Saturday's road tilt in Minneapolis is a huge chance for the Wildcats to get a much-needed win over a reeling Minnesota team.
Before the start of the 2015-16 season, the big question surrounding the Northwestern basketball program was whether or not this year was going to be the year. Chris Collins, who regularly participated in the Big Dance as a player and coach at Duke, had built a promising program in Evanston, and it seemed like this season could be the one for Northwestern to do what no team in school history has ever done.
With a 12-1 record through conference play (the only loss coming against highly ranked North Carolina), the Wildcats appeared well on their way to pushing themselves squarely onto the NCAA Tournament bubble, even with the injuries to Vic Law and Alex Olah.