Wildcats Miss Out On NCAA Tournament, Will Host Akron In NIT
By Adam Hoge-
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- As expected, the Northwestern Wildcats missed out again on a bid for the NCAA tournament.
"We're obviously, staff and team, disappointed," head coach Bill Carmody said Sunday after the entire field was announced.
Instead, the Wildcats will host Akron in the first round of the NIT Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Surprisingly, NU only got a No. 4 seed in the NIT.
Northwestern's loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament likely was the final nail in the coffin for the Wildcats, who were seeking their first-ever NCAA tournament. Carmody admitted that he's struggling to put that loss behind him.
"It's still in my stomach - the last game we played," he said. "Could you have done this? Could you have done that? Substitute here, that kind of stuff.. still thinking about that more so than the selection actually."
The Wildcats finished the season 18-13 and will now play in their fourth straight NIT.
They now figure to get an invitation for a high seed in the NIT. It will be the fourth straight year in the NIT for the Wildcats.
"When they were freshman, they were so excited to be in the NIT and sophomores too last year," Carmody said. "(In those years) the last couple weeks we knew were weren't going to be in (the NCAA Tournament) and we got the NIT bid and we were happy. I think it says something about this class of seniors that now they're really disappointed to not get an NCAA bid. So they've come a long way."
The Big Ten had six teams in the NCAA tournament this season: Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Purdue.
