Want to see what impact NIL is having on non revenue sports at NU? Check out the Other Sports message board to see what UM apparently just paid one of our best wrestlers to defect.

All times CENTRAL. All games nationally televised unless otherwise indicated. I will add announcers as they are assigned, except for BTN+ games.

First, the NU game:

Northwestern vs. Arizona State @ Phoenix, AZ (Jerry Colangelo’s Hall of Fame Series)
Wednesday, December 20
7:30 PM, ESPN2
PxP: Dave Pasch
Color: Sean Farnham

And the rest:

Monday, December 18

Oakland @ Michigan State
6:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Jason Ross Jr.
Color: Dane Fife

Tuesday, December 19

Morehead State @ Indiana
5:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Kevin Kugler
Color: Bruce Weber

Michigan vs. Florida @ Charlotte, NC (Jumpman Invitational)
6:00 PM, ESPN
PxP: Dave O’Brien
Color: Debbie Antonelli

Nicholls State @ Maryland
7:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Jason Horowitz
Color: Robbie Hummel

Wednesday, December 20

North Dakota @ Nebraska
6:30 PM, BTN+ (streaming only)

UMBC @ Iowa
7:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Jason Ross Jr.
Color: Jess Settles

Thursday, December 21

New Orleans @ Ohio State
5:00 PM, BTN+ (streaming only)

Jacksonville @ Purdue
5:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Connor Onion
Color: Rapheal Davis

Stony Brook @ Michigan State
5:30 PM, BTN+ (streaming only)

Le Moyne @ Penn State
6:00 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Terry Gannon
Color: Robbie Hummel

Ball State @ Minnesota
7:00 PM, BTN+ (streaming only)

North Alabama @ Indiana
7:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Cory Provus
Color: Trent Meacham

Friday, December 22

Chicago State @ Wisconsin
7:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Wayne Randazzo
Color: Brian Butch

Maryland @ UCLA
8:00 PM, ESPN2
PxP: Dave Pasch
Color: Bill Walton

Illinois vs. Missouri @ St. Louis, MO (Braggin’ Rights)
8:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Jason Ross Jr.
Color: Robbie Hummel

Saturday, December 23

Rutgers vs. Mississippi State @ Newark, NJ (Gotham Classic)
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Jason Horowitz
Color: Austin Johnson

I can now confirm that silent commit Matthew Smith will indeed sign with Northwestern on Wednesday.

We’ve been predicting and talking about it for quite some time, but you can book it. This won’t be another Alex Green situation. He’ll be a Cat.

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Here are a couple of details I got from my conversation with Carson that weren't part of his story, but were still newsworthy.

First, I asked if McGarigle or Braun had tipped their hand regarding defensive staff changes. Braun plans to hire a DC and McGarigle has a chance for the job as an internal candidate. Cooney said he hadn't heard anything from either of them and said McGarigle is focused on the task at hand and what will come, will come. No surprise there but still wanted to let the board know what he said.

Second, Cooney said there were two 2024 OL in the building for practice as well. They'd be on officials while Cooney was on an unofficial, and he said their paths never really crossed and he didn't know who they were. The team is playing their OL efforts pretty close to the vest so I'm not sure if we'll be able to log a Prediction or get names before NSD in a couple days but know that NU is trying to get at least one more OL in the class with Cotton.

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QB Ryan Boe from Batavia, Ill. announced his decommitment from North Dakota State and his commitment to Northwestern today.

More to come from WildcatReport.

Haven’t seen one of these in a while. Lots of underclassmen starting for the Utes.

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I have parked on the street north of Isabella for b-ball games for many years. Now Wilmette has made a stealth change in their parking regulation - no notice, they just posted the new signs. For BTen games there is no parking for two hours before and two hours after the game (same as football). The signs have the dates for which parking is limited. This seems to apply to all of the streets for a few blocks north of Isabella.

This one is for basketball fans...

Trailing 70-64 with 30 seconds to go, 6'5" forward Terrence Hargrove of Saint Louis University simply refused to lose to favored Louisiana Tech...

First Hargrove drove the lane and posterized an opponent with a monster dunk then made the free throw to cut it to 70-67 with 28 seconds left.
SLU fouled immediately. La Tech made 1 of 2 free throws. to lead 71-67 with 26 seconds left.
Hargrove drove the lane and made a layup with 17 seconds left. SLU called timeout immediately and fouled immediately on the inbounds play.
La Tech made 1 of 2 free throws with 15 seconds left to make it 72-69.
Hargrove hit a 3 pointer to tie it with 7 seconds to go.
SLU inexplicably fouled with 5 seconds left. La Tech made both free throws to regain the lead 74-72.
SLU inbounded to Hargrove who drove to the 3 point arc, got away with a Michael Jordan pushoff and drilled the game winner as the buzzer sounded.

Just a phenomenal effort, worth viewing.

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@lou v has the breakdown on what you need to know about the Howard Bison before they play Northwestern for the first time in program history.

I have heard that the two silent commits are as theorized: LB Matthew Smith and WR Alex Green.

If Green keeps to the February time table I could see a Texas school swooping in but I think that Smith can pretty much be locked in.


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I cringed when Buie declared himself one of the top 2 players in college basketball after the Purdue win. Now the team is all eating humble pie.

Celebrate the wins when they come.

WildcatReport has learned that Alessio Milivojevic will be visiting NU this weekend for the Maryland game.

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Slackman is a bit of a longshot as he has a ton of offers from numerous P5 teams. That being said, I’m thrilled to see we are at least in the hunt.

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Northwestern didn’t get many style points but they got a 56-46 win over DePaul. Here’s my story from tonight’s game at Wintrust Arena.

Projectile dysfunction.

Hunter Niswander may be a part of the good hands team after this…

Some interesting thoughts here from Chip Kelly. He’s receiving a lot of positive recognition for this. Will be fascinating to watch as things transpire. Will NU maintain their seat at the table as one of the 64?? Does the future of college football align with the philosophy of the NU administration? Time will tell.

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Just brutal. At least we’ll have that home field advantage. 🙄

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QB Ryan Boe from Batavia, Ill. announced his decommitment from North Dakota State and his commitment to Northwestern today.

More to come from WildcatReport.

There season is over now. Maybe Braun will announce hires. Not sure right before bowl game though. But before signing period.

Check out this story for the journey of Ryan Boe's recruitment by David Braun, from NDSU to Northwestern, and more about Boe's process.

Didn’t see this one coming.

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Nice background piece on Bryant and the Cats

Hey Matt, any word on these two? Are you expecting them to sign on Wednesday? Not a peep out of either on social media in regards to NU as of late. 🤷‍♂️