Northwestern, Illinois Earn NCAA Tournament Bids Among Field Of 68

ILLINOIS — There may have been a time in Northwestern men's basketball coach Chris Collins' coaching career when he took making the NCAA men's basketball tournament for granted.

Collins, a former Duke assistant under Mike Krzyzewski, was part of a Blue Devils' coaching staff that was a March Madness regular. But on Sunday, Collins celebrated just Northwestern's second NCAA tournament bid when the Wildcats joined fellow in-state Big Ten tournament entry Illinois on the men's bracket.

Northwestern, which finished second in the Big Ten to earn a No. 7 seed in the West Regional, will tip off tournament play on Thursday in Sacramento against No. 10 seed Boise State.

"There’s no feeling like seeing your name come up in the (NCAA Tournament) Selection Show,” Collins told reporters on Sunday. “It’s what you work hard for, it’s what these guys lift weights in the summer hours (for). That’s the dream. You want to be part of March Madness and give yourself a chance to compete for a national championship. We’ve earned that right.”

The Wildcats last made the NCAA Tournament in 2017 but failed to build on the success Northwestern found that season. Collins said Sunday that no one was more disappointed than him to not be able to sustain the success. However, the Wildcats strung together some impressive victories this season when they finished second in the Big Ten, three games behind Purdue, which enters the tournament as a No. 1 seed.

Collins said the return trip proves that the return trip shows that Northwestern isn’t a “one-hit wonder” or a “flash-in-the-pan”. In 2017, Northwestern advanced to the Round of 32 before dropping a tough loss to Gonzaga, which Collins hoped would lead to an extended run of tournament berths.

But a year after Collins said the Wildcats had enough to make a run at another tournament appearance but failed to do so, Northwestern is again ready to dance. On Thursday, the Wildcats will face a Boise State team that finished 24-9 and enters the tournament looking to upset a Northwestern team that solidified itself with an impressive run of victories this season, including an upset win over then-top-ranked Purdue.

While Collins is excited to again be part of the NCAA field after six years, he wants his team be be prepared to do more than just show up in Sacramento and "get their ribbon" and going home.

“Our guys will be ready to go," Collins said.

He added: “There’s a lot of teams where the end game is just getting to (making the tournament) and a lot of people get satisfied with that and it shows with how they play in the tournament. …What type of team do we want to be? Do we want to be happy that we made it and got into the field or do we want to want to be hungry to try and win?”

Illinois, which was knocked out of the Big Ten tournament with a loss to Penn State, enters the NCAA Tournament as a 9 seed and will face 8th-seeded Arkansas. The Illini, will have a shorter trip than Northwestern and will play in Des Moines, Iowa, but should Illinois be able to win on Thursday, the Illini would face defending NCAA champion Kansas on Saturday.

Coach Brad Underwood, who has led Illinois to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, said last week that he believes despite a tough draw and potential match-up against the No. 1-seeded Jayhawks, will be ready to go.

The third straight appearance for Illinois is the longest stretch of NCAA bids for the Illini since the early 2000s when Illinois made seven straight tournament appearances. But Underwood said that Illinois’ Big Ten slate, along with non-conference games earlier in the season against Virginia, UCLA, and Texas will have the Illini extremely prepared for their tournament opener.

“I’m excited,” Underwood told reporters. “This team can go as long and as far as they want to. They’ve proven that.”

Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins agreed.

“You just have to go out and play hard and play as hard as you can,” Hawkins told reporters on Sunday. “You have to be the best version of yourself that night and just focus on that game and not get ahead of yourself.”

The NCAA Tournament will also feature another Illinois tie as former Glenbrook North star Jon Scheyer leads Duke into the tournament in his first season after replacing Krzyzewski at the helm of the Blue Devils program. Duke is a No. 5 seed in the East Regional and faces No. 12-seed Oral Roberts on Thursday in Orlando.

Selections were made on Sunday for both the men's and women’s tournaments. Below are the major dates to know for the 2023 March Madness tournament and you can also get a Printable bracket.

• Selection Sunday: March 12
• First Four: March 14-15
• First round: March 16-17
• Second round: March 18-19
• Sweet 16: March 23-24
• Elite Eight: March 25-26
• Final Four: April 1
• NCAA championship game: April 3

Kansas is the defending national champion after the Jayhawks defeated North Carolina to win the national title last year. Alabama enters this year's tournament as the overall No. 1 seed and is joined by fellow top seeds Purdue, Kansas, and Houston heading into this week's opening round of games.

Kansas, which lost in the Big XII championship game to Texas, has less than an 8 percent chance of repeating, according to oddsmakers.

Both the Crimson Tide and Cougars were among the favorites to return to the championship this year. The odds for the top five were as follows, according to DraftKings:

• Houston: +475 (17.4 percent chance)
• Alabama: +650 (13.3 percent chance)
• Purdue: +1000 (9.1 percent chance)
• UCLA: +1200 (7.7 percent chance)
• Kansas: +1200 (7.7 percent chance)
• Texas: +1400 (6.8 percent chance)