Lake The Posts - Northwestern Football Blog

McKeown Makes LTP Look Good - NU Upsets #15 Depaul!

2009-11-24T23:11:00.003-06:00

Congratulations to the Northwestern women's hoops team for their thrilling upset of #15 DePaul, 59-55 tonight in the night cap double-header. I had said earlier today that the resurgence of the women's program would be one of the surefire storylines of the year in NU athletics. The 'Cats staved off a furious DePaul rally surrendering a 10-point lead late, giving up a 16-0 DePaul run before finishing with 10 straight points. The momentum in the athletics department is incredible right now. Congrats to all! Northwestern moves to 4-0 in women's and 3-1 in men's. Let's keep it going...The Northwestern women's team is one of only three Big Ten teams that remains undefeated. GO 'CATS!

Zeke & Stefan Named Academic All-Americans

2009-11-24T22:56:00.002-06:00

Congrats to Zeke Markshausen and Stefan Demos for being named to the Academic All-American roster as part of the Big Ten's eight entrants - the best of any conference. Zeke earned first team honors while Stefan was named to the second team. Below is the actual press release from the Big Ten with all the details:

BIG TEN LEADS ALL CONFERENCES WITH
EIGHT ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS IN FOOTBALL
Big Ten Tops All Conferences in Football Honorees for Fifth Straight Season

Park Ridge, Ill. – The Big Ten topped all conferences for the fifth straight season with eight student-athletes named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America first or second teams in football as announced today by CoSIDA. The Big Ten also led the way with six first-team selections, matching the third-highest total in conference history behind only the seven first-team honorees in 2008 and the eight first-team choices in 2006. The Big Ten paces all conferences with 43 Academic All-Americans in the sport of football over the last five years, including at least eight honorees every season.

The Big Ten’s total of eight Academic All-Americans led all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conferences, followed by the FCS’ Missouri Valley with five selections and the FBS’ Big 12 with four honorees. The first-team selections included six honorees from the Big Ten and nine choices from all other FBS conferences, including two each from the Big 12 and SEC.

The Academic All-America first-team honorees from the Big Ten include Michigan’s Zoltan Mesko, Michigan State’s Blair White, Northwestern’s Zeke Markshausen and the Penn State trio of Josh Hull, Andrew Pitz and Stefen Wisniewski. Second-team honors went to Northwestern’s Stefan Demos and Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan. Hull and Pitz each earned their second consecutive first-team accolades after being honored last season.

To be eligible for the award, a player must be in at least his second year of athletic eligibility, be a first-team or key performer and carry a cumulative 3.30 grade point average (GPA).

Crawford Leads 'Cats In Easy Win Over Liberty

2009-11-24T21:57:00.002-06:00

The Kevin Coble-less Wildcats improved to 3-1 with a convincing 69-53 victory over Liberty in the first round of the Chicago Invitational Challenge. Freshman Drew Crawford was a monster drilling 5 3-pointers and adding another impressive putback en route to his career high (4 games) 22-points. The 'Cats were able to cruise despite leading scorer Michael Thompson to 5 points on the heels of his 31-point explosion on Sunday. The 'Cats now face Notre Dame Friday night at 7:30 pm at the UIC Pavilion. It will be quite a different challenge than tonight. Click here for all the details.

Turkey Week Malaise

2009-11-24T08:54:00.002-06:00

As we prepare for the annual Thanksgiving week football gorge on games we really don’t care about, we have five weeks to fill to keep the tremendous momentum built by Northwestern football. I truly believe whichever opponent we face in the Champs Sports Bowl (most likely) we will be ready and are going to be completely driven for the win. Fitz has done a stellar job of focusing the entire program on a bowl win as THE next step for the program.

Like us, Fitz has finally become frustrated with the lack of media attention, attendance woes and bowl slights despite our stellar attendance figures and TV ratings in recent bowl appearances. These are the exact same components that compelled me to grab a bullhorn and start Lake The Posts three seasons ago. Twenty-three wins later, here we sit on the precipice of back-to-back 9-win seasons. I’m so proud to have the ‘Cats as my team. I’m still frustrated by the lack of attendance, the miniscule marketing and the Notre Dame losing is bigger than NU winning media coverage. We’ve collectively got an off-season to-do list that is a mile long, but I’ll save that for later next month when we can revisit the goals of LTP and set the course (God, I’m even sounding like Fitz!) for 2010. Some Thanksgiving week reflections and musings:

• The Chicago Tribune fetes Fitz and low and behold it is not Teddy Greenstein! Yes, sports columnist David Haugh jumps on the ‘Cats bandwagon and offers a very positive state of the program piece here. There is also a piece on the 'Cats laser beam focus on winning a bowl by Teddy G. here.

• The buzz surfacing around plans for Ryan Field modifications is very real. Speculation about tearing down the two sight line challenged sections next to the scoreboard has bubbled this week, however LTP has learned from insiders that while nothing is set in stone, there is exploration in to a new football-only facility and massive weight room complex that would anchor the south end zone. The Nicolet center would house all other sports teams. The most likely comparison is Indiana. However, this is still at the planning phase as it would obviously require significant dollars.

• With the commitment of 15th recruit, CB Ibraheim Campbell from Philly, you wonder if Fitz is going to continue the push to capitalize on a larger than expected recruiting class. With a set amount of scholarships, something has to give. LTP will be connecting with recruiting guru Tom Lemming in the coming weeks to weigh in on the caliber of the 2010 class and talk about the impact of our November surge.

• Is it me, or have you already come to the conclusion we’ll somehow end up playing Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl? Perhaps I’m biased, but I feel like we have a tradition of drawing the explosively athletic, yet underachieving teams that enter the game pissed off. Miami would add to the list of Missouri in ’08 which was ranked #1 at one point in the year and “dropped” all the way to the Alamo Bowl. UCLA featured Maurice-Jones Drew at the Sun Bowl in 2005 while Bowling Green in ’03 was fired up to stick it to a Big Ten team. Nebraska viewed the Alamo Bowl as a slight to their program in ’00 and stuck it to us. We had the pleasure of drawing perhaps the best QB in CFB history in the ’97 Citrus Bowl and USC used the national spotlight on NU in 1995 to inspire them in the ’96 Rose Bowl. Personally, I don’t fear Miami and I think a win over a Florida team in a bowl game IN Florida would be the biggest boost we could have, especially considering we have more Floridians in our 2010 class than any other state. I think we match up very well with UNC however.

• Mike Kafka should be the Big Ten MVP. Penn State QB Daryll Clark was named 1st team All Big Ten by both the coaches and media yesterday while Wisconsin RB John Clay was named the offensive MVP. This is much like the MLB MVP debates when you start talking about the award semantics. Is the Chicago Tribune’s Silver Trophy, the Big Ten MVP award, for the best player in the league or is it the player who was most valuable to his team? If it is the latter, then Mike Kafka should win it hands down. If it is the former then the debate is up for grabs and I suspect it will go to either Clark or Clay.

• Death is not an option. Who the heck do you root for on Saturday when Notre Dame visits Stanford? That Team From South Bend continues to steal media market share from NU and I’m finding myself invoking the Ron Zook theory. I want Weis to win JUST enough to keep him there and continue to drive the program towards irrelevancy. On the other hand, hot head Harbaugh is tough to root for especially considering how many recruits we compete for against the Cardinal. If Harbaugh wins it might catapult him to another job, perhaps, gasp…Notre Dame. The Irish wouldn’t try and go to that well that soon again, would they? Who are you pulling for on Saturday?

• One of the surefire stories of the year in NU Athletics will be the resurgence of our women’s hoops program. In my 20 years of following the ‘Cats I can never remember the men getting the undercard in a hoops double-header on a weeknight. The Michael Thompson-led (is it me or did he develop the Jittim Young killer warrior gene over the summer) ‘Cats continue their Coble-less struggles at 5:30pm tonight at Welsh-Ryan against Liberty. NU looks to move to 3-1 on the season before facing Notre Dame at UIC on Saturday. The women play AFTER the Liberty game in what should be a fantastic game against #17 DePaul, a perennial power. This would be a statement game for Coach Mckeown not only for ‘Cats fans but a major signal to the rest of the Big Ten that “here we come.”

Programming Alert
‘Tis the season for movie marathons and greatest game marathons on TV. LTP will follow-suit and offer all eight wins in one easy-to-digest place starting at 6 am on Thanksgiving Day with a new post every hour.

Great Morning Reading on Fitz, the Cats, and Ryan Field

2009-11-24T08:24:00.003-06:00

Great way to start your day, with David Haugh's piece in this morning's Tribune, click here. Enjoy!

The Hits Just Keep On Coming - Cats Nab 15th Commit

2009-11-24T01:08:00.000-06:00

For the second time in a week, NU edged out Boston College for a prized recruit - this time Ibraheim Campbell, a CB from Chesnut Hill Academy in the Philadelphia, PA area (not to be confused with Chestnut Hill, MA - the home of BC!). Campbell made his visit to NU the weekend of the Penn State game, but committed yesterday in the wake of the win over Wisconsin. Campbell was a star RB this season racking up nearly 2000 yards rushing and 28 TDs, but he'll play CB in Evanston. Campbell, a senior, chose the 'Cats over both BC and Stanford. The 6-1, 195 lbs athlete is Northwestern's 15th commitment in the 2010 class. Welcome aboard Ibraheim and get ready to help us take this thing to a whole new level. The Philadelphia Enquirer article is here as you saw in the comments section earlier.

