Assuming that Evanston gives it’s okay to the new Ryan Field project, and we play the next two seasons at 61,000-seat Soldier Field, we’ll be heavily outnumbered by some fan bases. Games against Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan, etc. will be like home games for those teams. In order to minimize the impact of those fans, I suggest that NU limit the number of tickets sold to 35,000. That will be the capacity of the new stadium, so let’s start with that number next year. Non-conference games and games against teams from outside the Midwest aren’t going to draw more than that anyway. So for instance, they could populate the Soldier Field first and second levels and maybe part of the third, leaving the upper levels empty, and call that a full house.

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.

I had the chance to talk to Hayden Eligon II about his official visit to Northwestern. Check out this premium story to see his thoughts on NU, the staff and his decision timeline.

I had the chance to talk to Hayden Eligon II about his official visit to Northwestern. Check out this story to see his thoughts on NU, the staff and his decision timeline.

Taking place tonight.

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at www.twitter.com/thedailynu

Like them or not, they are Tweeting live updates...

Great news - the 'Cats are 5 point dogs!

actually hurt us right now with transfers? Current recruits have at worst, one season without a permanent home. But do players with one or two years of eligibility remaining lose some interest at the prospect of playing at Seat Geek Stadium?

Tickets look very, very reasonable.....anyone know which sections are NU ?

You will be missed, lots of great times

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Just wrapped up a call with Hayden, here are my quick notes.

Offer is committable, he plans to make a decision sometime this week once he has the serious conversation with his parents. The visit was for them to meet the staff in person and have him and his parents get questions answered, he said there was no pressure to commit on the trip and the staff are giving him the time he needs.

He said all their questions were answered well, he doesn't have another visit planned at this time, albeit neither of Arizona or Cal are at home. Plans to be an early enrollee. I think Northwestern has the inside track of all inside tracks here, he just needs to finalize it with his parents then call the staff.

I have a call with Alex Green, the other WR visitor at 4 pm.

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Just wrapped up my second call with Alex Green. Here are my quick notes:

He's on a slower time table than Eligon, who wants to be an early enrollee. Green said he is confident in his admission, he has a 3.7 GPA at a strong academic school and NU has gone to test-optional admissions, but agreed with staff to wait 2-3 weeks to hear back officially from NU on his application. That sounded to me like a silent commitment, but he said it isn't and he's still in his process.

He'll be visiting Tulane on Dec. 6-8 and plans to announce mid-December, but does not plan to sign until the February date. Still wants to make his commitment before the portal goes into full swing.

His offer is committable, so it seems there is officially room for him and Eligon. In fact, he said if he chooses NU they might plan to room together freshman year. His confidence in Braun is exceptionally high, said he thinks they'll win a Big Ten championship during his contract. Wouldn't hold my breath for that to come to fruition, but for a defensive coach he's gotten very strong endorsements from Green throughout the process.

Ironically, at least to me, Reggie Fleurima, a former four-star who has himself barely touched the field through his first two seasons, has been one of NU's strongest player recruiters. Both Green and Eligon had good things to say about him was one of their hosts/guides.

I think Eligon is all but in the bag, Green on his way but there's still that Tulane visit and the ever-looming specter of an admissions mishap. If you want my gut feeling, I'd say 70-30 NU-Tulane.

Sorry this is late, been a crazy day.

All times CENTRAL. All games available nationally unless otherwise indicated. I will add announcers and future opponents as they are assigned, except for the BTN+ games.

Northwestern is off this week.

And the rest:

Monday, November 20

Indiana vs. Louisville @ New York, NY (Empire Classic)
3:30 PM, ESPNU
PxP: Karl Ravech
Color: Jay Williams

Purdue vs. Gonzaga @ Honolulu, HI (Maui Invitational)
4:00 PM, ESPN2
PxP: Dan Shulman
Color: Jay Bilas

Wisconsin vs. Virginia @ Fort Myers, FL (Fort Myers Tip-Off)
5:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: LaPhonso Ellis

Tuesday, November 21

UMBC @ Maryland
6:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Jason Horowitz
Color: Christy Winters-Scott

Purdue vs. Tennessee @ Honolulu, HI (Maui Invitational)
7:00 PM, ESPN
PxP: Dan Shulman
Color: Jay Bilas

Arkansas-Pine Bluff @ Minnesota
8:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Cory Provus
Color: Shon Morris

Wednesday, November 22

Purdue vs. Marquette @ Honolulu, HI (Maui Invitational)
4:00 PM, ESPN
PxP: Dan Shulman
Color: Jay Bilas

Michigan vs. Memphis @ Paradise Island, Bahamas (Battle 4 Atlantis)
4:00 PM, ESPN2
PxP: Kevin Fitzgerald
Color: Andraya Carter

Duquesne @ Nebraska
7:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Nick Bahe

Wisconsin vs. SMU @ Fort Myers, FL (Fort Myers Tip-Off)
7:30 PM, FS1
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: LaPhonso Ellis

Thursday, November 23

Penn State vs. Texas A&M @ Kissimmee, FL (ESPN Events Invitational)
11:00 AM, ESPN
PxP: Dave O’Brien
Color: Cory Alexander

Iowa vs. Oklahoma @ San Diego, CA (Rady Children’s Invitational)
2:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Aaron Goldsmith
Color: Casey Jacobsen

Michigan State vs. Arizona @ Palm Springs, CA (Acrisure Classic)
3:30 PM, FOX
PxP: Adam Amin
Color: Jim Jackson

