I was talking to @lou v about the last year in Northwestern sports and this debate popped up. Which team had a more improbable run: 2023 Northwestern football or 2022-23 Northwestern basketball?
The basketball team responded to their fifth straight season under .500, and a public letter from athletic director Dr. Derrick Gragg casting doubt on the future of Chris Collins as head coach beyond that season. They were almost unanimously picked to finish at the bottom of the conference and responded with a 22-12 season and the second NCAA Tournament in school history.
The football team rallied from a hazing scandal that wracked the program and caused the firing of long-time head coach Pat Fitzgerald to finish with a 7-5 record, earn a bowl berth and finish second in the last season of the Big Ten West under interim, and then permanent, head coach David Braun. Much like hoops, this team was predicted preseason to finish in the basement of the Big Ten and proved everyone wrong.
Football hasn't played their bowl game yet, which could factor in here, but I still think it's neck and neck.
The basketball team responded to their fifth straight season under .500, and a public letter from athletic director Dr. Derrick Gragg casting doubt on the future of Chris Collins as head coach beyond that season. They were almost unanimously picked to finish at the bottom of the conference and responded with a 22-12 season and the second NCAA Tournament in school history.
The football team rallied from a hazing scandal that wracked the program and caused the firing of long-time head coach Pat Fitzgerald to finish with a 7-5 record, earn a bowl berth and finish second in the last season of the Big Ten West under interim, and then permanent, head coach David Braun. Much like hoops, this team was predicted preseason to finish in the basement of the Big Ten and proved everyone wrong.
Football hasn't played their bowl game yet, which could factor in here, but I still think it's neck and neck.