Kafka voted 2nd Team All Big Ten, Phillips, McManis get 1st team honors

2009-11-23T19:42:00.003-06:00

The Big Ten Network announced the Big Ten Conference All-Conference teams minutes ago and Mike Kafka was named 2nd team by both the coaches and the media. He got all kinds of love from the BTN staff about being the most valuable player to his team for accounting for nearly 70% of the NU offense, but Penn State's Daryll Clark and his 23 TD passes seemed to much to pass up for the voters. Sherrick McManis was named 1st team CB by the media (2nd team by coaches) while Brad Phillips was the reverse and got the coaches nod for the 1st team (2nd by media). Our man Zeke Markshausen made 2nd team honors (media only) joining PK Stefan Demos who nabbed honors by both the media and coaches.

The only beef I had was John Clay being named offensive player of the year. I agree he had a solid year, but I would've gone with either Mike Kafka, Darryl Clark or even Ricky Stanzi before John Clay. On defense, MSU's Greg Jones won the award along with Jared Odrick from Penn State.

Our man Kirk Ferentz won the Big Ten Coach of the Year Award.

Also of note, Corey Wootton and Al Netter were named honorable mention. Check out the complete list here as voted by the coaches. The media list is here.

Let's Take It Outback

2009-11-23T17:47:00.004-06:00

The bowl buzz in borderline tizzy state right now and while its a foregone conclusion we'll be headed to Orlando for the Champs Sports Bowl. However, the Outback Bowl is posting a poll for which teams you'd like to see in Tampa and Northwestern currently trails Wisconsin by three percentage points and Penn State by eight (25%-17%). I'm not so concerned about Penn State, so let's beat the Badgers! Click here - http://www.outbackbowl.com/ .

Champs Sports Bowl Interview With WNUR
Click here to hear Andrew Gothelf's interview with Matt Repchak, the Assistant Director of Communications for Florida Citrus Sports which controls the Champs Sports Bowl. Very good insights on the actual scenarios.

Recruiting Update
Thanks to an LTP reader Matt F. check out the following excerpt from The Philadelphia Enquirer about standout RB, Ibraheim Campbell - it makes you wish he were at the Wisconsin game and the deal would be done!

"Campbell to Northwestern? Chestnut Hill Academy's Ibraheim
Campbell, a standout running back and cornerback, is leaning heavily toward
choosing Northwestern as his college destination.
The 6-foot, 195-pounder, who rushed for nearly 1,900 yards and 28 touchdowns for the 9-1 Blue Devils, opted against taking an official visit to Stanford over the weekend.
Campbell is expected to make an oral commitment this week. The finalists
are, in order, Northwestern, Boston College and Stanford. He took official
visits to the first two."

Thanksgiving Week Means Bowl Full of Bowl Speculation

2009-11-23T09:23:00.003-06:00

For those of you who may have missed yesterday's extended video highlights of the 'Cats amazing "upset" of #16 Wisconsin, take a gander here and just nod your head. What an amazing game.

The Hankwitz Factor
Ah-ha! Finally, a smoking gun article on the Mike Hankwitz factor. I put the call out last week to former defensive players (no one responded) to get me specifics on just how much Hank could impact the game. Well, here you go - right from the mouths of the Badgers defense. It appears the greatest impact was to our OFFENSE as Wisconsin had failed to even change the verbiage of their defensive calls. This is the most direct evidence you'll ever find of a coach's impact on the game and it makes you feel very good that we are well prepped and I expect Bielema and their current DC to get grilled for this. Check it out here. This is the best angle on the NU-Wisconsin game I've seen anywhere.

Bowl Full of Speculation
Did I say we'll be getting in to the Mike Kafka for MVP debate? Ahh, yes. What a sweet topic to debate. But first, the updated bowl game prognostication chart for all of you looking to bet on travel plans. Our resident bowl guru, Asher G., offers up the following round-up :

Note: All of the below are based on the projection of two Big Ten BCS entrants:

ESPN.com/Rittenberg - Champs vs N/A

Minneapolis Star Tribune - Champs vs N/A

CBSSports.com - Champs vs North Carolina

College Football News - Champs vs North Carolina

Athlon- Champs vs North Carolina

ESPN.com/Feldman - Champs vs Clemson

ESPN.com/Schlaback - Outback vs Auburn

Rivalry Esq. Blog - Champs vs Miami

Asher's Projections:
Many of you asked for my predictions in percentages. This is my current projection, which has changed slightly since I spoke with many of you today and yesterday.
Tampa 10%
Orlando 80%
San Antonio 10%
My projections are not based on a Wisconsin vs Northwestern debate, but rather my confidence in the Big Tensending two teams to the BCS.

Bold Bowl Info
Many of you are toying with locking in Orlando reservations to beat the rush. If you so choose, the official NU hotel is the Orlando – Rosen Shingle Creek. CALL 866-996-6338 to get the best rates now.

NOW the Mike Kafka for Big Ten MVP info will be coming up shortly...

Shout Out
The LTP "N" Flag bandwagon is back in effect as the Benson family puts East Orleans, MA on the map. NOW is the time to show your pride and impress bowl officials with our coast-to-coast pride. Let's get the flags flying folks! Also, Tim K. offers up some LTP love for a pair of season tickets.

LTP BlogPoll Ballot: Week 12

2009-11-23T04:56:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the land of quality 8-3 teams. LSU, Wisconsin, Stanford and Rutgers were the four LTP Top 25 teams to fall this past weekend. Unlike most, I have three of the four (sorry Rutgers) survive. The 20-25 slots are a toss-up as you could make a great cases for Ole Miss (who upset LSU 25-23)and therefore is one of three exceptions of ranked teams losing head to head to a should be ranked team, but that is the way the cookie crumbled (UNC is one of the others as they beat Miami just a week ago and of course yours truly who beat Wisconsin AND Iowa, but our other losses merit us being on the outside looking in). Also sitting on the outside looking in are a resurgent 8-3 Nebraska, 8-3 North Carolina and of course, our beloved 8-4 'Cats who have beat two top 16 teams in the past three weeks. Stanford gets the love as the only 4-loss top 25 team thanks to the power of the Pac-10 this season. WHEN Northwestern wins the Champs Sports Bowl, they will be getting the LTP Top 25 vote. It is tough to keep 2-loss Houston in over NU, but I simply couldn't do it knowing I kept UNC and Ole Miss out -both 3-loss squads. Let the rip session begin...

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Florida
2	Texas
3	Alabama
4	Boise State
5	TCU
6	Cincinnati
7	Georgia Tech
8	Pittsburgh
9	Ohio State
10	Oregon	2
11	Iowa	2
12	Penn State	2
13	Oklahoma State	3
14	Virginia Tech	3
15	Oregon State	3
16	Utah	3
17	Miami (Florida)	3
18	Brigham Young	3
19	LSU	9
20	California
21	Stanford	10
22	Southern Cal
23	Wisconsin	8
24	Clemson
25	Houston
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Rutgers (#23).

Coming Up...The Case for Kafka for MVP...

Kafka, Demos earn Big Ten Player of Week Honors

2009-11-22T22:11:00.003-06:00

The good news keeps on rolling for Northwestern. Tomorrow night Mike Kafka may very well be named the Big Ten player of the year, but tonight he earned Big Ten co-player of the week honors with Penn State's Darryl Clark. Kafka was joined by fellow teammate - PK/P Stefan Demos with POW honors as both enjoyed the feat earlier this season as well (this is Demos' third time this season). The official Big Ten presser is below:

The Big Ten football offensive, defensive and special teams players of the week for games on Nov. 21 were announced tonight live on the Sunday night Big Ten Tonight. For the first time this season, the Big Ten Network announced the official players of the week every Sunday night at 9 p.m. CT.

Below are this week's honorees:

CO-OFFENSE:
Mike Kafka, Northwestern
SR, QB, Chicago, Ill./St. Rita
Kafka guided Northwestern to its third-straight conference victory and second over a nationally ranked team in the last three weeks by throwing for 326 yards and two touchdowns against Wisconsin. The senior quarterback connected on 65 percent of his throws, completing 26 of 40 passes with no interceptions. Kafka produced a pair of scoring strikes in the first two quarters to help the hosts enter the half up 27-14. After the Badgers pulled within 27-24 in the third quarter, Kafka led the Wildcats on a pair of field goal drives to push the advantage to nine points before holding on for the 33-31 triumph. The Chicago native earns his second weekly laurel this season and third of his career after being honored on Sept. 20, 2009, and Nov. 3, 2008.
LAST NU OFFENSIVE POW: QB Mike Kafka on Sept. 20, 2009

Daryll Clark, Penn State
SR, QB, Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline
Clark matched a career high with four touchdown passes while compiling 310 yards through the air to help lead Penn State to a road victory against Michigan State. The senior quarterback connected on 70.4 percent of his passes, completing 19 of 27 attempts with no interceptions. With the score tied 7-7 at halftime, Clark connected on all six of his passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns in the third quarter to help the visitors claim a 35-7 lead on their way to the triumph. The Ohio native garners his fifth career weekly accolade and third this season after being honored on Sept. 6 and Oct. 5, 2009, and twice last season, on Oct. 13 and Nov. 24, 2008.
LAST PSU OFFENSIVE POW: QB Daryll Clark on Oct. 25, 2009

CO-DEFENSE:
Troy Johnson, Iowa
JR, LB, Lakeland, Fla./Lakeland
Johnson helped Iowa post consecutive shutouts against Minnesota for the first time since the 1955 and 1956 seasons with a career-high 11 tackles, one sack, one pass breakup and a fumble forced and recovered. The junior linebacker was part of a defensive effort that held the Gophers to only 48 rushing yards in the 12-0 victory, including stopping the visitors on four straight plays from the two-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Johnson picks up his first career weekly laurel.
LAST IOWA DEFENSIVE POW: DE Adrian Clayborn on Oct. 25, 2009

