The Northwestern Wildcats have never been known for success on the national stage in basketball, though in 2017, the team did make their first-ever appearance in the NCAA March Madness postseason tournament, beating the Vanderbilt Commodores before falling to the Gonzaga Bulldogs. They repeated this feat last year, in 2023, defeating the Boise State Broncos before losing to the UCLA Bruins. Will 2024 be their year for a big breakthrough? Wildcats fans are certainly hoping so!

How can I get cheap tickets to Northwestern Wildcats games?

Welsh-Ryan Arena has been attracting sizable crowds to Wildcats basketball games in recent seasons due to the interest generated by their two national tournament appearances.  Tickets can be in high demand for postseason tournament games, key conference deciders, or rivalry matchups (see below). To get your hands on the cheapest tickets to Northwestern Wildcats games, search the TicketX listings on this page and use our helpful TicketX seating chart to compare prices and locations. You can buy tickets with the lowest commission fees from TicketX with just one click! 

Northwestern Wildcats Rivalries

The Northwestern Wildcats basketball team’s biggest rival is the Illinois Fighting Illini, but wow, is it a lopsided rivalry! The Illini not only have a dominating 143-45 all-time lead in the series but have twice gone on 16 game winning streaks against the oft-hapless Cats. Northwestern did win their 2024 meeting, however, so maybe those times are a-changin’!

Are Northwestern Wildcats basketball games exciting?

While the Northwestern Wildcats are far from a top NCAA basketball team, local excitement has been building around the team in the past 10 years after their emergence on the national stage. Their student supporters section, the Wildside, flock to games draped in the school colors of purple and white to try to spur the Wildcats on to victory.