Only idiots would argue for a 10, right?

I don’t know whether NU can hang with any of the presumed non-PU 1’s. But definitely easier to beat an 8 and a 1 than a 10 and a 7 and a 2, yeah?

Any NU win would require two of Martinelli or Brooks or Langborg to shoot well, which hasn’t been a given lately. I’m assuming Boo will continue to play like the best guard in the country.

NU also is really weak against anyone who can get to the basket. Nicholson’s absence is felt so much more than Berry’s, both because of time to adjust and because his impact is so far beyond the stats.

BracketMatrix has NU in 106 of 109, as the second 9 seed. MSU is in every bracket but as the fourth of six #10s. Their win over Minnesota (in the BTTT) may have also been necessary.

Wow.

Did anyone see the UVA collapse against NC State? UVA up 5 with about a minute to play. Miss both free throws of a flagrant 1, then miss the back end of a 1 & 1. With less than 5 seconds left and a 3 point lead,an 87% free throw shooter misses the front end of a 1 & 1. NC State rebounds, crosses half court and banks in a 3 to send the game to OT. which NC State wins.
I cannot understand how referees allow a 6'9" 300 lb center, Burns, to repeatedly lower his shoulder into a stationary defender as he backs his way towards the basket. He does not push his way in, he actually violently bangs his way to the basket-someone should employ the Charles Oakley defense against him.

Is our non conference schedule for next year going to have higher ranked teams? So we have higher strength of schedule etc? Just curious if anyone knows!

In 1893 basketball began to be played on some college campuses for the first time. (The game itself had just been invented two years prior by P.E. Teacher James Naismith.)

In that same year of 1893, Chicago hosted the 1893 World's Columbia Exhibition and one of its crowning achievements was the world's first Ferris Wheel built by Carson City, Nevada native George Ferris, jr. (His childhood home is a historic site today in Carson City.)

With this nebulous connection between Northwestern as Chicago's College Team, the history of college basketball, and the Ferris Wheel, it has to be a good omen that I just viewed, although not a moose, a spectacular Ferris Wheel light show here in Yokohama Japan.

Here is my just posted YouTube video for any who want to share the experience. (The first minute Is of the Yokohama night view looking out toward Tokyo Bay and then it transitions into a full five minute light show.)

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Kirkpatrick Stadium. Wow.

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That when they have two games on BTN on a given night that the almost always have been replaying the other game but not the NU game? Does not seem to mater if N game is the early game or late game, the other game is replayed. Last night it was the IL MN game and it was not only replayed but then they also did a 60 minute version of the game this morning. About the only exception to this this year was when we beat PU

@mshelton33 talked to 2016 Texas LB Tatum Evans, who visited Northwestern last week.

@mshelton33 talked to 2016 Texas LB Tatum Evans, who visited Northwestern last week and whose father is a Kellogg grad.

Raftery got Steratore to say that Edey should’ve been called for an off-ball charge on the first. On the second, the three announcers did the savaging without Steratore.

Edey made all four free throws.

Badgers still in it.

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.