Navorro Bowman, Penn State
JR, LB, District Heights, Md./Suitland
Bowman recorded 10 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack and a pass breakup in a victory at Michigan State. The junior linebacker posted seven solo stops on the day and his 3.5 tackles for loss pushed the Spartans’ offense back 17 yards, including a nine-yard sack. Bowman spearheaded a PSU defense that limited the hosts to 94 rushing yards and only 14 points, the eighth opponent to be held to two touchdowns or less this season. The Maryland native earns his third career weekly honor and second this season after being honored on Nov. 15, 2009, and Sept. 22, 2008.
LAST PSU DEFENSIVE POW: LB Navorro Bowman on Nov. 15, 2009

SPECIAL TEAMS:
Stefan Demos, Northwestern
JR, PK, Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon
Demos was perfect on four field goals and three extra points to tally 15 points and help Northwestern earn a 33-31 victory over nationally ranked Wisconsin. The junior kicker connected on field goals of 45, 38, 45 and 34 yards. His 34-yarder at the start of the fourth quarter extended the Wildcats’ lead to 33-24, before they held on for the two-point triumph. Demos earns special teams weekly laurels for the fourth time in his career and third time this season, after being honored on Oct. 4 and 25, 2009, and Sept. 1, 2008.
LAST NU SPECIAL TEAMS POW: PK/P Stefan Demos on Oct. 25, 2009

Some Hoopla:
Congrats to Juice Thompson who poured in 31 points and carried NU on a 16-1 run to end today's win over Tennessee State 69-62. It's going to be a very long season in Evanston, but Juice's refuse to lose mentality will pay huge dividends in 2010-2011.

Also, a shout out to the men's soccer team for their 3-1 NCAA Tournament 2nd round win over That Team From South Bend today. Jack Hilgard's two header goals proved to be the difference, and tying it back to hoops, NU will face the 'Cats NIT opponent from last year, Tulsa in the 3rd round on the road this Sunday.

'Cats Upset: Extended Video Highlights!

2009-11-22T15:47:00.001-06:00

Thanks to NUBears for his perseverance and getting nearly 10 minutes of NU goodness that will last us well in to the winter. Enjoy!

Sunday Morning CatFix

2009-11-22T03:51:00.003-06:00

For those of you who didn't get a chance to read the gameday recap, I've posted it below. However, if you want to grab a cup of coffee and read all the reviews I'm here for you.

Chicago Tribune - Teddy Greenstein serves up some postgame celebration angles from field level and also grabs the quote of the year as Zeke Markshausen talks about impersonating Brett Favre celebration tactics here.

Daily Herald - Lindsay Willhite offers his take on the bowl breakdown which is essentially the same as below here. His game recap is here with lots of love, deservedly so, to defensive star Brad Phillips. Click here.

The Sun-Times filed this borderline concilatory review less than a day after Jim O'Donnell's shameful pregame slamming of Northwestern was littered with wus references using terms like "prancing" and "pitter patting" - check it out here. His point was valid, his approach was reproachable. When he uses irrational lines like: "And the unpredictable regular season of the Wildcats will thankfully, happily, mercifully pitter-patter to an end at Ryan Field today." it makes me realize how personal his ax to grind has become. Perhaps merciful for HIM. Anyway Jimbo, take this win and stick it where the sun doesn't shine, which is anywhere you are. I don't expect you to be all rosy, but when you're critical stick to your ponits and rid the personal vendetta. His harping on the weak attendance (sad fact) for bowl hopes gets my blood rising as he referenced the 32,150 in the sidebar Wildcat Notes section several times. See the Turnstile Counters in my disappointing section below. Any one else feel that crowd count was off by at least 6,000-8,000?

NUSports.com's Skip Myslenski offers up postgame quotes to your heart's content here.

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg offers up some Wildcat love here.

Non-Conference Opponent Wrap-up

Yesterday's "Charlie Weis is done" drama knocked some of the spotlight off of the deserving 'Cats. However, I had the pleasure of watching equally exciting and angst ridden games as the NU-Wisconsin game like the Cal upset of Stanford (Toby Gerhart is the best player in the nation - he was THIS close to his 5th TD in the game - and it would've been the game-winner) and Oregon's improbable 2OT win over Arizona, preventing the "other" Wildcats from continuing their road to their first ever appearance in the Rose Bowl.

The 2009 'Cats opponents had yet another rough week, however, Syracuse sent a somewhat big shockwave to the Big East with their 31-13 thumping of Rutgers. The 'Cuse moves to 4-7 with one game left. Miami(OH) ended their nightmare with a 42-17 loss to Turner Gill's Buffalo squad and limp to a 1-11 season. Friday night Eastern Michigan got bombed by the Toledo Rockets 47-21 to keep them winless. EMU has one shot to win left and its a good one against a woeful Akron team on Friday night. Towson seemingly loses by the same score week after week and ended their season with a 43-12 loss to James Madison to end up 2-9.

As you look to 2010 opponents, Vandy ended up the only SEC team to not win a conference game as they lost by 15 to Tennessee and end up 2-10 (0-8). Rice won their second straight with a 30-29 win over UTEP to improve to 2-9. The Owls finish with a match-up against Houston. FCS opponent Illinois State beat UNI 22-20 to improve to 6-5.

Gameday Recap

THE GREAT

Game Prep

Despite the long pregame senior day ceremonies came out of the gates on fire and took the opening drive and promptly marched downfield to smack Wisconsin 7-0. Mike Kafka was brilliant and his 26-yard TD strike to Andrew Brewer was simply beautiful. The opening drive set the tone for the entire game.

Mike Kafka

In the pregame, Pat Fitzgerald declared the winning QB today should be getting the nod for Big Ten MVP. In the postgame interview with WGN he was lobbying for Mike and with good reason. Mike was again money all day long. He was actually "only" 26-for-40, but hit the big play all day and posted 326 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs and while he "net" only 17 yards, he was more able to elude the pass rush most of the day. He was clutch making fantastic throws to Andrew Brewer, Zeke and Sidney all day (OK, he missed Sidney a few times, but who cares!) and Drake. Mike developed that clutch gene throughout the season and walks out of Ryan Field a winner who will be sorely missed. ESPN Gameday Final crew gave him a helmet sticker for his outstanding performance.

The D Line

The storyline of the game was NU's ability to simply shut out the run. The Big Ten's best rushing game, which entered the day averaging 208 ypg on the back of John Clay, the conference's best rusher (112 ypg) was so stymied by Hankwitz's troops they simply deserted the run at halftime. The 'Cats held the Badgers to 99 yards, but Clay did manage to get his 100 (on 23 carries) yards, but he earned every one of them. The Badgers did not rush once on their first drive in the second half and only once in the first two. Tolzien was solid and we made him make plays for the most part.

Stefan Demos - The FG Kicker

Despite Demos' line drive punt which led to the Badgers PR TD, but he's a lock for special teams player of the week. Demos was money going 4-4 on FGs (45, 38, 45, 34) just a week after missing 3 FGs at Illinois. We needed every single one of them. Offensive Playcalling Kudos to Mick McCall for his best game of the year. NU just attacked the corners all day and went vertical unlike we have all year. We had six plays of 20+ yards in the first HALF and put up nearly 300 yards by halftime. Also, we used the run wisely and also how great was the Zeke Markshausen TD pass to Sidney Stewart?

Kickoff Returns - Stephen Simmons He nearly busted two to the house, but his 64-yarder setup one of our key first half TDs. Jacob Schmidt was a beast as Simmons' blocker. Perhaps the Wisconsin roots had something to do with his inspired play?

Andrew Brewer & The Receiving Corps

The 'Cats leading receiver today, Andrew Brewer (6rec, 102 yds, 2 TDs) made some season highlight reel plays, especially his diving TD catch in the 2nd quarter. Every receiver made big plays and Mike made it look easy as Zeke came up clutch, Sidney made two HUGE receptions including his career 2nd TD and Jeremy Ebert had a nice deep play. Drake was clutch as usual as well. A great game across the board.

Brad Phillips

The human projectile was everywhere in the first half racking up a ridiculous 9 tackles in his usual violent variety. He had a game-winning pick 6 slip out of his hands. His pass interference should've been a no call. I've watched it 5 times on replay. So far. His 1st quarter sack was a huge momentum builder for us.

THE GOOD

Ryan Field Atmosphere

It was electric. It wasn't quite a sellout, but it felt like it. The not-so-good part of the equation was the sheer volume of red. On the flip side of that there is nothing finer than walking out of the stadium after that game and whooping it up as the sea of red leaves in silence. The shot of everyone rushing the field is a mental image I won't soon forget. I thought there was a chance we might indeed Lake The Posts.

Corey Wootton

Corey made some huge plays and if you keyed on him he was getting held relentlessly. It was downright criminal. Kudos to him for keeping his composure, I was not as cool headed in the stands! Arby Fields Arby's stats won't grab you - 8 carries, 29 yds, 5 rec 23 yds - but he was churning and really making some extra yards out of nothing. He emerges as the RB to beat moving forward.

THE DISAPPOINTING

Mental Mistakes The amazing thing about this win is the odds we overcame by putting ourselves in bad position from the get-go with penalties. The O-line repeatedly false started and we racked-up signficantly more penalties than the Badgers. The silver lining is we perservered and managed to win.

Kick Coverage Demos continues to struggle with the punts, although his final punt was money. Our kickoff coverage is a weak link and needs some major offseason addressing.

Turnstile Counters The official attendance was 32,150. Huh? Are you joking? I didn't see 5,000 empty seats, let alone 15,000. Someone messed-up or there was a free entrance letting Badger fans in. There were 40,000 people there today. It's one thing to not attendance issues, it's another to have attendance counting issues. C'mon!

