It would have been fun to watch Northwestern play in a March Madness game. There's no doubt about it.
For Northwestern fans, their season of rooting ended at the Big Ten Tournament last week. This year's team simply started too poorly in Big Ten play, and it didn't have enough time to get back on to the bubble.
Watching March Madness, I figured I'd sit around and lament the fact that the 'Cats weren't playing. I thought I'd watch some of these teams with better records play and think "man, this is a different sport. That team I covered this year wouldn't have been able to compete."
I couldn't possibly have been more wrong. Somehow, even though we all watch the NCAA Tournament every year, we tend to forget just how tightly contested this event always is. Anyone can beat anyone at any time. Heck, Duke almost lost to Siena yesterday.
Could Northwestern's team -- armed with a motivated Nick Martinelli, an emerging Jake West and a hot-shooting Jordan Clayton -- have won a game in March? Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind.
If you watched Virginia play today, there shouldn't be any doubt in yours either. Or Kentucky. Or Alabama, which at the time I'm writing this is still locked in a tight one against Hofstra.
Northwestern didn't have a good enough resume to make the tournament this year. But that doesn't mean it definitively would not have found success with the roster it had. It just means the team didn't play well enough early in the year, and it suffered the consequences.
I say all this to make this contention. While NU not being in the tournament might be upsetting to fans who hoped to see them here, the March Madness watching experience should make you feel better about the future.
There's a randomness to basketball. It's magnified in March, for sure, but it exists always. What if a few bounces go Northwestern's way and it beats UVA earlier this year? What if Michigan doesn't go nuclear in the second half? What if Tre Singleton doesn't throw that pass out of bounds against Purdue?
There's a million "what ifs" from this season. On the surface, thinking of all those moments is probably painful. But when you zoom out and think more holistically, those what ifs are proof that this team isn't as far away from making a tournament as one might think based on its record.
With West and Tre Singleton hopefully coming back, alongside Tyler Kropp and Angelo Ciaravino, the 'Cats already have a nice, young core. Add some transfers, and a little bit of good luck for a change -- who knows? They could be back in the Big Dance as early as next season.
If the first two days of March Madness reminds me about anything, it's that predicting the future in sports is a futile effort. In fact, it's impossible. Miracles aren't really miracles. They happen too often. So, too, do horrific meltdowns, chokes and failures. You just never know, and that's the primary lesson March is supposed to teach us all.
So, yes, this tournament would be better for Northwestern fans if the 'Cats were actually in it. But my advice to you is to kick back, relax, feel content with this season and enjoy the show. The 2027 NCAA Tournament will be here before you know it.