What a collapse. Up by 15 early in the 2nd half and lose by 11. Gave up that lead in 9 minutes. They couldn’t stop Shannon. He’s a special talent but Nebraska can’t let one guy single handedly erase a big deficit.

Credit to Illinois for coming back 2 days in a row but they won’t go past the sweet 16 if they don’t play a lot better early in games and play better defense.

Gotta feel for this kid. Talk about a colossal blunder. Ouch.

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Here are @mshelton33's game takeaways from Minneapolis.

I got a chance to talk to some sources at the basketball game on Saturday night. I haven't been able to verify anything with the program, but I thought I would post these notes here. None of this should be taken as fact. It's still a fluid situation.

- I'm hearing that playing Wisconsin at Lambeau Field this season is off the table. You're welcome. (I got more than a couple thank yous from people for my tweet.)

- Northwestern will very likely play Michigan at Lambeau in 2025. I doubt that there will be much backlash for that one.

- It looks like the Ohio State and Illinois games this season will be played at Wrigley. They’re both in November, when baseball season is over, so that makes sense.

- The feasibility study for the temporary Lakefront Stadium idea was done a couple years ago, when Fitz was still here. LakeThePost's tweet set off a firestorm because trustees didn't know about it. We don't know the results of the study, but NU's Athletic Department is against the idea.

After the game, I happened to bump into a current football player and walked with him out to the parking lot. I asked him about all the uncertainty around the home field situation. Not surprisingly, he said that the players don't really care where they play. He said he's hoping they get a chance to play in some "pretty cool places."

Looks to be a few surprise returnees? Did not expect to see Niro, D’Antonio and/or Gallagher. No transfers listed.

QB - Sullivan, Hilinski, Lausch, Gray
RB - Porter, Himon, Komolafe
WR - Henning, Kirtz, Niro, Gill, Covey, Gray
TE - Gordon, Lang, Olges
OL- Tiernan, D'Antonio, Wrather, Knox, Thompson

DE - McLaughlin, Hubbard, Saka, Pate, Kilbane
DT - Bastone, Story, Spencer, Flakes, Pearson
LB - Mueller, Gallagher, Soares
CB - Johnson, Adeyi, Smith
S - Azema, Turner, Fitzgerald

Cats fans… please listen to me. We’re not cooked. This panic has to stop. I saw it more on X but a little on the board, too.

I can’t imagine Barnheizer and Langborg do nothing next week. That’s rarely happened this season. We still have a “big 3” most teams would kill for.

Let’s rest the legs and get ready for the only tourney that really matters… next Thursday or Friday.

All times CENTRAL, and all games played in Minneapolis, MN. All games available nationally unless otherwise indicated. I will add announcers and future opponents as they are determined. This is the 2024 Big Ten Tournament.

First, the NU game:

4-Northwestern vs. 5-Wisconsin
Friday, March 15
1:30 PM approx., BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Stephen Bardo

And the rest:

Wednesday, March 13

12-Maryland vs. 13-Rutgers
5:30 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Noah Eagle
Color: Robbie Hummel

11-Penn State vs. 14-Michigan
8:00 PM approx., Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Noah Eagle
Color: Robbie Hummel

Thursday, March 14

8-Michigan State vs. 9-Minnesota
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Brandon Gaudin
Color: Stephen Bardo

5-Wisconsin vs. 12-Maryland
1:30 PM approx., BTN
PxP: Brandon Gaudin
Color: Stephen Bardo

7-Iowa vs. 10-Ohio State
5:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Robbie Hummel

6-Indiana vs. 11-Penn State
8:00 PM approx., BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Robbie Hummel

Friday, March 15

1-Purdue vs. 8-Michigan State
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Stephen Bardo

2-Illinois vs. 10-Ohio State
5:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Brandon Gaudin
Color: Robbie Hummel

3-Nebraska vs. 6-Indiana
8:00 PM approx., BTN
PxP: Brandon Gaudin
Color: Robbie Hummel

Saturday, March 16

1-Purdue vs. 5-Wisconsin
12:00 PM, CBS
PxP: Ian Eagle
Color: Bill Raftery
Color: Grant Hill

2-Illinois vs. 3-Nebraska
2:30 PM approx., CBS
PxP: Ian Eagle
Color: Bill Raftery
Color: Grant Hill

Sunday, March 17

2-Illinois vs. 5-Wisconsin
2:30 PM, CBS
PxP: Ian Eagle
Color: Bill Raftery
Color: Grant Hill

If you're planning on going to see the Cats next weekend, here are the locations and dates:

Thursday/Saturday: Charlotte, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City
Friday/Sunday: Brooklyn, Indianapolis, Spokane, Memphis

I know some have a much higher chance than others for various matchup reasons. On the one hand, I'm rooting for Indianapolis so I can attend in person. On the other hand, if they win Friday, I won't be able to even watch Sunday (let alone attend). Makes me prefer a Thursday/Saturday combination.

The quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament are here and No. 4 Northwestern (21-10, 12-8 Big Ten) takes on No. 5 Wisconsin (20-12, 11-9 Big Ten). The Badgers won their first game against No. 12 Maryland, 87-56, yesterday and beat Northwestern, 71-63, at the Kohl Center earlier this season.

I'm court side for the site today, tip off is on pace for 1:50 pm CT based on the arena clock for warmups.

Those folks on The Rock seem pretty sure that he's out, but the announcers during the game sure said that it's a possibility.

It would be a huge boost to get any minutes out of MN. Just the morale boost alone would be huge.

I turned it on at 21-10. And then it went downhill from there.

I’m sorry.

For an OL coach. 🤔

I have been watching Northwestern BB since November 1985.

I went to games against Marathon Oil, Brown and the University of Chicago just to experience a win. My most vivid memory of NU BB college hoops in the 80s was Bill Foster calling timeout to (unsuccessfully) stop yet another run by a Big Ten opponent, like Iowa, Michigan State, Purdue. One of the greatest NU hoops feat of my generation was when Rocky Saviano pulled the water fountain off the wall in Bobb-McCulloch. I yearned for a competitive NU hoops team. How hard could it be to find 3 or 4 guys who could make that happen?

Pretty hard.

Foster, Byrdsong, KON, Carmody all came and went. Shon Morris, Jitim Young, Juice Thompson, Evan Eschmeyer, John Shurna and countless others were warriors in this cause.

And here we are. A new W-R. A home court advantage. 2 - and soon 3 - years in the NCAA Tournament in less than a decade. Has NU arrived?

To this point, 1 peak has yet to be approached by Northwestern Basketball. The Big Ten Basketball title game.

Let's take the next step in the journey today. Thank you 2023-24 Men's BB team for making our lives richer this fall and winter! Can't wait for this next chapter.

Go Cats!!!!!

Just kidding.

Maybe NU played their way into the preferred 10 seed.

Do you know if TrueNU has considered a model like Stanford has? Stanford NIL program does a minimum set amount for every football player on the roster, including freshman. The amount was $10,000 last season and working towards $20,000 per year per roster spot regardless of playing time. Starters allegedly receive $50,000 minimum per season. These are minimums and players can make much more. It’s not easy for players to just go out and get their own NIL deals worth in that range. It is quite a selling point for Stanford NIL structure to offer this as standard beyond the degree. Do you know if TrueNU has considered such a format?

When looking at the current landscape of college recruiting, NIL will only become more prominent. I understand that NU sells the long-term value of its education. However, it may be wise to review and compare our NIL program with what other like minded institutions are doing for recruits. A lot of the players looking at NU can also get a solid education at a handful of other institutions, so the structure of the NIL program may matter if the degree reputation is similar.

For some reason, I don’t think this is good for NU.

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First, congrats to Aaron Donald on a great NFL career. I think he's the best DT of all time.

It is too early for the 2014 NFL draft class to make the listicles of all-time NFL classes, but it should rank pretty highly.

The class is headlined by Aaron Donald. 'Nuff said.

But it also includes the following:

First Ballot HOFers (after Donald)
Khalil Mack - 101 career sacks
Zack Martin - 152 starts, 9 All Pro and Pro Bowl seasons
Davante Adams - 3 All Pro and 6 Pro Bowls, 10,781 yards and 95 TDs and counting

Likely HOFERS
Demarcus Lawrence - 4 Pro Bowls and 58 sacks, plus the whole Cowboys thing should get him in
Mike Evans - 5 Pro Bowls, 11,000+ yards, 94 TDS and counting; very similar production to Adams, but seems to have less name recognition.
CJ Mosley - 5 Pro Bowls
Taylor Lewan - 3 Pro Bowls, 105 starts - hard to handicap OTs for the HOF, but I think he gets in eventually
Joel Bitonio - I admit I cannot recall him, but 2 All Pro and 6 Pro Bowl seasons over 144 starts should be enough

Solid Starters
Odell Beckham Jr
Brandin Cooks - 9,000 yards, 57 TDs and counting
Kyle Fuller - 1 All Pro, 2 Pro Bowls
Eric Ebron - 351 receptions
Ryan Shazier
Jake Matthews - 162 starts (he's probably also a HOFER)
Jadeveon Clowney - injuries diminished him a bit, but he still has 52 career sacks and 3 Pro Bowls.
Anthony Barr
Jimmie Ward
Allen Robinson - former Bear had a good career that was shortened by injury
Jarvis Landry
Kyle Van Noy
Morgan Moses
Gabe Jackson
Trai Turner
Pat O'Donnel punted a lot

Worth noting that this draft gave us Bear fans Charles Leno Jr. in the 7th round. He has made 141 career starts.