BOWL SCENARIOS WITH YOUR BREAKFAST BOWL

Thanks to Asher for his comprehensive bowl update:

WHAT HELPED:

Northwestern wins!
Michigan State loses
Minnesota loses
Michigan loses

Michigan is out. Neither Minnesota nor Michigan State can jump Northwestern.

WHAT IT MEANS:

With two Big Ten BCS teams

Rose - Ohio State
BCS - Iowa or Penn State
Capital One - Iowa or Penn State
Outback - Wisconsin (even if they lose to Hawaii, I project Wisconsin here)
Champs Sports- Northwestern

Northwestern can not fall below the Champs Bowl.

With one Big Ten BCS team

Rose - Ohio State
Capital One - Iowa or Penn State
Outback - Iowa or Penn State
Champs - Wisconsin
Alamo – Northwestern

So you might be saying, Does it matter at this point whether the Big Ten gets 2 teams in the BCS? The Champs Sports Bowl should take Northwestern over Wisconsin because both the Champs and Alamo don’t want repeat teams from last year.

In his scenario, I believe the Champs would take 9-3/8-4 Wisconsin over 8-4 Northwestern.

Below is the attendance for the bowl:

12/27/2008Florida State 42, Wisconsin 13 (52692)
12/28/2007Boston College 24, Michigan State 21 (46554)
12/29/2006Maryland 24, Purdue 7 (40168)
12/27/2005Clemson 19, Colorado 10 (31470)
12/21/2004Georgia Tech 51, Syracuse 14 (28237)

I guarantee Florida State isn’t the driving force behind the attendance record from last year.

We can also look at the Capital One Bowl attendance:

1/1/2009Georgia 24, Michigan State 12 (59,681)
1/1/2008Michigan 41, Florida 35 (69,748)
1/1/2007Wisconsin 17, Arkansas 14 (60,774)
1/2/2006Wisconsin 24, Auburn 10 (57,22)

A Wisconsin game draws as high if not higher than other Big Ten schools (Florida and Georgia being an anomaly being such a short distance away with excellent traveling records).

I project the selection committee would give the slightest of edges to Wisconsin.

WHO TO ROOT FOR NEXT:

Breaking down Oklahoma State

There are two types of arguments here

1) Oklahoma State vs a Big 10 BCS at-large (Iowa/Penn State). In this argument, both Boise and TCU get in to the BCS. The theory here is the Fiesta would want to preserve its natural Big 12 ties and invite Oklahoma State. There is also a chance Oklahoma State will finish higher in the final BCS rankings than either Penn State or Iowa. In this scenario, I believe a 10-2 Big 10 team will still win an invitation over Oklahoma State based on the TV matchup and the reputation of bringing fans on the road.

2) Oklahoma State vs Boise State. In this argument a 10-2 Oklahoma State teams goes up against a 12-0 Boise State team for a Fiesta Bowl berth. Again, preserving the Big 12 relationship comes in to play. However, in this scenario, a second Big 10 team is in the BCS, so it’s moot.

If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, then Oklahoma State won’t be in the BCS.

Texas to win the Big 12 Championship. If Nebraska beats Texas, both teams get in the BCS (even if Texas loses to Texas A&M).

Pittsburgh to have two loses with the best scenario having Cincinnati beat them.

TCU and/or Boise state lose a game

Closing Time: 'Cats Take Program to Next Level with 33-31 win

2009-11-21T20:16:00.006-06:00

WOW. Congratulations to Pat Fitzgerald, Mike Hankwitz and the 21 seniors who put together what I believe was the most complete game the 'Cats have played this season and possibly in Fitz's entire tenure. This was a statement win of epic proportions. The 8-4 overall record and 4th place 5-3 finish have some soul with "w's" against two top 16 teams in the past three weeks. I've got to ask, raise your hand if the second Clay fumbled you thought "Dayne '96!".
Note: The NU highlights from NUBears on YouTube are still not up...stay tuned!

The program is officially on the cusp of taking it to the next level. There is a very realistic possibility of back-to-back 9 win seasons as NU. barring a wild decision by the Outback Bowl (and picking NU over Wisconsin), will face an ACC opponent in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando (see below for bowl scenarios). It's way too early to get in to projecting 2010 next year, but you get the sense "off years" will be bowl years from here on out. What a day - Northwestern entered the day with a rare, but possible scenario of ending up in Detroit and end with an outside shot at a January 1 bowl game (won't happen, but technically it could). Rejoice in purpleness. What a day!

Let's get in to the Great, The Good and The Disappointing:

THE GREAT
Game Prep
Despite the long pregame senior day ceremonies came out of the gates on fire and took the opening drive and promptly marched downfield to smack Wisconsin 7-0. Mike Kafka was brilliant and his 26-yard TD strike to Andrew Brewer was simply beautiful. The opening drive set the tone for the entire game.

Mike Kafka
In the pregame, Pat Fitzgerald declared the winning QB today should be getting the nod for Big Ten MVP. In the postgame interview with WGN he was lobbying for Mike and with good reason. Mike was again money all day long. He was actually "only" 26-for-40, but hit the big play all day and posted 326 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs and while he "net" only 17 yards, he was more able to elude the pass rush most of the day. He was clutch making fantastic throws to Andrew Brewer, Zeke and Sidney all day (OK, he missed Sidney a few times, but who cares!) and Drake. Mike developed that clutch gene throughout the season and walks out of Ryan Field a winner who will be sorely missed.

The D Line
The storyline of the game was NU's ability to simply shut out the run. The Big Ten's best rushing game, which entered the day averaging 208 ypg on the back of John Clay, the conference's best rusher (112 ypg) was so stymied by Hankwitz's troops they simply deserted the run at halftime. The 'Cats held the Badgers to 99 yards, but Clay did manage to get his 100 (on 23 carries) yards, but he earned every one of them. The Badgers did not rush once on their first drive in the second half and only once in the first two. Tolzien was solid and we made him make plays for the most part.

Stefan Demos - The FG Kicker
Despite Demos' line drive punt which led to the Badgers PR TD, but he's a lock for special teams player of the week. Demos was money going 4-4 on FGs (45, 38, 45, 34) just a week after missing 3 FGs at Illinois. We needed every single one of them.

Offensive Playcalling
Kudos to Mick McCall for his best game of the year. NU just attacked the corners all day and went vertical unlike we have all year. We had six plays of 20+ yards in the first HALF and put up nearly 300 yards by halftime. Also, we used the run wisely and also how great was the Zeke Markshausen TD pass to Sidney Stewart?

Kickoff Returns
Stephen Simmons
He nearly busted two to the house, but his 64-yarder setup one of our key first half TDs.

Andrew Brewer & The Receiving Corps
The 'Cats leading receiver today, Andrew Brewer (6rec, 102 yds, 2 TDs) made some season highlight reel plays, especially his diving TD catch in the 2nd quarter. Every receiver made big plays and Mike made it look easy as Zeke came up clutch, Sidney made two HUGE receptions including his career 2nd TD and Jeremy Ebert had a nice deep play. Drake was clutch as usual as well. A great game across the board.

THE GOOD
Brad Phillips
The human projectile was everywhere in the first half racking up a ridiculous 9 tackles in his usual violent variety. He had a game-winning pick 6 slip out of his hands. His pass interference should've been a no call. I've watched it 5 times on replay. So far.

Ryan Field Atmosphere
It was electric. It wasn't quite a sellout, but it felt like it. The not-so-good part of the equation was the sheer volume of red. On the flip side of that there is nothing finer than walking out of the stadium after that game and whooping it up as the sea of red leaves in silence. The shot of everyone rushing the field is a mental image I won't soon forget. I thought there was a chance we might indeed Lake The Posts.

Corey Wootton
Corey made some huge plays and if you keyed on him he was getting held relentlessly. It was downright criminal. Kudos to him for keeping his composure, I was not as cool headed in the stands!

Arby Fields
Arby's stats won't grab you - 8 carries, 29 yds, 5 rec 23 yds - but he was churning and really making some extra yards out of nothing. He emerges as the RB to beat moving forward.

THE DISAPPOINTING
Mental Mistakes
The amazing thing about this win is the odds we overcame by putting ourselves in bad position from the get-go with penalties. The O-line repeatedly false started and we racked-up signficantly more penalties than the Badgers. The silver lining is we perservered and managed to win.

Kick Coverage
Demos continues to struggle with the punts, although his final punt was money. Our kickoff coverage is a weak link and needs some major offseason addressing.

Turnstile Counters
The official attendance was 32,150. Huh? Are you joking? I didn't see 5,000 empty seats, let alone 15,000. Someone messed-up or there was a free entrance letting Badger fans in. There were 40,000 people there today. It's one thing to not attendance issues, it's another to have attendance counting issues. C'mon!

BOWL GAME BREAKDOWN
Our resident LTP bowl connection/expert, Asher G. serves up all you need to know about the 'Cats bowl status and who to root for moving forward:

WHAT HELPED:

Northwestern wins!
Michigan State loses
Minnesota loses
Michigan loses

Michigan is now ineligible to receive a bowl invitation. Michigan State and Minnesota at 6-6 can not be selected over Northwestern by any of the bowls Northwestern is eligible for.

WHAT IT MEANS:

With two Big 10 BCS teams

Rose - Ohio State
BCS - Iowa or Penn State
Capital One - Iowa or Penn State
Outback - Wisconsin (even if they lose to Hawaii, I project Wisconsin here)
Champs - Northwestern

Northwestern can not fall below the Champs Bowl.

With one Big 10 BCS team

Rose - Ohio State
Capital One - Iowa or Penn State
Outback - Iowa or Penn State
Champs - Wisconsin
Alamo - Northwestern

Northwestern can not fall below the Alamo Bowl. There is a slight chance an 8-4 Northwestern could be selected over a 9-3 or 8-4 Wisconsin for the Champs Bowl. Wisconsin played in Orlando after the 2004, 2005, 2008 season including the Champs Bowl last season.