Michigan vs. Stanford @ Paradise Island, Bahamas (Battle 4 Atlantis)
6:30 PM, ESPNU
PxP: Kevin Fitzgerald
Color: Andraya Carter

Friday, November 24

Penn State vs. Butler @ Kissimmee, FL (ESPN Events Invitational)
12:30 PM, ESPN+ (streaming only)
PxP: Dave O'Brien
Color: Cory Alexander

Iowa vs. Seton Hall @ San Diego, CA (Rady Children’s Invitational)
5:00 PM, FOX
PxP: Aaron Goldsmith
Color: Casey Jacobsen

Michigan vs. Texas Tech @ Paradise Island, Bahamas (Battle 4 Atlantis)
5:00 PM, ESPNU
PxP: Kevin Fitzgerald
Color: Andraya Carter

Ohio State vs. Alabama @ Niceville, FL (Emerald Coast Classic)
6:00 PM, CBS Sports Network
PxP: Jordan Kent
Color: Jordan Cornette

Western Illinois @ Illinois
8:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Matt Schumacker
Color: Bruce Weber

Saturday, November 25

South Alabama @ Maryland
6:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Wayne Randazzo
Color: Christy Winters-Scott

Ohio State vs. Santa Clara @ Niceville, FL (Emerald Coast Classic)
6:00 PM, CBS Sports Network
PxP: Jordan Kent
Color: Jordan Cornette

Sunday, November 26

Penn State vs. VCU @ Kissimmee, FL (ESPN Events Invitational)
9:30 AM, ESPNU
PxP: Dave O'Brien
Color: Cory Alexander

Cal State Fullerton @ Nebraska
1:00 PM, BTN+ (streaming only)

Harvard @ Indiana
3:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Matt Schumacker
Color: Robbie Hummel

Minnesota @ San Francisco
7:30 PM, CBS Sports Network
PxP: Rich Waltz
Color: Dan Dickau

Here's @mshelton33's notebook.

COE Mayor Biss on Ryan Field

***

To go bowling.

Bring it Purple

From TOS:
Cam johnson: "I've had five or six head coaches during my time in college. He is one of the best if not the best. The poise he brings, the confidence, the never flinch mentality is something special. You can tell he loves us and in return we are going to play hard for him and love him back"

Pretty profound statement. He has really engendered the trust of his team and this is why I think he will be a successful recruiter. This is the type of coach NU needs and now has in the post-Fitz era

What he's done with our defensive line room has been downright astonishing.

Last year, that unit was a complete sieve. Then, we lost Adebawore to the NFL and Firestone to Mizzou. Devin O'Rourke graduated. Bastone and Spencer both got pushed around in their limited PT.

So, we hit the transfer portal... and picked up an FCS DE and a couple G5 backup DTs (two of the three have been hurt and missed significant time this year). Had just four healthy DT in spring ball.

That we have a top-half Big Ten defense this year is miracle work — and somehow, the line is a strength of that defense. Young players like Hubbard, Kilbane, and Saka are developing into studs. Carmine Bastone is blowing up plays left and right. Our rotation is deep (who woulda thunk that in March?) and breakdowns are scarce. Heck, the rotation is the entire room minus two dudes. Smith deserves at least a nomination for the Broyles Award (top assistant in CFB).

ESPN
Bonagura: Nashville vs Auburn
Schlabach: Phoenix vs Kansas

CBS (Jerry Palm)
Detroit vs NIU (boo! hiss!)

CFN
Detroit vs Ohio

247
Phoenix vs Kansas

Saturday Blitz
Phoenix vs Iowa State

Athlon
Detroit vs EMU

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane. My first NU game was;

September 14, 1991
Northwestern 7, Rice 36

Owl RB Trevor Cobb ran roughshod over the Cats that day. Thanks fully this was pre-OwlVision so no recorded history of this beat down at Dyche Stadium.

Williams and Maye look terrible and have for weeks. Stock dropping like a rock. JJ McCarthy emerging as top QB. Harbaugh and McCarthy to Bears???

Thanks to Uber for hosting Little Hungry and I for the last bash at Dyche. I took my last piss in the small bathroom outside section 230 after the third quarter. I won't miss that bathroom.

After watching Ryan Browne, a freshman, give us fits with his running, I think we might have been better off facing Hudson Card. I thought Browne's runs kept our defense off balance much of the day. It's the main reason we gave up 443 total yards.

We saw what happened, though, when the field got really short and the run defense had a lot less space to worry about. Kudos to the defense for locking down. We pitched a shutout for the first 41 minutes thanks to some great sequences by the defense (and PU mistakes).

I think the biggest play may have Hollis hawking down Tyrone Tracy on that long run late in Q4. That forced PU to burn another 2 minutes before they finally punched it in. They got the ball back with 1:59 and no timeouts left.

PU has two good DEs who caused a lot of trouble. I was hoping we would see more screens and jet action against them. Bryant was uncharacteristically slow in getting the ball out of several of those sacks. And he telegraphed that throw to Kirtz on the play action that led to the late pick.

Does anyone know the terms of Braun's deal? Did he get any concessions for admissions or was able to get enough to pay his staff competitive Big 10 salaries?

…it will be too soon. He is the worst. But loved his answer to the trivia question: “Don’t ask me. I don’t know anything about Northwestern football.” Never truer words spoken!