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There's crashing, there's burning, and then there's the end of Northwestern's 2012-2013 basketball season.
From a senior night perspective, things worked out really well for Northwestern last night. Alex Marcotullio got a career high 22 points and drilled six threes, Reggie Hearn got to leave the court to a standing ovation.
From a not-senior night perspective, this was the loss that will probably stand out amongst the others as particularly awful. At home, against a team that seemed destined to be one of the worst in Big Ten history. (As it turns out, their Kenpom ranking will only be a few spots lower than Northwestern, as the Cats have fallen to No. 140 in Pomeroy's rankings after spending most of conference play in the 80's.)
A loss to Penn State effectively limits the realm of possibilities for the end of Northwestern's season to one. They will get destroyed by Michigan State on the road Sunday, and they will probably lose by a hearty amount in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.
So what you think of Bill Carmody - for better or worse - the results of Northwestern's season are more or less in. An 11th place finish in conference, no postseason bid after four years in the NIT, and of course, no NCAA Tournament.
Carmody on job speculation: "I've been thinking about it. It's on my mind." #Northwestern
— Nick Medline (@NicholasMedline) March 8, 2013
We'll be thinking about it too, brother.