WHO TO ROOT FOR NEXT:

Oklahoma to beat Oklahoma State. There is some traction to Oklahoma State receiving an at-large bid, however a lot of it is a choice between a potential 10-2 Oklahoma State and a 12-0 Boise State. In this argument, a second Big 10 team still gets in. Oklahoma looked horrible today. Let's hope they find a way to get a signature win next week.

Texas to win the Big 12 Championship.

Cincinnati to finish undefeated and beat a 10-1 Pittsburgh.

TCU and/or Boise State to lose a game.

Say Your Prayers
I received a portion of this somber UFL press release on former 'Cat standout, Noah Herron:
The game had a somber moment early in the third quarter when New York running back Noah Herron fell to the turf after being stuffed at the line of scrimmage on a rushing attempt. While he was tended to by trainers and physicians, players from both teams surrounded Herron and fell to one knee in an emotional display of concern and support. As he was wheeled off the field on a stretcher, Herron was able to raise one arm to acknowledge the cheers of fans.Herron sustained an injury to his head and neck and was taken by ambulance to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas for treatment.“We are relieved that Noah is in stable condition and is receiving appropriate medical treatment,” said UFL Commissioner Michael Hyughue during the game. “Upon arrival to the hospital, he had movement in his extremities and we consider this a positive sign.”

Closing Time - 'Cats Close Regular Season With Complete Game, 33-31 over Wisconsin

2009-11-21T19:56:00.002-06:00

The full report is coming up in a few minutes, but I just have to express my utter joy at today's statement game. We wanted a complete game and we got it. What an amazing, emotional gut-wrenching victory for Northwestern over #16 Wisconsin. The near full Ryan Field, albeit with half Wisconsin fans made it an electric atmosphere as NU came out and rammed it down the Badgers' throats from the get-go. Despite several opportunities to put the game away, the gutty 'Cats perservered and gutted out a 33-31 thriller. It is the first time NU closed the season with 3 straight Big Ten wins since 1995 and the first 3-game Big Ten win streak under Fitz. The 'Cats continue to deliver in November as this game, coupled with the Iowa win two weeks ago have this program catapulted in the direction we dreamed of when Fitz became head coach. So much to discuss...and we will...in a few. Go 'Cats!!!!

Gameday Is Here! Week 12: Wisconsin

2009-11-21T03:31:00.002-06:00

Northwestern (7-4, 4-3) vs #16 (BCS) Wisconsin (8-2, 6-1)

GAMEDAY INFO

Date: November 21, 2009

Time: 2:30 pm ct

Location: Ryan Field (47,130) - Evanston, IL

TV: Big Ten Network - Wayne Larrivee PXP, Chris Martin Color, Charissa Thompson SL
Radio: WGN-720 AM (Dave Eanet & Ted Albrecht), WNUR 89.3 FM

Line: Wisconsin by 7

Coaching Stats: Northwestern - Pat Fitzgerald (4th year - 26-22, 14-17) vs Bret Bielema (4th year -36-13, 20-11)

2-Minute Drill:

Regardless of the outcome, you've got to love being involved in season finale games at Ryan Field with legitimate stakes at hand. For Wisconsin, a chance for a share of the Big Ten title is on the line (if Michigan can pull off the rather large upset over Ohio State). For Northwestern a win likely secures a Champs Sports Bowl slot in Orlando against an ACC foe and an 8-4 overall record. The late start time should help create a nice buzz as the tailgates will be hopping.

It is also senior day as 21 Northwestern players make their final appearance at Ryan Field. Most of them are 5th year seniors who arrived on campus in 2005 and several were suited up, but did not play when the 'Cats upset Wisconsin in that very fun shootout. Guys like Mike Kafka, Corey Wootton, Sherrick McManis, Brad Phillips, Brendan Smith, Adam Hahn, Kurt Mattes, Marshall Thomas, Mark Woodsum, and several key reserves will all be getting some love from the purple faithful. Adding to the emotional day will be a pregame ceremony honoring Fitz's former teammate Matt Hartl, who passed away in 1999. Add in the adrenaline of Mike Hankwitz leading a defensive unit that will be facing the team that fired him two seasons ago and you have the recipe for some hyped up Wildcats.

Expect Wisconsin to run early, often and late with the Big Ten's leading rusher, John Clay who puts up 112 ypg of the Badgers impressive 200+ rushing yards per game. Unless the Badgers are implementing the media rope-a-dope, they've been vocal about their intentions to run it right at us on Saturday. With a second traditional battering ram in back-up Montee Ball, why not? Northwestern has quietly rebounded from some early season weak rush defense and with a stellar game today could break the all-time record for rush defense in a season that was set, get this, last year. How sweet would it be for DC, Mike Hankwitz to break his own unit's all-time record against Wisconsin? The 'Cats surrendered 126.4 ypg last year. To date the 'Cats are doing a yard better, giving up 125.7 yards per game, but with Wisconsin's prodigious rush attack, it is highly unlikely we can break the record.

Wisconsin is known traditionally to be more Steve Schnur-like in their QBs - winners, who don't do anything fancy but seem to game manage and do what they need to do to win. Rolling Meadows native Scott Tolzien offers the Badgers more of a passing threat than they usually have and he's aided by rising star Nick Toon (63 rypg) and big athletic target TE, Garrett Graham (40 rypg). That said, the Badgers boast only the 8th ranked passing offense (199 ypg) in the Big Ten.

On offense, what do you expect? NU will dink and dunk again, however, if there was ever a game to go deep often this is it. Wisconsin's corners are the weak link to the team and they have a solid front 7 that will be a very tough test for the under passing routes. I'm expecting every trick in the book today, including from birthday boy Dan Persa (birthday was yesterday). Perhaps we've been saving the pass out of the Wildcat for today? Wisconsin boasts one of the nation's (#14) best rush defenses which spells big trouble for our committee.

I expect this game to actually be won on special teams. Both teams' special teams are the weak link and we may boast a slight edge assuming Stefan Demos is back on track. It really has a chance to be entertaining considering NU doesn't run well and Wisconsin stops everyone from running.

Stats to Stew On... Everyone knows the past ten games have been split down the middle, but few know if you go back 20 years it is split 10-10 as well. Don't go past that mark or it gets ugly.

I've got to give BTN's Dave Revsine props for this next one. NU is 60-60 this decade and a win today makes it the first winning decade since the 1930s.

Also an LTP reader notified me of these juicy stats yesterday. Wisconsin is just 5-13 against the spread in their last 18 games against teams with winning records. Northwestern is 6-1 against the Badgers against the spread in the last seven home games.

More than 68% of you voted Northwestern will win straight-up today. Go 'Cats!

Did (N)U Know?
Northwestern has not defeated a ranked team at home since 2005 when they upset the Badgers.

Lake The Posts Factor: 8.5
Considering I've picked NU to win this game and so many folks have followed suit, the LTP factor is pretty high, however a win over a potential BCS entrant/potential Big Ten co-champ in a season finale that would give us our 17th win in two years? Yeah, that is Lake The Posts worthy.

Pick to Click: Jeremy Ebert
I'm 0-11 in Picks to Click, but 9-2 in picking games straight up. I warned folks on the 'Cats team last week they may want to run when I choose them and wouldn't you know it my pick last week, Vince Browne went down on one of the very first plays. I'm reverting back to my jedi mind trick and picking a dark horse so as not to jinx a "star". Jeremy Ebert, save me.

LTP Prediction Northwestern 30 Wisconsin 27
Remember to send in your photos of the "N" flag flying in Champaign and bring back a victory!

Notes: LTP will be enjoying the festivities at the tailgate early today so please note this blog won't be updated until well after the final gun. I invite you to join me! Kudos to Dan for adding to the LTP Ticket Counter...

Can Nice Guys Finish First?

2009-11-20T15:50:00.002-06:00

Sports Illustrated released their massive survey of fans in all conferences and Northwestern was the run-away winner in the "most polite fans for visitors" with a whopping 33% of the vote. Amazingly, Iowa received third place which is likely because Iowa is one of the more ardent responders to said survey (Indiana was #2 with 15%). Conversely, you'd expect the survey response to "Which school has the rudest fans for visitors?" to be a simple reverse order of the above, yet while this held true for NU (only .5% of respondents said NU) and Ohio State (33% voted them as the rudest fans and they were dead last in the most polite category) there was a disconnect with Iowa. Northwestern fans will find it shocking that fans voted Iowa as the third most polite fans (8%) and that they were voted sixth place in the rudest fans category with a 3.4% mark. Check out the complete survey here. Northwestern also ranked sixth in favorite stadium to visit in the conference only a few percentage points behind Sparty.

Many will note that Northwestern gets the high marks for polite and stadium because fans love to sit next their fellow fans and that visiting Chicago is part of the weekend experience. Regardless, it is a fun survey to follow.

Changing topics, it appears the NU upset over Wisconsin is the sexy pick of the weekend as prognosticators around the country are picking it - from ESPN.com to ATS experts. That my friends, makes me a tad nervous. God, I love the late game....

Getting NUMB With Anticipation

2009-11-20T13:15:00.002-06:00

It's Friday which means it's time for our weekly installment from Brittany Petersen on the Northwestern University Marching Band:

First off, some cool press/tidbits on NUMB:

- With the help of the Athletics Department, senior superback Mark Woodsum has embarked on a project lovingly titled "What Wouldn't Woody Do?" The series will document Woodsum's journey as he tries out non-football campus activities in an attempt to broaden his (and his viewers') horizons. New episodes will be released via NUSports.com and the Athletics Facebook page every other Wednesday, starting this week. It's no surprise, given his closeness with the band, that Woodsum's first project would be to learn what it's like to be in NUMB. Check out Mark Woodsum's attempt to learn the cymbal part to "Go U" here.

