Northwestern (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) hosts No. 23 Indiana (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) this afternoon at Martin Stadium. Kick is set for 2:40 pm CT and the game will air on BTN.

Coming off a strong performance from all units against Maryland last week, the Cats welcome the Badgers for the last lakeside game of the season. Over the last several decades, this series is incredibly close, reverting to a mean of .500. Wisconsin is also improving, coming off a dominating performance against Purdue.

Wisconsin fans are leary about games in Evanston and the Cats could pull the upset...if they play like they did in College Park.

Prediction:

Lake Mendota 24
Lake Michigan 29

Looks to be plenty of unsold seats for tmrw. Majority in the south end zone. If anything hopefully they realize for new Ryan stadium the most expensive seats don’t automatically sell.

Anyone we can snag from their program?

Cats trending upward
Badgers baffled once again
History repeats

Hey all.

My buddy had a medical situation come up so he will be unable to use his three tickets in the north endzone tomorrow. He’s just trying to get face value back ($85 each) but will only sell to NU fans.

If you are an NU fan and interested comment here or PM me. If you’re a Badgers fan… get lost!

I can't attend the game with my dad on Saturday. And I can't find anybody I know who wants the ticket.

I don't want to put it on Stubhub for a Badger fan to get.

Row 14, West 28. I'd ask $100 for the ticket to an NU fan from this board.

Edit: I found a friend who can use the ticket.

@lou v and I log our picks for Northwestern's matchup with Wisconsin this week.

The season approaches, and with it come the preseason ratings!

Kenpom: #50 (12th in conference)
Torvik: #48 (14th in conference)
Evan Miyawaka: #55 (14th in conference)
Haslametrics: #43 (10th in conference)

None of them have any teams in the conference as being elite or any teams being terrible, with a handful of top-25 squads and a big jumble in the middle. Should be an interesting year in the extremely Big 10.

Buddy of mine can't use their tickets for tomorrow. 4 seats. Let me know and I'll get you into contact with them...
Section N-2
Level L
Row 49

Friend of mine now can't make it tomorrow and asked me to help find them a good NU fan home...Let me know if interested...

Section N-2
Level L
Row 49

Rumors abound that we're pushing hard for her as our next AD. Pretty strong record at Eastern Michigan and now Pitt; has a Big Ten background at Ohio State.

Pulling a sitting P4 AD with some successful big ticket hires and fundraising drives in her back pocket would be very good. Her Chris Creighton hire at EMU led to by far the most success that program has had in decades. A lot of Olympic sport success at Pitt with hires she made as well. Story says her contract at Pitt is up soon, with a new chancellor in charge. Hopefully we're not a stalking horse.

The NU AD job is going to be interesting for whoever gets it. A lot of the capital projects are already done. NIL will be a huge driver, but obviously there are limitations to what the AD him/herself can do there. Hopefully Braun continues to build such that a football coach hire isn't in the cards soon, and hopefully Collins sticks around so the same is true for MBB. I imagine McKeown may be winding down his tenure. Most of the other head coach jobs should have stability. The biggest thing will be maintaining our spot in the top echelon of college sports, so I think that having someone who's had a seat at that table with a P4 job is very important. Familiarity with media rights, etc., will be important. It goes without saying that maintaining academic achievement and high grad rates is always priority #1.

Lyke would be an excellent hire, in my view. She's got a better resume than many of the names originally floated.

Are we playing Iowa St. again?

@lou v and I log our picks for Northwestern's matchup with Wisconsin this week.

God knows I hate to shill for NU. Let's think of this as more of a PSA.

Today, NU had a B10 single-game ticket pre-sale for STHs. Tickets for the usual sold out games were $119 for the lower level and $99 for the upper level. For Nebraska, it's $75 for lowers and $50 for upstairs.

Interesting pricing for a program still trying to build its fan base for a 7000+ seat arena.

Anyhow, if you plan to attend anything in the ballpark of four or five games and don't want to battle the secondary market - at those prices - you might want to consider season tickets while you still can - especially in the upper level.

NU offers Damari Simeon out of St. Augustine Prep in New Jersey. Braun is not afraid to shoot his shot. Kid has a very strong offer list to include Notre Same, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Michigan. (and Duke).

