Matt Lawson is our first guy in the transfer portal this year. Because Matt got hurt in the first game and only played in that one game this year, he is entitled to a medical redshirt and it looks like he is pursuing a 7th year of college football.

He would be ideal and he would be a great bridge to give new OC time to recruit someone. Give him a spot in Kellogg and lets get some NIL money for him.

It's deja vu all over again, and No. 1 Purdue is coming to Welsh-Ryan Arena. Northwestern basketball had a brief media availability today, here are our takeaways from Chris Collins' remarks.

That's it. Amazing what this team has done without star power.

Edit Kirtz also got HM media

Some interesting names being mentioned:

Alex Atkins
Curt Cignetti
Manny Diaz
Jason Garrett
Willie Fritz
Kevin Johns
Jim Knowles
Steve Spurrier, Jr

Here's @mshelton33's summary of the Cats who were recognized by the conference.

David gets his first nod as B1G COTY.

Most projections have assumed Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State will play in non BIG 10 Contracted Bowl Games freeing up the Citrus Bowl and below for the other BIG 10 Bowl qualifiers. I guess the real question is how secure is Penn State's position in playing in one of the upper tier bowls above Citrus? Could what happens in conference championship games elevate some looking in to squeeze Penn State out and thus have a domino effect for the rest including Northwestern?

My guess is that regardless of Tuesday's rankings and what they may portend with regard to what may happen after the Conference Championship games, the Northwestern Wildcats are still going to be playing either in Las Vegas or Phoenix.

Seemed like it needed to be said.

Apparently Ben Johnson is a frontrunner for the Carolina Panthers HC job…and here I thought our longest tenured LB still had a Covid year available.

In a development that should shock nobody, Timi Oke committed to NU today:

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We've got about 12 minutes to tipoff and there are a few hundred people here. It's going to be a sleepy kind of game at Welsh-Ryan, you can already feel it.

This is going to be a tough test for the Cats.

NIU is 5-1, with only a loss to Marquette. They've got a 20 ppg scorer in David Coit, who is coming off of a 34-point, 8 3-pointer game vs. DePaul. Another starting guard, the wonderfully named Zarique Nutter, averages 16.3.

They are fourth in the nation in free-throw attempts with a whopping 29.5 per game, so they are aggressive. They have a pair of bigs in Swiss import Yanic Konan Niederhauser (another great name) and Xavier Amos who are 1-2 in blocks in the MAC.

They are a veteran team, starting two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore.

Buckle up.

Where is my man, Purple White Boy? Need +/-stats NOW!

Nance got 30 some minutes 6pts 3 rebounds
Ryan Young...got the start for Duke,,,,20 minutes....12 pts 6 rebounds

Reading today's Sun Times preview of the 8A title game. "Caden O'Rourke [yes, younger brother], the Griffins dominant defensive end. . ." Hoping he's high on our list. Also, Loyola's kicker "may be the best in the State." I have never understood why we can't seem to bring in top end kickers and/or punters. Guys who boom kickoffs thru the end zone, and can hit 50+ yarders. Or who can drive it 55 yards in the air (not a puky 35 yarder that bounces and rolls for 42 yards net).

Do we have a chance at convincing Ryan Fitz to come here? Do we want to? Game's at 7 pm on the CW...

I want to welcome and thank all of the new WildcatReport subscribers! We had an outstanding response to our Black Friday promotion. WR wound up 12th among all sites in the Rivals network in new subscribers! And that was just the raw numbers. If you consider the new subscribers as a percentage of total subscribers, we might be No. 1.

So welcome to our little club. We hope to see posts from all of our new members popping up frequently. Nothing makes our community better than more voices.

If you have any questions, please let us know. @CoralSpringsCat will give you the key to the executive washroom. It's a cash bar, but @Hungry Jack is buying.

I'd also like to thank @mshelton33 for all of the outstanding work he's done. I think he's the reason for all of the new interest in WR.

Just wondering who might be the front runner after Ben Bryant ends his college career after the bowl game? An inquiring mind wants to know.

Best Illinois high school team in state. Their best two players are Fitz and Macpherson. Ha. Good job Schill.

Sean Lewis OC for Coach Prime moving on from Colorado to San Diego State. Brady Hoke retired after a dismal season for the Aztecs. The nadir was the 0-6 loss to Nevada- a team that had lost 16 straight prior to the loss. (I was at our road game with Nevada in Reno in 2006 when we lost there.) The Aztecs hope Coach Lewis can restore the Aztecs offense which declined under Hoke. The football program is under pressure to increase attendance for the new Aztec Stadium in Mission Valley. Having an exciting offense under Lewis might be key to drawing more fans to attend. Losing a game 0-6 to break the long losing streak of the opposing team can be a real downside for drawing fans!

NU applies for demo permit

After they lose to Louisville today, they will only have 1 more win than the 'Cats. I never would have expected that.

All times CENTRAL, and all games played on Saturday, December 2. Rankings come from the CFP poll. All games available nationally unless otherwise indicated. This is the Big Ten Championship.

Northwestern is off this week.

And the rest:

Big Ten Championship
#2 Michigan vs. #16 Iowa @ Indianapolis, IN
7:00 PM, FOX
PxP: Gus Johnson
Color: Joel Klatt

All other Big Ten teams are off this week.