- North by Northwestern, an online campus publication that sometimes has worthwhile content, has the SpiriTeam(TM) billed on their front page today. It's not going to win any journalism awards, but if you wanted to get a closer look at this year's SpiriTeam(TM) and what their duties entail, it's worth a look. Direct link to the story here.

- The band has been drumming up spirit for this weekend's final home game all week, forming mini spirit bands to play at a dining hall on Wednesday and at the rock during passing time today. Today's performance was accentuated by a beautiful painting of the rock, done by NUMB members last night.

Senior Day

It's hard to believe it's already the end of the regular season. NUMB will be saying goodbye to 22 seniors, including Drum Major David Saad, featured twirler Lauren Maginity, band staff manager Amy Wolff and official Band Geek Daniel Burgener, as well as six other members of the band's leadership. Luckily they'll have one more chance to strut their stuff before hanging up there spats (woot bowl game!) but as the senior football players play their last game at Ryan Field, so too will NUMB seniors -- most of whom marched for all four years -- say goodbye to Ryan Field.

Since 1928, the band has closed out their final home game halftime by performing a chart known as the "Old Plus-Four." In the late 1930's, NU Director of Bands Glenn Bainum adapted a song written by Charles Belsterling to fit the drill. The piece was originally called "The Ambassador" but had been marched by Joliet Township High School, known as the Steelmen. NUMB added that music to the Old Plus-Four and the "March of the Steelmen" was born. NUMB has marched the same drill and music for the last home game ever since.

Marching "Steelmen" has special meaning to NUMB members, and seniors in particular. At some point in NUMB's history, someone wrote unofficial words to the song, which express sentiments about members being somewhat relieved about the end of the season -- "no more chills, no more spills, no more marching when it's raining" -- but it ends with the fact that members love it so much, they'll be back next year and will always be a part of NUMB, even as alumni.

After the drill is marched, all the seniors are announced and line up to sing the Alma Mater while the band plays. After drying their eyes, the seniors pick up their instruments and play the first half of "Go U" by themselves. The rest of the band joins them at the break strain. It's hard to explain why this feels so profound to a NUMB member, but to be standing there with your graduating class, playing the fight song you learned at band camp and have played 30 times a week ever since, it just...sounds so small. And then the rest of the band joins in, and you realize how much NUMB is more than the sum of its parts.

In some ways, NUMB is its own entity, with traditions that are passed on for generations. But at the heart of NUMB is the people who are in it, who make it fun and lively and spirited and, sometimes, the most bat-shit crazy group of people you'll ever meet. The senior class tends to have an incredible impact on the personality and morale of the band as a whole, and sometimes you find leaders in the most unexpected places. Last year I graduated with 32 other people, most of whom I only knew by first name at the beginning of our senior season. By the end, we were hugging each other and crying. And that's what's great about it.

So thank you, NUMB seniors, for making NUMB what it was this year. We'll see you at the NUMBALUM tailgate next fall. But first -- see you at the bowl game!

Go 'Cats!

Fearless Friday Predictions

2009-11-20T08:21:00.004-06:00

I’m a day late and a dollar short on a couple of links to some very compelling media love. First, The Sun-Times Dan McNeil offers a Chicago media newsflash about the story brewing in Evanston here. Jim O’Donnell, who I’ve been criticizing heavily lately, offers a great piece on Wisconsin QB and Rolling Meadows Scott Tolzien and the impact Northwestern had on him as a kid here. Also, LTP ventured over to Buckys5thQuarter to return the favor with some purple-tinted Q&A so be on the lookout there (FYI, he picked NU over Wisconsin 28-27).

Now, on to some predictions. Two weeks ago today I predicted a 4-point Northwestern victory over Iowa based on the belief without evidence mantra. I simply “felt it”. I also could tell that most Northwestern fans did as well. None of us could explain why we felt a team that had underperformed all season would step up and take down the budding national story of the year. The good news for those of you who believe in karma is I have the same feeling heading in to tomorrow’s game against Wisconsin.

On paper we don’t match-up well with Wisconsin. Sophomore stand-out RB, John Clay is a 250 pound beast and is the prototypical Badger athletic bowling ball of a back. Few have been able to even slow him down. Clay is likely going to get his league-leading average of 112.4 ypg, likely by halftime. On defense, the Badgers’ Achilles heel is their CB play, but we rarely go deep and by going under all day it plays right in to their defensive strength. They get great pass protection and we’re a weak pocket pressure team. They have big TE targets that create match-up problems for us on D. Despite all this, I believe we win this game.

I’m counting on some senior day emotion, the Mike Hankwitz “I’ll show them!” payback factor and the most festive home game atmosphere of the season to contribute to the ‘Cats being ready for this game. I believe the emotion factor will actually be a slight negative as I expect us to get off to a sluggish start, but recover as our D makes a couple of game-changing, Brad Phillips body projectile, fumble-inducing hits. Perhaps I’m just wishfully wanting to get to 8 wins so badly since I believed that was the threshold of an expected “very good” season. A win all but ensures Northwestern will get a bid to the Champs Sports Bowl and a winnable match-up against an ACC team hopefully not named Miami.

If you’re bound by statistical trends then you might be drinking from the purple glass is half full. A Fitz-coached Northwestern team has never won three straight Big Ten games. The ‘Cats have also failed to beat a Big Ten team at home not named Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana or Purdue in the Fitz era. However, Northwestern is a 7-point underdog which makes us all smile. We’ve got them right where we want them.

Northwestern 30 Wisconsin 27

Other Big Ten Games:
Minnesota (6-5, 3-4) at #15 Iowa (9-2, 5-2)
The Floyd of Rosedale trophy is at stake once again just a year removed from Minnesota’s fall off the table 55-0 embarassing loss to Iowa. You know Tim Brewster has this one circled so I expect the Gophers to be bringing it like no other game. The Hawkeyes will likely be slow starting after the emotionally crushing yet valiant OT loss to Ohio State last week. You wonder if Hawkeyes fans are secretly hoping to lose as to douse the flames of the Ferentz-to-Notre Dame rumors. I doubt it. It’s Minnesota, eh?
Iowa 24 Minnesota 21

#9 Ohio State (9-2, 6-1) at Michigan (5-6, 1-6)
You can just hear the Ohio State and Michigan fans at the office chirping. The Ohio State fans bemoaning Tressel ball, “you watch, this is the EXACT type of game when we should be pouring it on, but you know Jim is going to keep Michigan in the game with his conservative play calling. If we lose, he should be fired on the spot!”. That’s right, the kings of irrational expectations would be calling for his head AT THE ROSE BOWL! Michigan fans are squawking “you watch, this is the game we’re supposed to get crushed and we’ll win, which will save RichRod”. It is an interesting X’s and O’s match-up with an explosive Michigan offense facing a very tough D while you’ve got an awful D in Michigan’s facing a very conservative offensive attack. I don’t see a 1995 repeating itself here. The Buckeyes make it six straight against Michigan.
Ohio State 41 Michigan 31

Purdue (4-7, 3-4) at Indiana (4-7, 1-6)
The Old Oaken Bucket is a match-up of the nation’s two sub .500 teams. The tailgates could be painful as rival fans 1-up each other on wins they had but blew. Indiana has lost several close games in every way imaginable as has Purdue. They both share a common Northwestern bond blowing enormous leads (Purdue 18, Indiana 25). This is a huge momentum game heading in to 2009 where both teams will be extremely dangerous and likely on the other side of .500. Northwestern needs to swipe a page from the Hoosiers’ attendance playbook as they’re enjoying their highest attendance marks since the Anthony Thompson days, simply by moving their games to nighttime. This one is a 2:30pm ct start, but Indiana has had to expand the student section to 15,000 to accommodate the unprecedented student demand. It makes the slightest of differences.
Indiana 33 Purdue 30

#13 Penn State (9-2, 5-2) at Michigan State (6-5, 4-3)
This one has a strong Northwestern rooting interest. A Penn State win helps the ‘Cats from a bowl position in two ways. The Nittany Lions would possibly earn the second Big Ten BCS bid and thus, coupled with an NU win, gives us a bowl bump. Second, if Michigan State loses and we win, the Spartans cannot jump us thanks to a 2-win differential regardless of head-to-head.
The unheralded Land Grant Trophy is up for grabs and the JoePas are a scant 3-point favorite. This is a season-maker for Dantonio as .500 ball at this stage in his coaching tenure is unequivocally categorized as a bad season. Penn State pulls it out, but just barely
Penn State 28 Michigan State 27

Trendspotting

2009-11-19T04:05:00.002-06:00

The Badger invasion we've all been bracing for may indeed be derailed by hunting season. I'm not kidding. That's the good news. Well, actually the good news is Northwestern sold nearly 1000 end zone seats leveraging group discount website Groupon yesterday! Now I know why the LTP ticket counter has been in neutral all week. On to some trends to encourage and potentially discourage you as you speculate on the outcome of the all-important 'Cats-Badgers game.

I recently tracked every single game in the Fitz era by both margin of victory and margin of defeat. Let's first put the wins under the microscope:

It is pretty unreal. Twenty-six victories in the Fitz era and look at the percentage of single digit wins. If you take the FCS opponents out of the mix there are only four games we've won by more than two touchdowns. Fifteen of the 26 wins are of the single-digit variety. We seem to relish the close game victory. We've talked about it for years, but here it is in print. Many of these games include either big leads that we've lost like last Saturday's win over the Illini, or big comebacks that we barely win like the Indiana game this season. What's the point? Well, if we're so fortunate to beat the Badgers, there are overwhelming odds that it will be single digits. Now, let's take a look at the losses.