The thing the 2014 class lacks that will keep it out of the Pantheon of NFL Drafts is the lack of a franchise QB. Derek Carr is the headline QB of the class. Jimmy G is on it. Teddy Bridgewater deserves a ton of respect for having a career after destroying his knee early in his career (it was really bad).

Finally, the 2014 class also include Ha-Ha Clinton Dix, the best name in football history (or a headline from the NY Post on the Clinton-Lewinsky affair).

We suck. And will always suck in it.

Just checked my inbox and it looks like I had a season ticket renewal message sent to me mid-Feb. last year. I'm wondering if the timeline will be the same and what (literally) they will even have to say about where the games will be played. I've heard vague references to Soldier, Wrigley, and Seat Geek Stadium but ironically nothing actually official from the Athletic Dept or Ticket Sales Rep. Do we think that's quite because they're not actually sure what's going to happen yet...or where...or when?

I think NU would be wise to offer a good discount for ALL "home" games across multiple venues but also packages that include one or two venues. I worry this is really going to be a mess for those of us who would generally like to be at every home game.

I think most of us would prefer a 7/10 game than an 8/9 game, but it looks like 8/9 is most likely as of now. Though some prognosticators (like Palm) already have NU at a 10, I doubt they fall there even with a loss on Friday. So our better bet is to move up to a 7. Won't be easy. I thought we could use a thread to determine rooting interests.

In the Bracket Matrix (which, to be sure, is a combination of ALL of the predictions and may not accurately place NU in the same place the committee does), here are 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 as of this morning, along with the next time they play:


The Gonzaga/St. Mary's WCC championship is tonight. Given how hot Gonzaga has been and how close NU is to St. Mary's, I think we root for Gonzaga there. Everything else starts tomorrow at the earliest. I'll try to keep this up to date.

Suspicious betting patterns emerging in sports wagering now
By Phil Mushnick
Published March 14, 2024, 10:27 p.m. ET

What should’ve been the biggest story of the week — five Division I college basketball games being examined for highly suspicious or “irregular” betting patterns can’t compete with the latest speculation of free-agent linebackers of varied achievement. According to multiple reports and the schools’ acknowledgments, four of those games include Temple’s team and the other was played by Loyola (Md.). Both teams had rotten seasons.

But the most conspicuously suspicious among the games in question was University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) at Temple on March 7, a barely contested 100-72 UAB win. As curious games go, this one stood out for not standing out. It was a so-what game between a 19-11 visitor and 11-19 Temple. Not a game of national note, which may not have been a coincidence. In the afternoon before the game, the line soared from UAB giving 1 ½ or 2 to giving 8 — and on the road — an enormous move that could only leave a stink given the final score. There was no good reason — not an injury or suspension — that could explain such sudden, one-way, heavy action on a visiting team. And these days, sophisticated game-fixers would avoid suspicions and detection by spreading their action among several legal bookmakers as there are now so many to choose from. That would prevent the line from sudden surges into shady territory.

Perhaps a two-point move would go unnoticed, but not six. That would ring the alarm that has been rung.

The most glaring in-game stat was that UAB outrebounded Temple by a stop-right-there 41-19. And UAB had 10 offensive rebounds to Temple’s one. Impossible to ignore as rebounds so often reflect effort. Less remarkable but nonetheless noteworthy was that Temple, which this season shot 72 percent from the foul line, was 16-for-24, 66 percent, and its average of six steals per game declined to three.

My educated guess is that if any of these games are found to have been fixed they’re inside or at least neighborhood jobs bereft of sophistication. Several players, in a losing season and with minimal professional basketball futures — not to mention the get-rich-quick commercial prompts that daily flood their senses — appeared to have had exceptionally bad games.

Read the rest (free, no need to sign up or anything) -

I saw this post on X or Twitter or whatever it's called. I'm always up for freebies so I stopped by and got the Boo Burger (it's an off menu bacon cheeseburger with an onion ring on top, very good). The owner was saying they have an NIL deal with Boo and he gets a cut of every Boo Burger they sell (or give away, in this case). I just wanted to pass that along in case you have all the merch from Boo's NIL store and are looking for other ways to put some money in his pocket, which we should be doing for Boo and in the interest of getting future Boos.

Here are @mshelton33's game takeaways from Minneapolis.