UNK is ending 6 academic programs and UNL ... will close open faculty positions, cut 30 staff positions and move other positions off state funding as part of its plan to close a $12 million budget deficit this year. UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett asked the Academic Planning Committee earlier this month to find savings across nine broad categories that avoid closing academic programs, though he anticipates the state’s land-grant campus could be forced to examine those areas next.
and Coach Rhule will get 9 mil a year. We lost our way somewhere...right?

@lou v went behind enemy lines to talk to OrangeandBlueNews' Doug Buschon to get the inside scoop on the Illini before tomorrow's battle for the Land of Lincoln Trophy.

@lou v went behind enemy lines to talk to OrangeandBlueNews' Doug Buschon to get the inside scoop on the Illini before tomorrow's battle for the Land of Lincoln Trophy.

Nfm

While Iowa and the Cats are 1 and 2 in the standings ( Cats in a tie with Wisconsin whom they beat soundly) both are underdogs against Nebraska (-2.5) and Illinois (-5.5) respectively, both on the road.

I think it says a lot about the parity amidst the mediocrity that has been the division this year.

Personally, I think the Hawks and Cats are both very good bets. NU, particularly, has covered every game since Howard.

May your holiday be filled with the three Fs: Family, Food and Football.

I think we’re all thankful for David Braun and the Cats, who gave us an unexpected surprise this season.

Now, let’s get the Hat back! Go Cats!

This says the demolition needs to wait for a state historic preservation review, which could take months. How did NU not know about this in advance and have it ready to go? The article says they found out in October.

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Garnett Hollis and Theran Johnson have had banner years at cornerback for Northwestern. I talked to the duo at player availability this week to find out what has led to their excellence this season, changes from last year and their partnership.

To end the season for Bert and Rantoul’s Big Ten team

LSU’s women’s basketball player Angel Reese has over 17 corporate sponsors and including deals with Shaq and Rebock. She’s making more than most women pro players, close to $1M worth of endorsement deals. Incredible! Probably just the tip of the iceberg with collegiate sports and NIL now.

I’ve been talking to several sources this week, and today I got to talk to a few more. (That’s the real value of big press conferences like this for us.)

Anyway, here are a few things I’ve learned:

- Northwestern’s head coaching search committee was made up of five trustees, a search firm and Dr. Gragg. They reached out and talked to several candidates. I’m not at liberty to discuss names, but they were many of the people you’d expect. They were talking to the right people. Some of them were head coaches, some were coordinators. A few said they weren’t interested, but multiple coaches were, as Gragg said today at the podium. With the Big Ten, the facilities, the new stadium and the location – along with the fact that expectations and pressure are relatively low – Northwestern is still a plum job.

- Patrick Ryan and the Ryan family are very much on board with Braun. I imagine that they weren’t happy with the way the Fitz firing went down, but they have pledged to continue to support the school and the program. The stadium is expected to move forward as planned.

- Regarding where they will play the next couple years while Ryan Field is being rebuilt, I heard a lot of the same things that have been posted on the board. We know they’ll play at Wrigley once the baseball season is over – and Braun loved playing at Wrigley, by the way. While the initial plan was to play at Soldier Field before that, it appears that the Bears can deny a team from playing there a certain number of days before they do, which could make it untenable. I’m not sure where that stands. We may hear something shortly, after the stadium plans are approved by the Evanston City Council.

- It appears as though Braun, like Fitz, will focus NIL money on retaining talent, rather than attracting it. He talked at length today on the podium about finding players that value Northwestern and have the character they look for, and that they will continue to be a development program. So, they will continue to recruit the same kind of prospects, for the most part. The plan ensures that when those prospects develop into impact players, they want to have the NIL money there to keep them at Northwestern when other schools try to poach them – like they did with Boo Buie this year.

- The program seems to be making an effort to work with admissions and increase the pool of potential transfers. As you know, most players who transfer into Northwestern are graduates. They’d really like to increase the number of freshmen and sophomores.

- Northwestern’s 2024 class is almost full. They have 10 commits, a couple silent commits we know about (Oke and Strong), and I think they’ll likely land both official visitors this weekend (Green and Eligon). Now that Braun has been officially hired, we heard that the program is getting calls from prospects who passed on them earlier to see if they still have a spot for them. I don’t have any names, but that’s encouraging, and a sign of how much prospects like Braun.

- You’ve no doubt noticed the startlingly low attendance at Ryan Field this season. A lot of that is a protest from fans who are pissed off that Fitz was fired first and foremost, but also those that are angry about how NU handled the firing, and the hazing scandal itself. Fundraising has also taken a big hit. TrueNU’s goal was to raise $3 million for the year; they are currently at $1.9 million. They hope that Braun’s hiring will bring fans and donors back into the fold.

- Here’s a sobering number for you: attendance at the Maryland game – not tickets, but people through the turnstiles – was 6,500. Yikes.

Questions? Ask away.

Garnett Hollis and Theran Johnson have had banner years at cornerback for Northwestern. I talked to the duo at player availability this week to find out what has led to their excellence this season, changes from last year and their partnership.

In field hockey. Its on ESPNU.

