Every day, Sippin' on Purple will be taking an updated roundup and look at Northwestern's chances of making the NCAA Tournament. We promise not to jinx it.

February 20, 2012

Bracket Matrix average seed: 11.7, featured on 41 of 68 brackets, nine of 12 to most recently update

RPI: 44

Kenpom: 50

Sagarin: 49

Big Ten standings: 7th (first-round opponent: Illinois)

In or out, consensus: Too close to call

Feeling: Anxiety. Tomorrow night's game against Michigan decides a lot: a W there does a lot. Losing it wouldn't take NU off, but the game could do wonders. Beating Minnesota prompted Joe Lunardi to push NU into his last spot on his bracket, which kind of pretty much defines everybody's feelings. Iowa's win over Indiana made me pretty uncomfortable in terms of thinking that Northwestern really needs a win at Iowa in its season closer next Saturday, but part of me just sees that as Indiana being a team only able to win at home - they've been pretty mediocre on the road all season. Tonight is a pretty boring night in terms of the NCAA, but the only top 25 team in action is one we care about, as Baylor goes on the road to face Texas.

Other bracket updates: Crashing the Dance's most recent update after Saturday actually saw NU fall a spot despite the victory over Minnesota - Iowa State's Saturday night blowout of Texas A&M bumped them past NU, but the site's numbers still have NU in the dance.