Twenty-one painful memories, err, losses and a scant few were "close". Only five games were decided by single digits. More than half have been by more than two touchdowns. It's pretty stark when you compare and contrast the wins and losses. You don't need to be a math major to be able to summarize that when we win, it is more likely than not to be single digit-ville and when we lose, well, we tend to lose big.

Let's dig in to some other trends and relevant stats for Saturday:

Fitz is 14-17 in Big Ten games, yet he's more successful on the road -8-8 than at home 6-9

Fitz is 5-1 in November in the past two seasons and 8-4 in his career

The 'Cats last home win against a ranked opponent was against Wisconsin during their last visit to Ryan Field in '05.

The 'Cats have won three of the last five against Wisconsin at home.

Fitz has only defeated four teams in Big Ten play at home - Illinois (2), Indiana (2), Minnesota and Purdue

Fitz is 2-1 in season finales

So there you have it. All the numbers in one spot. Saturday promises to be a very emotional day as Northwestern honors 21 seniors and also salutes former FB Matt Hartl in a pregame ceremony. As you know, Matt, a phenomenal person, passed away in 1999 and Fitz, along with several other teammates created a scholarship in his memory. Fellow teammate Chris Martin will be there as well in the BTN booth as the color commentator. Combine all of that with the fact Mike Hankwitz will be gearing up against his former boss who fired him two seasons ago and emotions will be high on the purple sideline.

Late Day Links

2009-11-18T15:22:00.005-06:00

A few late day links for your purple consumption:

Many of you have pointed out NU marketing scored bigtime by getting the 'Cats-Wisconsin game featured on power-of-the-people purchasing giant Groupon - which is offering $20 end zone seats until the end of today. The method is working as the LTP Ticket Counter is very quiet, nearly 400 people at the time of this post have purchased tickets! Let's keep it coming - click HERE to see the offer.
Teddy Greenstein and Chicago Breaking Sports News posted about Fitz's affirming of his commitment to NU. Does anyone REALLY believe he's even on the hotlist for Notre Dame? I don't think they're after him and I don't think he would want to go.

MyWrigleyville.com has a nice post on CJ Bacher and Keegan Kennedy's entrepreneurship with the launch of the first true Northwestern bar/restaurant, called The Purple Haze here. I think the coolest part is the roundtrip transportation provided to students on Thursday and Saturday nights - for $3. LTP was in contact with Keegan earlier this week for an interview and will deliver on that soon.
The Daily Northwestern offers a young coaches' connection angle to the Fitz/Bielema meeting on Saturday here.
First & Big Ten writes the article I've been waiting for as the Illini are FINALLY starting to get called out for their more-often-than-not losing ways, while NU is getting the winning-more-often-than-not angle. However, I hope this angle doesn't catch on as I want Zook to stay in Champaign forever!
Several of you have asked current astronaut and NU professor Robert Satcher to add a Northwestern flag to the LTP map which reminds me that we've been quiet there for some time. It is a good time to get some flags on the map in Wisconsin while we're at it! Click here to learn more about the NU connection on the Atlantis flight.
As we segue in to bowl speculation, apparently an avid pasttime here, NU prez, Morton Schapiro went vocal with his want for the Champs Sports Bowl. See here.

For those of you who are loving the bowl prognostications, our bowl expert Asher sent this YouTube video offering some insights in to the Champs Sports Bowl selection process:

Bowl Projection Update
Our bowl guru Asher has also generously updated the complete list of bowl prognosticators:
ESPN.com - Adam Rittenberg: Champs vs N/A
ESPN.com - Bruce Feldmand: Champs vs Clemson
Sports Illustrated: Champs vs Miami
Athlon: Champs vs Miami
Chicago Sun-Times: Champs vs Miami
CBS Sports: Champs vs North Carolina
St. Pete Times: Alamo vs Nebraska
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Alamo vs N/A
ESPN.com - Mark Schlabach: Alamo vs Oklahoma
Sporting News: Champs vs North Carolina
NBC Sports: Alamo vs Oklahoma State
Rivals.com: Insight vs Kansas State
College Football News: Champs vs North Carolina
Rivalry Esq. Blog: Champs vs Clemson

Enemy Territory: 5th Quarter Comes To LTP

2009-11-18T10:11:00.003-06:00

Before we dive in to some hardcore Badger breakdown, I want to point out the 'Cats host #11 Butler tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena (7pm - BTN, WGN Radio). We'll find out very quickly what the Kevin Coble-less (and Jeff Ryan-less) 'Cats are made of as Butler, one of several late blown leads we had in '08-'09 having led by 12 late in the game, returns all 5 starters from their 26-6 campaign. Click here to get all the gameday info.

Adam H. of Buckys5thQuarter has graciously accepted the LTP invite to come in to enemy territory (although rumor has it since we're playing Wisconsin, this blog is filled with half red-clad folks this week - ba-dah-dum) and shed some insights into the 2009 Badgers. LTP is returning the favor tomorrow so be on the lookout. Let's get into it..

LTP: The Badgers are less than .2 points per game (31.1 ppg) behind Big Ten-leading Michigan in scoring offense. At times the Badgers have been downright explosive and definitely as of late. Obviously Tolzienand Clay offer a solid 1-2 balanced combo, but who else are the real keys to the prodigous scoring of late?

B5Q:The biggest key is improved run blocking and UW's commitment to running the football. Early in the season, Scott Tolzien was having a lot of success throwing the football and the running game was out of sync because Zach Brown beat out Clay for the starting job, but then struggled once the games started. As a result, I think offensive coordinator Paul Chryst fell in love with the pass too much and when Tolzien struggled against Ohio State and Iowa, UW lost both games. In the last three games, Wisconsin has run the ball down the throats of Purdue, Indiana and Michigan and that has opened up the passing game again for Tolzien.
Other than Clay and Tolzien, tight end Garrett Graham and wide receiver Nick Toon and the guys who have helped the offense the most. Graham is Tolzien's safety blanket and when opposing teams have made him a non-factor, Tolzien has struggled. Toon is a star in the making that is blossoming at a rapid pace here at the end of the season.

LTP: Wisconsin has a legitimate shot to go 10-2,albeit very quietly. Tell us why the Badgers are underrated or overrated.

B5Q: I think the Badgers are right where they should be right now. They were certainly underrated coming into the season because few expected this freshman class to have an impact this quickly and no one expected Tolzien to come on like he has. But I don't think they are overrated or underrated. Some argue the schedule was easy, but the stats say otherwise. Still, this is a young team and at times that has showed. Crucial mistakes cost them wins against Ohio State and Iowa, so I'm not so sure they are underrated. There's a lot the Badgers can still improve on.

LTP: It appears if there is one true weakness to this team it is special teams across the board? Is that fair or is there an achillees heel elsewhere that I'm missing?

B5Q: Yeah, special teams is a problem and has been for a few years. David Gilreath has been dreadful returning kicks/punts and UW's coverage units have had their lapses as well. Kicker Phillip Welch nearly lost his job earlier this season, but he appears to be back on track. And Brad Nortman is an above average punter so it's not all bad.

LTP: Clearly John Clay is a key part of the offense as the sophomore RBis the conference's leading rusher (112 ypg). However, his workloadvaries somewhat significantly througout the season ranging on thelow-end of 15 carries to the high end 32 carries. I suspect thegameplan is to run Clay early and often against NU until we can prove we can stop him? How do you see the Badgers' offensive gameplan
playing out?

B5Q: I wouldn't look too much into Clay's number of carries. He started the season as the "backup" even though he was clearly UW's No. 1 running back. Early in the year he split carries with Zach Brown and as of late, the emergence of true freshman Montee Ball has allowed Clay to take some breaks. Clay is the best running back in the Big Ten and Wisconsin's best weapon. Chryst's gameplans the last three weeks have been brilliant and all of the sudden it's not so easy to plan for UW's offense. After running the ball exclusively against Purdue and Indiana, he brought back the passing game last week against Michigan and now there is a lot for Northwestern to worry about. Still, the book says UW will run early and Northwestern will have to prove it can stop Clay first.

LTP: One of the major storylines in this game is the 'Cats defensivecoordinator Mike Hankwitz facing the head coach who fired him twoseasons ago. The Badgers are 19th in total defense, 14th in rush defense, yet 48th in scoring defense. Is the conventional wisdom in Camp Randall-ville that the D is better since Hankwitz's departure, worse, or the same? Why?

B5Q:Bielema's decision to fire Hankwitz looked pretty bad last season, but it's starting to look like the right long term decision. Dave Doeren and Hankwitz shared the defensive coordinator duties at Wisconsin and Bielema went with Doeren because of his recruiting abilities. But when UW's defense looked lost in 2008 while Hankwitz was bringing back the NU defense, many questioned the move. With a year under his belt, Doeren's defense looks much more organized and he has come up with the right schemes to hide the fact that his cornerbacks are awful. I'd say the defense is about the same as it was in 2007, but it is very young and should be very good next season.

LTP: Knowing Northwestern's limited rushing attack and dink and dunk pass offense, how would you attack the Badgers D?

B5Q: I would pick on the cornerbacks. Mike Kafka has shown the ability to put up a ton of passing yards and you can beat the UW defense if you create one-on-one coverage along the sidelines. IU's Ben Chappel looked like Tom Brady against Wisconsin as he consistently picked on cornerback Niles Brinkley downfield. But those opportunities will only be there if the NU offensive line can keep All-American candidate O'Brien Schofield out of the backfield.

LTP: Speaking of Schofield, the guy is getting no pub and he is one of the nation's leading sackmasters and the #1 player in the nation in TFLs. Your thoughts and predictions for Saturday?