Had a blast down at Wrigley yesterday. Sure, it sucked to lose a heartbreaker, but the experience was great:

1. Wrigleyville instantly becomes the best pre-game party in the country. I hit the Holy Triumvirate of Wrigley bars — Murphy’s, Cubby Bear, and Yak-zies — and despite being outnumbered 90-10 by Iowa fans, everyone was there to have a good time and soak up a college football game day.

2. Game attendance was more like 80-20 Hawkeyes. We can’t help it that we have a sh!tty fan base. So what if we “give up a home game”? That would have been true at Ryan Field yesterday too. Make Wrigley our second home, and if we’re outnumbered, bring a Cats Against The World attitude.

3. Sight lines at Wrigley are fine if you know where to sit. The 300 level on the first base line, and even the 400 level if you avoid the posts, offer fantastic views. And there are few more beautiful and historic venues than Wrigley itself.

4. NU does a good job of branding it a home game despite the numbers. The field looked great (other than the 4th quarter sinkhole on the goal line). The video boards featured nonstop NU content, including some fun Cubs/Wildcats mashups. And the NU kids in the bleachers got a lot of quality big screen time — they were having fun out there.

5. Wrigley is easy to get to. CTA isn’t perfect to say the least, but hard to complain about door to door service to Addison. You get the usual sights and smells on the Red Line, but train cars packed with college football fans are actually kind of fun.

6. Look, I live a mile from Ryan Field, and there’s no place I’d rather be, but for a once-a-year experience, and for a home away from home the next two years when the Cubs schedule permits it, Wrigley is the answer.

The Ivy League rookie of the year from Penn has entered the transfer portal, Malachi Hosley, and is also an academic A.A. Offers from Rutgers and Illannoys. Think NU would look?

I wonder how many kids will never play Division 1 football because players from 2020 are eating up scholarship slots in the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 classes.

There is no such thing as a free lunch and there are seemingly always unanticipated consequences from well meaning people in search of short term bandaids.

The NCAA probably should have temporarily expanded the scholarship count for a few years to accommodate the loss of opportunities for 2021-2024 players.

I talked Hutto, Tex. WR Alex Green about his official visit to Northwestern, his thoughts on the program and his decision timeline.

Braun just wrapped up his comments, another long one. Here are my initial notes, a full notes article will be up this afternoon.

This year is Braun's last as play caller, staff evaluations to come after Illinois but balance for the bowl game: Braun said that he will hire a defensive coordinator this offseason and relinquish play calling duties. He said that if he were to keep them beyond this year it would harm the program and be "selfish", but that he'll still call plays against Illinois and for the bowl game. Nothing official yet but keep an eye on Tim McGarigle as a lead candidate for an in-house promotion to the DC role. He's been a great resource to Braun as the long-time linebackers coach this season.

In terms of staff-wide evaluation, Braun said that process will begin after Illinois but was sure to qualify that he'll balance the team's success in a bowl game against their eventual staff changes.

"Those conversations and thought process will start after Illinois," he said. "We're going to be very conscious and make sure that we do a great job of staying present and being at our best for whatever bowl opportunity awaits us."


Two spots left in Class of 2024: Braun said they have two slots left in this current class, and this is a direct cause of COVID eligibility as waves of players could make the decision to return. This would take Northwestern's class to just 13 players as it stands, with a lot of their young depth undermined by transfers and previously small classes, but you can't take players for roster spots or scholarships that aren't there. I'll take it a step further and say that Braun is already counting Timi Oke's commitment, and they'll aim for 14.

I have calls with Alex Green and Hayden Eligon, two WRs who visited last weekend, this afternoon and I think they could very easily fill the spots that Braun mentioned. I heard that there is space for both players before their visit, but I don't have confirmation of that after Braun's comments today. Recruiting staff is working and waiting on current players to inform the team of their decisions before offering or taking commits for spots that aren't there.

"It's unique," Braun said. "We probably have room for two more commitments in the class as it looks on paper. We have to continue to bend our knees and stay flexible in terms of how we continue to push forward."


Braun wants a comfortable spot for the Hat at their facility: It's Hat week and Braun is aware of where that trophy currently resides.

"It's been a great learning opportunity to ask the staff, to ask our leadership council this morning, what the rivalry means to them," he said. "The consistent message is 'Coach, we want the Hat back. It's time to bring the Hat back.'

"There's extra emotion when a trophy is on the line. You want to make sure that trophy has a comfortable place in your facility and stays in your facility. Great opportunity for our guys this week to go battle their tails off and bring the Hat back to Evanston."

He credited Bielema and his staff for their work recruiting Illinois and Chicagoland, and said it's crucial for those in-state recruiting matchups to perform at a high-level in, and win, these rivalry games. For the first time in a long time, Illinois has broken Northwestern's hold on in-state talent and zero of the 11 current Wildcat commits hold an offer from the Illini. That's something Braun clearly wants, and expects, to change and it starts on Saturday.

The Evanston City Council approved the start of demolition and construction at Ryan Field last night. In honor of the last game on Central and Ashland as we know it, @lou v chronicled the top 10 games in the stadium's storied history.

Now that I see Mississippi State is ranked 25th, I don't feel so bad. I had no idea if they were good or not as I watched the game, only that they finished better than the Cats did. Hopefully this is what we will consider a good loss as the season progresses.

Here's @mshelton33's notebook.