Northwestern (12-7, 3-5 Big Ten) is on the road at No. 17 Illinois (13-6, 5-4 Big Ten) today. The game will tip off at 2:07 pm and will air on BTN. The home team has won the last six games of the rivalry, and NU hasn't won at the State Farm Center since 2012.

I'm referring to playoff bids.

I detest Ohio State (it's their fans, really...) but in their playoff run, they were as impressive as any team I can ever remember seeing. In this respect, I don't know that another team was more deserving.

...but I also appreciate any arguments that they lost two conference games including to their middling rival at the end of the season (at home, no less) and did not play in or win their conference championship. And in a universe with 130 teams, should anyone (Oregon) have to play/beat anyone more than once?

And so, because it's Friday and the offseason has begun, I'm just curious about NU fanbase opinions of whether it should be about who we THINK would beat whom on the field, or who "deserves" to be there based on their body of work.

TB interview with Rever Login to view embedded media

Couldn’t make the game in person. From what I saw, East stands again pretty empty? Crowd energy seemed good later in the game overall.

6/10 Willie’s from what I saw on BTN.

Again, points deducted for the East side stands being subpar and low energy early in game. (Note, this is a specific Wildside student section rating, not for WR in general).

Welcome thoughts from those who were there.

Rutgers is not very good. I like our chances against them. How did MSU get such an easy schedule? They play Minnesota again for the 2nd already in their next game. I don’t think they have seen Perdue, Iowa, Michigan all teams we have played.

I talked to St. Charles (Ill.) North wide receiver Keaton Reinke about his Junior Day visit, his offer from NU and more.

This season it's scheduled for early October and the game will be played at our beautiful stadium on the lake. I'll be attending my 60th Reunion, and can't believe I'm that old. I saw Tom Myers complete his first 15 passes in our 1962 opener against South Carolina, and Tom recently passed away. Anybody else here attending and celebrating a reunion?

I started a thread last year about his free throw issues. He came out of it last year so hopefully he gets his touch back. He goes through periods where he is always short on his misses. He plays so unbelievably hard. I would love to see him get his stroke back so scoring doesn’t require every ounce of energy he has.

Good win for the Wildcats to remain in the NCAA picture.


There's a lot going on with Northwestern's rotations. The Ciaravino experiment may have ended... or not. He only played 7+ minutes, but the starting 5 had taken an 8-5 lead when Ty Berry entered the game for Ciaravino at 15:19 of the first half. Berry has played great as the "6th man" and we're 2-1 since switching things up. Ciaravino missed a couple open 3's and turned the ball over once. At least the shots looked good leaving his hand.

NU's 3rd big man, Keenan Fitzmorris, might now be NU's 2nd big man. He did a decent job and seems to fit in with Martinelli/Barnhizer/Leach/Berry. That lineup put up 13-11 in 6:08 of action.
Luke Hunger returned to action, but we were outscored 7-2 in 3:20 with Luke at the 5.

KJ Windham subbed in for the struggling Jalen Leach at the 11:51 mark and played like his hair was on fire for the next 3:10, recording a steal, a block, a rebound, an assist and 2 missed layups. NU stretched the lead from 15-13 up to 23-15 with KJ on the floor. Obviously his effort projects to an 0 for 26 shooting effort, with 13 steals, 13 rebounds, 13 assists and 13 blocks. Collins took him out with 8:41 left in the half and his day was done. Indiana then pummeled NU 16-2 as the coach rotated in Smith, Mullins, Ciaravino and Hunger, searching for answers.

Coming out of halftime, trailing 31-25, Collins went back to the old starting lineup of Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Leach/Berry. They responded with a 14-6 onslaught in the first 4:24 of the 2nd half.
Fitzmorris was sent in for Nicholson at that point and that group continued with an 8-5 win over the next 3:44. Then Collins tried Hunger with the same 4 and we regressed, getting outscored 5-2 in a quick 1:16 segment. Nicholson was sent back in with NU ahead 49-47 and 10:36 to play. NU re-asserted its dominance, pushing relentlessly to a 70-56 lead with 3:12 left. We lost focus, turned the ball over a couple times, foolishly left some shooters open for 3 pointers and missed a few free throws, but re-grouped and held on.

