EVANSTON—Northwestern earned its first NCAA Tournament berth Sunday, picked as the 8-seed in the West Region. When the Wildcats heard their name called on the CBS Sports Selection Show, fans and players went absolutely insane with excitement at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats will face No. 9 seed Vanderbilt on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Here are the facts, and boy do they bear repeating: Northwestern’s last winning Big Ten record came in 1968. Before 2015-16, Northwestern had never won 20 games in a regular season; it had never broken the 20-win threshold, period. The first NCAA tournament was held in 1939 in Evanston, Illinois. The NCAA tournament has included at least 64 teams for 32 years. Northwestern was the only power conference team in college basketball history — the only one — never to make the NCAA tournament.It is almost impossible to fathom the epochal end these 2016-17 Wildcats represent. Compare them to the Cubs if you like, but then imagine if the Cubs went 100 years without once making the playoffs. That’s what we’re talking about here. That’s how winning 21 games in the regular season, finishing 10-8 in the Big Ten, and sliding into the back half of a 68-team NCAA tournament field makes you legendary. And don’t get it twisted: Whatever happens later this week, Chris Collins and his players are already legends.