How many protected rivalries does each program have, if any? Is there any prioritization of geographic rivalries on an ongoing basis?

Is there a formula that’s been announced, or just random assignments to this point? (Given general instability, probably silly to announce a long-term formula.)

If you protect only one rivalry, I guess that means you’d guarantee a home-and-home with every program every four years. But NU’s got only one West Coast opponent this season, which of course would tell you that that’s not the structure we’ve seen built.

I really like maintaining familiarity. NU got four West, four East, and one West Coast opponent this season.

Being that the championship is just the top two teams, I’d prefer protected pods off of 4 or 5. A 6-pod structure would also be possible , but that would likely put Iowa and Nebraska going West at least two times a year.

(I mind grueling travel schedules less for the pacific coast schools — their administrations sold them out, so let them deal with it. 🤷‍♂️)

Also Michigan is so beatable. (Can’t pass, and NU can stop the run.) Go Cats Go Cats Go

I am in the market for two tickets to the game tomorrow night in the Wilson club. I’d be happy to pay for them. My cell phone number is 773-294-5381. Please text me if you have any I can buy from you

Thank you and Go Cats!

Braun is a hot commodity.

He also has an incredibly cheap contract.

The Temple Owls may buy him out to steal him to a bigger market.

Look at Matt Rhule. He’s worth $100M now after he turned Temple and Baylor into winners.

If he wins at Temple, then that will get Braun a real contract from a real future Big Ten program like PSU, Virginia, or Miami (Florida).

As I reflected on the last 3 games, I was trying to assess what my take on Luke Hunger has been so far. What resonated was that it seems like he's playing more minutes, when he's in the game he's more assertive on offense, and I don't have a positive/negative sense about him defensively. I then scanned his kenpom page to see how his performances align with what I've sensed:


Your memory in 2024 might suggest that he seemed to play more than 28% of the minutes, but to be more specific, through 18 B1G games, Hunger averaged almost 12 minutes a game (and that included a DNP vs. Illinois). Even after Nicholson's injury, for the remainder of regular season, Luke was only 13.5 minutes per game. Collins finally committed to Hunger in the BTT, where he logged 32 minutes, and then in the tourney Hunger went 29, and 30 mpg. Coming into this season, it made sense with Hunger's growth that he'd earn more minutes, along with the easing in of Nicholson from a foot injury.

So far this year, this bears out as he's been averaging 18 mpg which corresponds to 45% of total minutes of his platoon with Nix. Pending on strategy and real-time foul situation, it's likely to hover around here.

What's fascinating is that he leads the team with %Shots at 31.6. Which roughly means, when he's on the court, he's responsible for 31.6% of that team's shot attempts. (For comparison, last year Boo Buie had 27.7 %Shots, and Boo was our #1 option.). This would be 10th highest among all individual B1G players this year (minimum 40%Poss to qualify). And as you can see - this is way more assertive compared to the previous year. What's also notable is that while Luke's game time in '23 is rather negligble - (he only played sparingly in the non-con due to injury and Collins preference for the more veteran Tydus/Matt pairing), he chucked it at a Boo-esque rate of 27.1. Despite this high usage, while they're not necessarily above average eFG/TS%, he's improving so that it's around average. (NBA average TS% is 56-57).


Extending the rest of his stat line:



Yep, he's doing better on the offensive end - he's improved in OReb% and Assist Rate. However, so far he's declined in drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line. While, he seems to be around 67-69% FT shooter which isn't great, its still free points. To me this suggests that he's been working outside-in as he's on track to almost double his 3FG takes (assuming he plays 30 games, he's on pace to get to 50 attempts), and perimeter oriented players don't tend to get to the line.

However, I sensed that against UIC he wasn't as perimeter oriented. I checked it out at Torvik and noticed he's trending towards "inside-out":


Hunger didn't take any mid-range shots against the Flames, and attacked the paint. He also had his only 2 FTs of the year against the Flames. While he does show a nice shooting stroke, I really prefer Hunger to take this line of attack. He's got the agility and post-moves to wiggle inside, and this puts pressure on the defense and potentially draws more free throws. Of course, he won't go 100% for the year, but let's get closer to the bonus. Also notable that both his Assist Rate has increased - among 5s, that would rate him 3rd in B1G, and while his TORate has ballooned to 15.7, that would still put him at 10th in B1G at his position - which would put him middle of the table for the league. (and much better than Nicholson, who is currently at 22.6.). All in all, there's some really nice greenshoots for him on offense.

