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When we started doing these Bracketology updates back in January, today is what we’ve been leading up to. Northwestern has weathered injuries, conference play, heartbreak and the Big Ten tournament to put themselves in the position to hear their name called on Selection Sunday. Today is the day that Northwestern makes history and makes the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nearly 80 years. Here’s one final look at where Northwestern stands before Greg Gumbel calls its name.
ESPN - 8 seed
Joe Lunardi has Northwestern as an 8 seed taking on the SEC runner-up Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. A win would likely mean a daunting matchup against the No. 1 overall team in the tournament, the Villanova Wildcats. Villanova was a 1 seed in 2015 where they were upset by N.C. State, an 8 seed. They were also a 1 seed last year when they won the National Championship.
1-3-1 Sports - 9 seed
1-3-1 Sports has Northwestern as a 9 seed taking on a tournament-seasoned Miami team in the East Region. Like Lunardi’s projection, the winner will likely take on last year’s NCAA Champion Villanova Wildcats.
CBS Sports - 8 seed
Jerry Palm has Northwestern in the East Region as well. He has the Wildcats taking on South Carolina for the chance to play Villanova.
Fox Sports - 8 seed
Stewart Mandel, an NU grad, has had the Wildcats as an 8 seed for most of the season. He’s predicting a matchup against Marquette in the Midwest Region with the winner taking on Kansas.
Assembly Call - 8 seed
Assembly Call, the top-ranked Bracketology page, has Northwestern in the South Region taking on Oklahoma State. The winner of that game would likely play North Carolina in Greenville.
You can check out every single prediction here. All 82 bracket projections have Northwestern in the tournament. The Wildcats’ average rank is 8.96 with a high of 7 and one low of 12.