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@lou v went behind enemy lines to talk to Seamus Rohrer of BadgerBlitz.com and get the inside scoop on Wisconsin this week.

I loved the way we played last week against Maryland, how our defense looked so much better and got four takeaways from a team that had barely turned the ball over prior to that. I also am really pleasantly surprised at how the offense has grown. It's still got a long way to go, but we've seen a lot of improvement the last two weeks, and credit to Lausch for taking care of the ball and not turning it over.

All that said, I have a bad feeling about this one on Saturday. After a year plus with Fickell, it looks like Wisconsin is finally figuring it out and playing really good ball. Rutgers isn't a great team, but they are a tough team that plays hard and doesn't make things easy for their opponents, and Wisconsin just whooped them from the jump...Locke looks like the real deal and their defense has been playing more like Wisconsin defense's of old.

I feel like a 28-7 type loss may be incoming. I, of course, would love to come back here on Saturday and celebrate how wrong I was (and I will do it if we win). But this is one of those rare games where I really just have a bad feeling about it.

What better place to host their football championship than the new Ryan Field?!?

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When I was watching I was calling out to the TV for Oregon to take a time out because their defense looked confused. The 12 men on the field was by design which was a pretty big gamble at that spot in the field. It took the ball from the 43 to the 38 and ran 4 seconds off the clock, leaving 6 seconds with one timeout for OSU to get in FG range. The 12 men gave Oregon enough advantage in the secondary to prevent a completion. I think it caused enough confusion for OSU and their QB on timing as he ran out the clock scrambling. However, on watching slomo replay he could have safely slid at the 35 at :02 and took a time out with :01, leaving time for a 52 yard FG attempt which is makeable (though not sure how good their FG kicker is).

Interesting gamble. Did they do it because they had less confidence in their secondary and felt that OSU couldn't make a longer FG? I wonder if more teams will try this? It seems to make a lot of sense in some endgame situations, I woudl think moreso if the other team needs a TD and time is more limiting than downs. Just put 12 men (how about 13 or 14???) on the field to give yourself an advantage, and take the 5 yard penalty. 5 yards is better than giving up a completion for 15, and you also get to run time off the clock. If it happens enough maybe they will change the rule that the time goes back on the clock?

https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/20...g-that-we-had-worked-on-dan-lanning-said.html

@lou v went behind enemy lines to talk to Seamus Rohrer of BadgerBlitz.com and get the inside scoop on Wisconsin this week.

It seems like a safe assumption that Nicholson, Martinelli, Barnhizer, Berry and Leach will open the season as the starting 5, assuming everybody is healthy.

Is the first substitution Hunger for Nicholson? Or is it Keenan Fitzmorris for Nicholson?
I want to believe it is Luke Hunger. After that things are unclear...

Who is the first man off the bench for the non-centers?
Will we see Jordan Clayton subbing in for Leach? Or will we run an offense without a point guard?

Justin Mullins, Angelo Ciavarino and Blake Smith all seem like the same sort of wing / small forward. Athletic guys who will not be handling the ball too much.
They should provide depth at the 2 and/or the 3, with Smith probably getting fewer opportunities.

KJ Windham looks like a guy who can jump ahead of Clayton quickly and become the first bench option at point guard or shooting guard.

If Blake Barkley can provide depth at the power forward position, that would be nice, but I don't expect it.
Hopefully we'll see Luke Hunger at that position on occasion.

We're solid at 4 starting positions, facing a big question at point guard, with lots of rotation possibilities.

The season starts in 3 weeks!

Looking to take the oldest little one to the game and park closer than my usual secret location.

I was watching episode 2 of the Menendez brothers series on Netflix last night, and Charlie Hall turns up as a friend of Erik's. Trash TV and I don't recommend it (although that didn't stop me from watching it), but it's nice to see Charlie getting regular work.

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Came across this on twitter (from a re-share from Brian James' account). My quick takes on his takes:

• Affirming to hear the type of culture that has been built, and continues to be built.
• He confirms that Leach will be a great add, and he likes the incoming frosh.
• I learned that Ciaravino's nickname is "Jello." That's cool.