Looking ahead to this week from a leverage standpoint

[CappyNU]

Now that we're entering the final month of play before conference tourneys, I'm going to start looking at the other games involving bubble teams to provide a "rooting guide" for us.

Yesterday:
Illinois beating Nebraska was great news for us, as it prevented Nebraska from getting a premier victory

Tuesday 2/6:
MSU at Minnesota - MSU. Gives us a better win on our team sheet
Butler at UConn - UConn. Butler is climbing towards the bubble and we want them knocked down
Nevada at Utah St - Nevada. A loss drives Utah St closer to the bubble from safety, though brings Nevada closer to the bubble
Clemson at UNC - UNC. A loss pushes Clemson closer to the bubble.

Wednesday 2/7:
Georgia at Mississippi St. - Georgia. They aren't near the bubble and an MSU loss would push them further from safety to the bubble.

Thursday 2/8:
Washington St. at Oregon St. - Oregon St. Likewise, WSU is already on the bubble and a loss pushes them further away.
Arizona at Utah - Arizona. A Utah loss pushes them closer to the bubble from safety.

 

[NTCAT_rivals210265]

Love this.

Bart Torvik's site has a bubble rooting interest guide for each team, but I don't think it is very good. https://barttorvik.com/bubble-guide.php?team=Northwestern

 

[GatoLouco]

Ticket prices in the secondary marketplaces don't point for a ton of enthusiasm for Wednesday's game. Hoping it still sells out, just that folks are paying less for it.

 

[CappyNU]

Love this.

Bart Torvik's site has a bubble rooting interest guide for each team, but I don't think it is very good. https://barttorvik.com/bubble-guide.php?team=Northwestern

That's what I took this from, though I agree that some of its output seems a little wonky, so I only selected a handful that seemed relevant.

 

[ballerog711]

Just WIN baby. NU still in control of its own destiny. Send Boo out with another tourny invitation.

 

[CappyNU]

Leverage this weekend:

Saturday
St. Mary's at Portland - Portland. If they can spring the very unlikely upset, it all but knocks St Mary's off the bubble
Southern Utah at Grand Canyon - Southern Utah. Grand Canyon already has a pretty slim chance to grab an at-large, but every little bit helps.
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma - Root for the Cowboys in this Bedlam battle
Creighton at Xavier - Creighton. Big win over the fraudulent Musketeers
TCU at Iowa St - Iowa St. Slight increase in bid percentage with a Cyclone victory

Sunday
Tulane at Memphis - Tulane. Memphis is likely already out of the bubble picture with a pair of bad home losses, but a third wouldn't hurt.
Minnesota at Iowa - Minnesota. Iowa is marginally closer to the bubble than the Gophers, and would make our loss look better.

Most importantly, beat Penn State.