Cue the drum hook. Enter the synthesizer line. Luther Vandross grabs the Mike. Boo Buie grabs the ball. And we’re off.

The regular season is over. It’s March Madness. There’s nothing left in front of us other than recognition for a great season on a national stage and at least two opportunities to finish it off with something truly special.

Let’s enjoy it.

Maybe I haven’t paid any attention at all, but Revsine mentioned as he was walking off the court that Boo “wanted to commit to UMass, but they wouldn’t accept his commitment.”

Is there a more complete telling of the story somewhere?

His Rivals 2018 profile does show a UMass offer. Was it a “non-commitable offer”, Harbaugh style?

What a totally singular player. Let’s not take 50 years to get ‘0’ in the rafters.

And if they beat Wisky we get the double bye in BTT (good to save our legs if nothing else)

@EvanstonCat got me thinking.

Which opposing Big Ten team / fanbase do you dislike the most? (The schools are listed as they came to mind, but I’ll admit that I listed OSU first to avoid a stinkbomb in the mail from ECat).

I wanted to include Notre Dame… but then how do you exclude Duke, Miami (OH), or our other traditional/historical rivals? Let’s keep it simple.

We know our team is in, other teams thrashing around for position. This is great

@lou v has the list for Northwestern's visitors this weekend for the first week of spring practice. The Wildcats are hosting 13 different recruits, including two quarterbacks, on Saturday.

A quick update on Saturday’s baker’s dozen of recruits:

Marcus Romain (QB) - committed
Josh Veldman (LB) - committed

Cameron Herron (DL) - offered
Marcus Mayne (DL) - offered
Dube Enongen (WR) - offered

Leo Hannan (QB) - not offered
Justin Bell (OL) - not offered
Jack Paris (LB) - not offered
Tobi Adewoyin (WR) - not offered

Bradley Gompers (ATH) - prev offer, dnc
Darin Strey ( OL) - prev offer, dnc
Lucas Allgeyer (OL) - prev offer, dnc
Gerritt Kemp (WR) - prev offer, dnc

To anybody that was at the game last night did TB or Big matt Participate in senior night festivities? Because if not, that would basically guarantee that they will be coming back for the Covid year, correct?

Here's my story on 2025 PG Phoenix Gill's offer and visit to Northwestern.

@lou v talked to Northwestern's latest commit to their Class of 2025, LB Josh Veldman, about the process that led him to commit to NU.

Check out @lou v’s column from Boo Buie’s last game at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Responses close before NU’s first BTT game.

Cats up 19-6 in the 3rd. I like their chances in this one.

So what will be different? same? if they use Martinelli at the 5...Can we still run the high pick and roll? Do we have to help more in the post? gonna be interesting to see how this shakes out.

Game-worn on sweaty day by equipment manager, tho.

If Purdue beats Wisconsin and Michigan somehow upsets Nebraska? If Nebraska wins, who gets the higher seed?

Good job Cats. Took care of business

Let’s go win the BTT now. Why not? We’ve beaten every team out there (except Wisconsin on the road, which means we are due).

We had a home game, on senior night, with a NCAA tourney berth on the line. Win, and we are virtually guaranteed to be in. It’s a sellout. It’s 90%+ NU fans. The joint is rocking.

…And we not only win, we win big & it’s just a rolling love fest. Our senior GOAT leaves to a deafening ovation and the team becomes total lock for the Dance, for the second straight year.

This is real life, friends. It happened to US.

How can you not have goosebumps?

What a performance. We shot out of our minds sure, but we left no doubt. Excellent defensive performance in the second half. Very good shooting all night. Boo was money. Brooks was dominant. Langborg was clutch.

Gosh darn that was fun. I was nervous going into it but we showed up early and left no doubt.

Go Cats. Let’s win some games in Minny, and I’ll see you boys wherever we play in the postseason.

