This month, as the Chicago Cubs were celebrating their first World Series championship since 1908, Chris Collins, the basketball coach at Northwestern, envisioned what it would be like to end a similarly daunting streak. The N.C.A.A. men’s tournament was first played in 1939, but Northwestern has never made an appearance.

“I’m a big dreamer; I always have been,” Collins said. “To see the joy and celebrations — of course your mind wanders, and it gets you excited, and hopefully, that’s what’s to come for us.”

It is hard to fathom that a Big Ten program has never experienced even a moment of March madness. Seven appearances in the National Invitation Tournament have hardly sated a Wildcats fan base annually accustomed to scheduling other plans on Selection Sunday.

Disappointment has clouded Evanston, Ill., in many forms. From 1990 to 2000, the team had three five-win seasons. Last year, the Wildcats appeared ready to break through, entering conference play 12-1 before finishing 20-12 over all. But after missing out on a bid from the N.C.A.A. tournament or the N.I.T., the program decided it would decline any lesser invitations and skip the 2016 postseason altogether. (The 20 wins were a regular-season team record.)