2008–09 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team

2008–09 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball
NIT, First Round
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record17–14 (8–10 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coachTavaras Hardy (1st season)
Home arenaWelsh-Ryan Arena
2008–09 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Michigan State 15 3   .833 31 7   .816
No. 17 Purdue 11 7   .611 27 10   .730
Illinois 11 7   .611 24 10   .706
Penn State 10 8   .556 27 11   .711
Ohio State 10 8   .556 22 11   .667
Wisconsin 10 8   .556 20 13   .606
Minnesota 9 9   .500 22 11   .667
Michigan 9 9   .500 21 14   .600
Northwestern 8 10   .444 17 14   .548
Iowa 5 13   .278 15 17   .469
Indiana 1 17   .056 6 25   .194
2009 Big Ten tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2008–09 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented Northwestern University in the 2008–09 college basketball season. This was head coach Bill Carmody's ninth season at Northwestern. The Wildcats are members of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Welsh-Ryan Arena. They finished the season 17–14, 8–10 in Big Ten play, lost in the first round of the 2009 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament and were invited to the 2009 National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to the University of Tulsa. Northwestern matched their school record for most wins in a season and recorded their first post-season appearance since 1999.