GO CATS

Loved each one of the video messages by Collins for each Senior! The guy had a special relationship with each one. A tough coach with a soft spot. He is choking up when talking about Boo Buie. It reminded me of the end of Jerry Maguire when another player looks at his agent and says "Why don't we have a relationship like that?" If you are a high school recruit and his family, you want that type of coach! What a different perception from what the departed implied. What a great B1G season. Enjoyed it. Cheers!

Personally I think this team shouldn’t waste any energy in the BTT. If we win the first round game it might turn us from a 9 seed to an 8 seed but who cares?

We don’t have the depth to win it all. Even if we did, it would make us a 5 or 6 seed at best while wearing our team for the Dance.

We should use our first round game to give Clayton, Smith, Mullins, Hunger, and Preston plenty of minutes and give Boo, Barnhizer, Martinelli, and Langborg plenty of rest.

This team is exhausted and with the injuries we have little depth. Let’s develop our bench and get our starters ready for the Tournament that matters!

Go Cats. Sweet 16 or bust.

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Northwestern hosted the top players from Fremd, a nearby high school about an hour west of campus, at spring practice today. Fremd has struggled of late but hopes these guys can lead a turnaround. It never hurts to get local guys in the building on an otherwise quiet day, March 9 is going to be the important visit day with out-of-state players.

The LB, Luke McIlhon, would be my prediction as the likeliest Wildcat via a potential PWO offer down the line. He got Junior Day invites from South Dakota State, NIU, Brown and Yale.

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NU will recruit Jonas Williams (offered earlier today) from LWE then Owen Lansu (visiting March 30) from DGN as 2026 in-state QB options first. Fremd has 2026 QB Johnny O'Brien but he's a very long shot to get an offer. Based on sophomore tape he'd get a PWO shot, if that. He took some game visits to Illinois and NIU last fall, but I think all three programs are doing preliminary due diligence as the locals in case he takes a leap.

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Northwestern's 2024 football home schedule is starting to come into focus. @lou v kicked things off by reporting that Dr. Gragg told alumni in NYC that a game will be played at Lambeau Field next season, presumably against Wisconsin on Oct. 19.

A few more details have emerged, some old and some new, after talking to sources:

The Lambeau connection is an outgoing favor from a sympathetic Mark Murphy, former NU AD and current president of the Green Bay Packers. A source close to the scheduling process told me that there are next to no Chicagoland options other than SeatGeek Stadium for the early games. For example, Lambeau and SeatGeek are the only two available options for Oct. 19. Murphy offered two games, one in 2024 and one in 2025, to Northwestern.

Outside of a game at Lambeau, Northwestern is committed to keeping games in the Chicago area this year, said the source.

The Indiana game on Oct. 5 will be at SeatGeek. It’s very likely that Eastern Illinois and Duke will be there, as well. There is talk of moving the Miami (OH) game a day back to Sunday, Sept. 1, in order to be able to play at Soldier Field, which hosts the Chicago Fire and Inter Miami (and Lionel Messi) the day before.

Even with the increased expenses to rent the facilities and how difficult it will be to fill them to capacity, NU wants to make games more convenient and require the longer travel to SeatGeek as little as possible, said the source.

This part has been talked about for a long time, but Ohio State and Illinois are down to Wrigley Field or Soldier Field. It will most likely be Wrigley for both, but Soldier Field hasn't been ruled out. Soldier is trickier to arrange as NFL scheduling doesn't come out for a while, while Wrigley is guaranteed to be open for those mid-to-late November dates, once the baseball season is over.

The Big Ten has been supportive of Northwestern as they work their way through the scheduling process, but the league doesn't have infinite patience. The impetus is to get locations set so tickets can start going out.

Guaranteed Rate Field was mentioned as an option if Wrigley and Soldier do not work, but that would be a surprise, as Wrigley has been a program partner over the past few years.

Northwestern offered QB Marcus Romain on Feb. 15, and after Dillon Duff committed to Kansas State on Feb. 19, Romain became the only outstanding offer from Northwestern to an uncommitted 2025 QB.

@lou v has the story on Romain and his recruitment.

Check out @lou v’s column from Boo Buie’s last game at Welsh-Ryan Arena.