Kansas State.

1-3-1 Sports - 7 seed

As of Feb. 13, 1-3-1 Sports has Northwestern squared up against tournament-seasoned Wichita State in the Midwest Region. The winner would likely have an interesting matchup against a young, vulnerable Florida State team.

CBS Sports - 7 seed

Jerry Palm had Northwestern falling to an 8 seed after the Illinois game, but the Wisconsin win has the Wildcats back up to a 7 seed in Palm’s Feb. 13 update. Chris Collins’ team would face Jamie Dixon’s TCU team in the first round, with the winner likely playing Florida State.

Fox Sports - 8 seed

As of Feb. 10, Stewart Mandel has Northwestern as an 8 seed in the East region. The Wildcats would play VCU with a daunting matchup against Villanova looming in the round of 32.

Assembly Call - 7 seed

Assembly Call, the top-ranked Bracketology page, has Northwestern up to a 7 seed taking on Kansas State in the Midwest region. His was updated on the 14th.

You can check out every single prediction here. All 82 bracket projections have Northwestern in the tournament. The Wildcats’ average rank is 7.71 with a high of 6 and low of 10. However, more than half of the projections have not been updated since the Wisconsin game.