B5Q: You guys had a story earlier in the week about how Wisconsin doesn't respect Northwestern. I think you are dead wrong about that when it comes to games played in Evanston (basketball included). I agree that there is zero respect given when NU comes up to Madison, and outside of a couple of hiccups, that's because Wisconsin has blown out the Wildcats in most matchups up North in both football and basketball. But Evanston has been a nightmare in recent years and no one is taking this game lightly. I talked to a former UW assistant athletic director last week and even he thought the Badgers had a good chance of losing this game. I tend to agree right now.

LTP: From your lips to Fitz's ears. Thanks for joining us and I look forward to returning the favor...

LTP Ticket Counter
Shout out to Steve L. for scooping up 4 more for the Wisconsin game. Let's go folks..pick up the phone and get some friends to come - we need to get more purple to the game!

LTP Vault: Badger Edition

2009-11-18T08:04:00.002-06:00

It is the next to last LTP vault segment thanks to our resident NU historian, Shane. As we do every Wednesday we take a deep dive in to one game that pre-dates the Dark Ages to shed some light on games that haven't quite received the LTP love over the years. Before we dive in, the "since 1995" barometer for Wisconsin is currently being marketed by NU (you may have received a Fitzball.com email saying "break the tie 5-5 since 1995), but Wisconsin is one school that you can go further back and play the Wildcataganda game. Many remember Greg Gill's famous play to preclude the Badgers from having a winning season back in 1992. Anyway, Shane..all yours:

Northwestern sports a woeful 32-55 record versus Wisconsin and has been outscored by 730 points. Think about it -- the 'Cats are more than 120 touchdowns behind. From 1972 through 1984, NU lost 13 straight to UW. Even using 1995 as the rebirth of Wildcats football, NU is batting just .500 (5-5) (ed note: I'd say that's pretty good based on Wisconsin's track record!). However, more than a warm weather bowl game is at stake for the Wildcats. You see, NU has played UW only once in the Coach Fitzgerald era (2006) and it was an ugly 41-9 blowout loss. Now, the stage is set for a belated rematch and payback is on the menu.

In the late 1940s, the 'Cats and Badgers had an interesting series of match-rematch. In 1946, NU won 28-0 in Evanston. A year later, UW returned the favor and clubbed the 'Cats 29-0. Both games were in Evanston. In 1948, when the teams met at Camp Randall, Harry Stuhldreher's Badgers were 1-5, while Bob Voigts' Wildcats were 5-1.

Just to show you how little things change in 60+ years, Wisconsin chose the NU game for homecoming. A crowd of 45,000 showed up to see what the Chicago Tribune described as a "Fumble Orgy" because the two teams fumbled a combined 10 times. In the first half, the 'Cats fumbled four times -- HB Tom Worthington was guilty twice -- and QB Don Burson threw an interception on top of that. Despite racking up 204 yards of total offense before halftime, the 'Cats had scored only 2 points on a safety when Ray Wietecha blocked a Wisconsin punt and a Badger was downed in his own end zone.

After halftime and a few punts, Northwestern benefited from a weak Badger punt and took over on the UW 27 yard line. Halfback Frank Aschenbrenner tore off a 26-yard TD run, and after the PAT, NU led 9-0. Wisconsin developed case of butterfingers too and fumbled the ensuing kickoff. A few plays later, Aschenbrenner scored again, and after the PAT by Jim Farrar, the 'Cats led 16-0.

In the fourth quarter, Burson felt sorry for Wisconsin and may have fumbled the ball away so the Badgers could have a token TD. Minutes later, Northwestern had won 16-7, spoiled homecoming for the Camp Randall faithful, and was well on its way to Pasadena!

The Hankwitz Effect & The Fitz Poll

2009-11-17T11:47:00.006-06:00

OK, so I'm far from original. For weeks, I've slated today for the "Hankwitz Revenge" post. However, a quick look through the Google reader and it's clear several other folks had the same post-it note. As you likely know, Mike Hankwitz was let go as Wisconsin's Defensive Coordinator after the 2007 season by Bret Bielema. Fitz quickly scooped up the defensive sage and the impact could not have been more immediate as the 'Cats transformed from one of the most porous defenses into one of the stingiest scoring-wise, in Coach "Hank's" first year. Hankwitz, in retrospect was somewhat outspoken, especially when you consider how low key he is, when he referenced that he was looking forward to this match-up - two years ago!

Teddy Greenstein references the no love lost factor here. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel goes much more in-depth on the backstory here. The Sun-Times' Jim O'Donnell offers a similar Hankwitz-oriented piece here. The Northwestern defensive players seemingly swear by the fact Hankwitz is treating this game no differently than any other. That may be true. But you just know the internal fire is burning brightly for one of the more accomplished assistant minds in college football. No one likes to be told they're not wanted. How could Hankwitz not be extra amped for this game, which has the potential to turn NU's OK season in to a "great" season with the win?

The 'Cats have developed almost a trademark on slow starts and seemingly grow momentum defensively throughout the game. I'm curious to see, on senior day, how the dinged-up defensive unit plays from the opening gun. With a surefire 15,000-20,000 red-clad Badger fans turning Ryan Field in to a festive, yet neutral site environment, you've got to believe the adrenaline will be cranking.

As I started wondering about "The Hankwitz Effect" on this game, I wondered how the mild-mannered coach could use the Badgers' diss two years ago as motivation. Does he scheme better? Watch MORE tape? Is his knowledge of Bielema's approach, or his former colleague Dave Doren a big advantage? Can he invoke Jedi mind tricks to play the "he thinks that I think that he thinks..." game?

I'm looking for some former defensive players to weigh in on just how much Hankwitz's want to win this one will impact his playcalling and approach to the game. Thoughts?

Fitz Stays Put Poll
ESPN.com is currently running a poll asking CFB fans about which coach you'd want for a major coaching vacancy. Fitz is currently pulling up the caboose to the following:
1) Harbaugh
2)Kelly
3)Peterson
4) Patterson

Deck The Hall(s)
Here is a local Toledo story on the 'Cats snaring of WR Jimmy Hall. Click here.

Did (N)U Know?
The 'Cats have yet to win three straight Big Ten games in the Fitz era. NU looks to do so for the first time with a win on Saturday. Also, you always hear about Cardiac 'Cats stats that go back to the Randy Walker era. However, under Fitz, the 'Cats are more than carrying on the tradition as NU is 15-5 in games decided by 8 points or less and 13-5 in games decided by 7 points or less.

Badger Bowl Edition

2009-11-17T06:03:00.000-06:00

It is rather amazing that Wisconsin continues to churn out the same mold team year-after-year isn't it? They quietly amass win after win, but lose just enough big games to stay off the national radar. They sport a wrecking ball RB year after year, serviceable, yet not flashy QBs and underrated WRs and large target TEs that amount to the forgotten upper tier Big Ten team. The only thing different this year is the marketplace perception of the Wisconsin "advantage" over NU as the spread is a mere 6-points in favor of Wisconsin on Saturday.

Many of you have inquired about bowl scenarioes. Well, thanks to LTP reader Asher G. we've got all sorts of up to the minute projections and how-to-root-this-weekend guides. Let's get in to the projections - note ALL are based on two Big Ten teams getting BCS entries:

ESPN.com - Adam Rittenberg: Champs vs N/A
ESPN.com - Bruce Feldmand: Champs vs Clemson
Sports Illustrated: Champs vs Miami
Athlon: Champs vs Miami
Chicago Sun-Times: Champs vs Miami
CBS Sports: Champs vs North Carolina
St. Pete Times: Alamo vs Nebraska
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Alamo vs N/A
ESPN.com - Mark Schlabach: Alamo vs Oklahoma

UPDATES:

If Ohio State beats Michigan, all bowl eligible Big 10 teams will be headed to Big Ten affiliated bowls. If the Big Ten gets two BCS teams, the Little Caesar’s Bowl (Detroit) will not host a Big Ten team.

PLAYING "WHAT IF...?"

Let’s say the Big Ten does get 2 teams in the BCS, which seems more probable now.

NORTHWESTERN and MICHIGAN LOSE (regardless of Michigan State and Minnesota outcomes):

Rose – Ohio State
BCS – Iowa
Capital One – Penn State
Outback – Wisconsin (played in Tampa or Orlando past 5 years, but the only choice here)

Then you’re left with (in order) the Champs, Alamo and Insight and three teams: Northwestern, Michigan State and Minnesota.

1) The Alamo doesn’t want a return visit from Northwestern.
2) The Insight doesn’t want a return visit from Minnesota who played there in 2006 and 2008.
3) The Alamo doesn’t want Minnesota either.

Michigan State’s last two bowls were in Orlando. So based on the above, Asher predicts, regardless of record, Northwestern would be chosen over Michigan State for the Champs Sports Bowl with Michigan State to the Alamo and Minnesota back to the Insight.

NORTHWESTERN WINS; MICHIGAN, MICHIGAN STATE, MINNESOTA LOSE:

Michigan State and Minnesota can NOT be chosen ahead of Northwestern by virtue of a two win differential. In this scenario, Northwestern can’t drop below the Champs Sports Bowl.

***************************************************************************************************************
Your job is to root for:
OHIO STATE over MICHIGAN leaving Michigan bowl ineligible
PENN STATE over MICHIGAN STATE leaving Michigan State 6-6 and Penn State as a possible BCS at-large
IOWA over MINNESOTA leaving Minnesota 6-6 and keeping Iowa in the running for a BCS at-large spot.

You also want:
TCU and Boise to lose a game.
Texas to win the Big 12 Championship game.
Cincinnati to beat Pittsburgh if Pittsburgh enters the game 10-1.
Wisconsin to eat some bad poi and lose to Hawaii.