Matt is waiting in line for parking in Madison, so I'm posting the game thread for him while he makes his way to the Kohl Center. He should be courtside in time for tipoff. I was going to make the trip too, but I looked out the window this morning and decided against it.

Anyway, this is going to be a tough one for the Cats. The Badgers are red hot, having won five straight and 11 of 12. (Of course, MSU had won five straight, too, before the Cats took them down.) The Badgers are ranked 12th in NET rankings, the Cats 69th (!).

Guards -“Silver Lining”

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Retro pop from 2013. I hope we never lose it. (If it doesn’t hit right away, it’ll hit at 0:25.)

Last night YouTube TV indicated game not available. Today I can’t find any mention of it on YouTube TV or in the BTN (BIG+ now) app. Did BTN maybe decline to send a crew given the weather?

Did he shoot more than once in the second half? The way he is shooting the ball is impressive. They did say he would be a breakout player this year.

I just thought I would mention that if The Cats win Saturday they will be either tied or in sole possession of First place in the B1G. Nice opportunity.

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Not aware of any previous ties to Braun and/or Lujan, but older/more experienced coach. Basically Sean Lewis’ “guy,” was OL coach at Kent State before following him to Colorado and most recently San Diego State.

Dug McDaniel was officially suspended on Wednesday for the Wolverines next 6 road games.

"We have very high standards within our program, culture and university," coach Juwan Howard said in a statement.

"Beginning with our game at Maryland, Dug McDaniel will not travel to road games until further notice. Dug will dress for home games, however, when we are away from Ann Arbor, he will work towards meeting several academic goals he has set and needs to meet."

McDaniel is their best player. Without him, they lost at Maryland 64-57 on Thursday. The 6th road game is at Northwestern.

Let’s do it.

I will be there with a buddy and would love to meet up with fellow ‘Cats fans for a drink or two pre/post. Let’s get another marquee win!

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I hope our Purple canine compadres open a can of whoopass on the Walmart Wolverines.

It’s too bad an asteroid didn’t strike the Rose Bowl yesterday.

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Looks like he overlapped with Braun at UC-Davis.

I regret nothing, I am grateful for everthing. But damn five or so years of Carroll (with Braun as DC/Head Coach Designate in five years) holy spit that would have made us have to increase our stadium size from the absurdly small 30,000 that is being planned. Make it 60k.

Good luck coach! Liked him as a Jets fan back in the day!

The hosts were ineligible for Emmys, so Emmys were awarded to fake names which were then re-engraved with the hosts' names.

https://theathletic.com/5193316/2024/01/11/espn-emmys-fake-names-college-gameday/

It was a busy day for Northwestern's staff, removing Matt MacPherson and adding Paul Creighton and Billy O'Boyle. We broke down each move.

It was a busy day for Northwestern's staff, removing Matt MacPherson and adding Paul Creighton and Billy O'Boyle. We broke down each move.

Big win for the Wildcats over in the middle of Pennsylvania. Once again, Ty Berry played very well.
Boo Buie had another good game and Brooks Barnhizer bounced back into form, despite 5 turnovers.

My score predictor said NU 75 PSU 71, so I'm pleased with that.

Ryan Langborg did not have a good night. This is a bit of a concern. When he was on the bench, NU outscored Penn State 31-20 in a mere 10 minutes of action. Thats a 124-80 pace for 40 minutes.
When Langborg was in the game, we scored only 45 points and allowed 52 in 30 minutes. Thats a 60 - 78 pace. Not good.
Regarding the centers, this was a night where NU played much better with Nicholson at the 5.
The lineup I have been calling "our best" i.e. Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Berry/Buie finally got 7 minutes of playing time.
That group turned a 55-49 deficit into a 60-55 lead with an 11-0 run midway through the 2nd half. For the game that lineup won 19-8 in almost 7 minutes of action.
For the season, they've now played 25 minutes and have buried our opponents 62-25.

Our other hot lineup (Hunger/Barnhizer/Berry/Langborg/Buie) did not fare well against PSU, getting beat 10-5 in almost 5 minutes of action.
Notably, the old starting lineup (Nicholson/Barnhizer/Berry/Buie/Langborg) had a 2nd consecutive strong showing, outscoring PSU 13-8 in 6 minutes+.
The old starters beat up on Michigan State last time out 23-11 in 8 minutes+.

Gotta give props to the Penn State backcourt. Kanye Clary torched us for 25 points and Ace Baldwin stole the ball from us a mind-numbing EIGHT times.
There just wasn't enough talent around them to overcome Northwestern.
Our ball-handling against pressure and two quick guards was a bit of a wake-up call, but thankfully the Big Ten doesn't play that way, in general.

Good win for the Cats. Next stop Madison. Oh, and there's a Mount Nittany overlooking the Penn State campus...

With the hiring cycle in full swing, we broke down Northwestern's existing staff and recent hiring trends.

Here's my story on the reported hire of DJ Vokolek as a defensive assistant on this year's staff.

You heard it here...2nd.

5 mins behind the Rock

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The Athletic did their final 2023 football rankings.
They have NU at number 31.
Pretty amazing based upon the beginning of the season.
You can argue the number all you want, but the fact that any major media source has them ranked this high is quite an achievement.

Committed to Notre Dame.

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He has really taken his game to another level the past couple of games. He is so patient and has been masterful in creating shots for his teammates. When he doesn’t handle the ball, it’s an adventure. We need to really enjoy this year.

Saban is retiring. Times, they are a changin'