Ty Berry gets the game ball, with strong support from Barnhizer (21 pts, 6 steals, 6 assists, 6 rebounds), but Leach, Martinelli and Nicholson all had decent games. Of those 5, only Nicholson left the floor in the 2nd half - until Barnhizer tried to break his own face with 16 seconds left.

Against Indiana that group of 5 (the old starters) played 17 minutes and triumphed 46-35, which is a lot more offense than we usually see from them.

I've always liked him as an announcer (except for that wacky forwards-backwards play analysis, which I just find dizzying), but beyond that, appreciate that he's maintained while going through many personal challenges...including his own dealings w/the OSU lunatic fringe. And now this:

Kirk Herbstreit, who couldn’t hold back his emotions after Ohio State win, reveals his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer

ND Starting OL hits the portal. Should have the grades.

Things looking much better on the operational front..

Here's @mshelton33 story about recent NU offer PJ MacFarlane.

What’s it going to take to get a fair game? I saw Larry Scirotto before the game and that other cue ball clown and said to my family it’s going to be another one of those games. They didn’t disappoint. They had at least five calls that weren’t just wrong but criminally bad. It can’t keep happening game after game. At some point there has to be accountability in this league. What’s it going to take to fix this crap? End rant.

I will be traveling at the end of Jan/early Feb and won't be able to attend three games. I also will be in a different section for DePaul, so need to get rid of my usual seat for that game. I'm trying to be proactive to ensure that a fellow NU fan is occupying my seat:

12/21/24 vs DePaul (3pm tipoff) SOLD
01/29/25 vs Rutgers (8pm tipoff)
02/01/25 vs Wisconsin (1pm tipoff)
02/04/25 vs USC (8pm tipoff) SOLD

For each game, I have a single season ticket for sale: Section 107, Row 13, Seat 23. (Section located behind NU bench)
Price negotiable - will entertain all reasonable offers. Message me.

Northwestern (11-7, 2-5 Big Ten) hosts Indiana (13-5, 5-3 Big Ten) tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game will tip off at 6 pm and air on BTN.

I will be traveling at the end of Jan/early Feb and won't be able to attend three games. I also will be in a different section for DePaul, so need to get rid of my usual seat for that game. I'm trying to be proactive to ensure that a fellow NU fan is occupying my seat:

12/21/24 vs DePaul (3pm tipoff) SOLD
01/29/25 vs Rutgers (8pm tipoff)
02/01/25 vs Wisconsin (1pm tipoff)
02/04/25 vs USC (8pm tipoff) SOLD

For each game, I have a single season ticket for sale: Section 107, Row 13, Seat 23. (Section located behind NU bench)
Price negotiable - will entertain all reasonable offers. Message me.

Anyone who can beat Indiana, anytime is good. Ty Berry is back! The cats are in it.

I stick to the assertion that the ‘Cats are a tournament team, mostly because it is much more fun to believe in something. It may end up a near miss because we’ve had average to slightly below average luck in toss up contests, whether that was officiating or buzzer beaters or balls rimming out. Wins: EIU, Illinois, Maryland. Losses: Butler, PSU, Iowa, Michigan.

There is a version of the multiverse where we won all seven and instead of “saving our season” we beat IU and are dreaming about being seeded on the top four lines. There is also a version where we lose all seven and we are speculating on who returns for 25-26 to rebuild.

Same team, same players, dame coaching, same execution for 99% of the game, vastly different outcomes.

Only game where we truly got our doors blown off was Purdue. In every other contest we’ve competed and had more than enough talent to win. With a healthy Brooks I wonder about the Dayton game, too.

Point is I wish we could chill on the hand wringing and penciling in wins and losses down the schedule in advance. I don’t count Illinois as a loss this Sunday because all this team has done for three years is scrape and scrap on the road and grit their way into close games. We can beat anyone in this conference on any given night, especially when Ty has his legs, which ultimately means we can beat most teams from most leagues on any given night.

I miss Boo’s shooting and his killer instinct, but what a joy to watch Brooks take up that mantle with Mart

Only five Cats scored, only four made a field goal today. I’ve never seen that.

Ciaravino made two early free throws.

Leach, Martinelli, Barnhizer, Berry all had between 15 and 23.

Real big win.
Needed to have it.

Sunday will be another tough one, because they’re all tough.

Maybe this is their year!

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At least their fans are reasonable and not at all delusional.

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Beating Indiana will never get old.

Here's my game preview.