As I further scan, I also understand why he isn't getting an impression on defense. His defensive rebounding has gone down significantly (UIC grabbing back 32.4% of their misses definitely wasn't a good showing for the team in that stat. Though he did tap out one yesterday on a free throw miss, and he's showing a propensity for that - that doesn't always get covered.). He hasn't shown up in the Block rates and Steal rates, but to be fair neither of those are expected features of his skill-set.

Assuming Nicholson isn't in foul-trouble, I expect him to be in lineups that are anchored by two upperclassmen guard-wing combo like Berry/Martinelli; Leach/Barnhizer; mix and match - and then two other bench guys: Windham, Mullins, Ciaravino. In that situation, Hunger seems primed to be a great 3rd option; or perhaps a 2nd option as the upperclassmen draw focus. Maybe he gets on a heater, and they keep feeding him - which allows the seniors to "rest" a bit, or focus more on the defensive end.

All in all - I remain hopeful that we're at his "floor," and that he can be a very effective platoon at the 5 for the defensive-minded Nicholson.

@lou v talked to Northwestern 2027 QB target Bryce Backus about his visit to Wrigley Field last week and his recruitment.

A one-off road game to Tulane remains one of the dumber things the NU AD has done lately (and the list of dumb things done by the NU AD lately is pretty long).

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@lou v talked to Northwestern 2027 QB target Bryce Backus about his visit to Wrigley Field last week and his recruitment.

While the Cats are now doomed to a losing conference record with their loss to OSU, Nebraska’s loss to USC clinched their 8th consecutive sub .500 record in the B1G (and their 9th in the last 10.)

Looks like the players dropped their suits against Phillips, Gragg, Schill and Shapiro.

As expected, the regular season finale at Wrigley Field will be a late morning kick available nationally on BTN.

Safety Alijah Jones capped off an incredible season with Severn (Md.) Archbishop Spalding with their third-straight MIAA A state title. Read about Jones and more in this week's roundup.

Safety Alijah Jones capped off an incredible season with Severn (Md.) Archbishop Spalding with their third-straight MIAA A state title. Read about Jones and more in this week's roundup.

Let's play all home games at Martin next year.

It seemed to my untrained eye that Ohio State Blitz 50% of the time or so when we drop back to pass. Conversely I don't recall any blitzing on our part. I'm sure there was a defensive philosophical reason for that protecting I would guess against their excellent wide receivers, but I'm not sure it worked very well. Seems to me their quarterback had all day to throw in a few blisses would have been beneficial.

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Saxe was the top target for 2026 NU QB commit Johnny O'Brien this season and was named to the IHSA 8A All-State team.

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For some reason I see us matching up against the wolverines.

Call me crazy but.

We couldn’t get anyone to Welsh-Ryan tonight, but I’ll be watching and writing from home as the Cats go for the Football-Basketball double against the Panthers.

Rittenberg provides a little PR for new stadium:

Head coach David Braun stood by Zach Lujan as his OC, and said there is no consideration of a change this offseason. Read about that and more from Braun's weekly presser here.

Popped in my FB feed...

For those that are nostalgic. Ironic timing considering today's NU announcement. The kicker is it was first time I ever went up to upper deck


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From Adam Gorney’s Recruiting Rumor Mill story this morning…

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@mikefitz77 has three things we learned, two questions we’re asking, and one bold prediction before the Wildcats head to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan.

@mikefitz77 has three things we learned, two questions we’re asking, and one bold prediction before the Wildcats head to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan.

I really thought Braun and his assistants did a great job in preparation for OSU, and that the players gave a top notch effort. The 92 yard TD drive was, for me, the highlight of the season.

To my eyes, OSU did not overwhelm the Cats. The NU offense mounted sustained drives, and the defense registered stops at various times. I thought the Bucks won by making the plays at the limits of skill: perfectly thrown passes caught on fingertips, a half step of quickness on defense to make open field tackles, flawless, strong play at every position. They are very good.

I did think there were two key junctures that could have made it a much more interesting game had they gone differently. The obvious one was the double bad snap sequence leading to a blocked punt. The other, that was tantalizingly close, was on OSU’s first third down after NU’s TD at about the Bucks’ 17. Hubbard flat out beat the OT, and got within a whisker of batting the ball out of Howard’s hand as he was releasing it. It really looked to me like Howard had no idea Hubbard was so close. If Hubbard gets there, the rest of the half may well have played out differently.

I was really proud of how well the team played and really impressed by the Bucks. After watching them, I completely expect them to play for the National title.