NCAA Tournament bracket: Northwestern to take on Boise State, Illinois to face Arkansas

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Get your brackets ready, the field is now set for college basketball's March Madness.

For the first time ever, both Northwestern and Illinois received bids to the Big Dance.

Both the Wildcats and the Illini were seeded in the West Region of the bracket.

Northwestern is a seventh-seed and will play Boise State at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday in Sacramento.

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The Illini are a ninth-seed. They'll take on Arkansas at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in Des Moines.

Purdue, Alabama, Kansas and Houston are the number one seeds in this year's tournament.