For the third question in our Ten Questions series, Northwestern's offensive line is under a lot of scrutiny this offseason with a new position coach and as many as four new starters along the line. I broke down the options that Bill O'Boyle has at each position to set his starting five, and gave my take on who should be the frontrunners.

With Lou off in Malaysia maybe I can get away with this arguable OT post from my own recent travel to the other side of the globe.


Below, this is the Inner Courtyard of China’s Forbidden City which fronts three primary residential Palace buildings.

On the right is where the Emperor had his bedroom. In the middle is where the Empress resided. It also is the location of the bridal chamber in which an Emperor and his new bride would be locked for 3 days to spend their wedding “night” before the Emperor would move into his own palace building.

The third palace building on the left would house the night’s selected concubine who would be under the supervision of the Empress.

The Chinese term for Forbidden City is Zijincheng literally, “Purple Taboo Fortress”, Zi (Purple) jin (taboo) cheng (fortress).

(The reference to Purple is a reference to Ziwei, the Purple Jade (North) Star in the heaven above. In effect, the Purple [jade]Taboo Fortress on earth is its replication.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oDGEjNHSeo

Glad the school has been so diligent tracking down and holding to account the people who perpetrated the “hazing”.

Just posted a thread about my week in Malaysia, if you are interested…

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So camps are getting ready to go...where will the Wildcats be? DId Bryant hang on in New York?

So let me get this straight, Gragg was to be acting AD until a new one was found, now Goss is the Interim Senior Deputy Director of Athletics. Makes total sense to me......

Interim Senior Deputy Director of Athletics.

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More CBB related that specifically NU hoops related - interesting to see that they're adding the Bart Torvik metrics to the team sheets. He builds off of the kenpom data to identify other predictive metrics like "T-Rank" (more detail here, but in short has more of a recency bias as well as discounts blowouts), as well as "Wins Above Bubble" (team rating based on how many more wins it has over an average "bubble team").

Seems like Chip Morris has become a strong voice for athletics amongst the BOT.

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Brian is on from about 2:10-30:00 mark.

Quack.

This is probably the Best Team in the Big Ten. It might be the best team in the Nation.

We can't speak to what the Oregon Ducks will look like 5 years from now...but the team rolling into the Big Ten in 2024 has no weaknesses. Think 2023 Michigan.

Awesome coaching, talent everywhere...just be glad we don't play these new fellas from Eugene.

ITunes Link
Youtube Link

Thanks as always!
Sam, John, and Scuzz/The West Lot Pirates

Quack.

This is probably the Best Team in the Big Ten. It might be the best team in the Nation.

We can't speak to what the Oregon Ducks will look like 5 years from now...but the team rolling into the Big Ten in 2024 has no weaknesses. Think 2023 Michigan.

Awesome coaching, talent everywhere...just be glad we don't play these new fellas from Eugene.

ITunes Link
Youtube Link

Thanks as always!
Sam, John, and Scuzz/The West Lot Pirates

Quite possibly the only person not on this board thinking about Cats hoops.

Jon Rothstein. The Innovator.

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(I imagine Nicky Buckets is cranking up several hundred threes a day this summer.)

I talked to 2026 four-star safety Marcello Vitti about his offer from Northwestern, his relationship with AHC/S Harlon Barnett and where the Wildcats stand in an already national recruitment.

NU week over there. A few light-hearted and sarcastic Cats articles, if you want some content

Today marks the 1 year date of Fitz’s “ I just got the highest paid vacation imaginable” day. 🍻

Beep. Beep. Beep.

That's the sound of the Big Ten Schedule Makers backing the bus over the corpse of the UCLA Bruins one more time, just to make sure.

HOLY. CRAP. This schedule would be a nightmare just based on the air miles alone...but it feels like this mediocre UCLA team, breaking in a whole new coaching staff, has to play just about every good team in the NATION, let alone the Big Ten.

YIKES.

ITunes link
Youtube link

Thanks as always!
Sam, John, and Scuzz/The West Lot Pirates

Beep. Beep. Beep.

That's the sound of the Big Ten Schedule Makers backing the bus over the corpse of the UCLA Bruins one more time, just to make sure.

HOLY. CRAP. This schedule would be a nightmare just based on the air miles alone...but it feels like this mediocre UCLA team, breaking in a whole new coaching staff, has to play just about every good team in the NATION, let alone the Big Ten.

YIKES.

ITunes link
Youtube link

Thanks as always!
Sam, John, and Scuzz/The West Lot Pirates

Just a heads up that I am heading out of town on vacation from July 5-21. This one is a big adventure: Malaysia and Thailand. So not only will I be on vacation, but I’ll also be 13 time zones away.

Luckily, you will have @mshelton33 running the show, and he will be ably assisted by @mikefitz77. So you are in very good hands.

Besides, it’s mid-July in college football. What could possibly happen? 😉

Can't say "new" because it may be confused with Lakeside Field

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As a youngster growing up I played most sports- football, basketball, baseball but the most grueling was cycling which I participated in both road and track. I was terrible but gave it a try. I did enjoy riding with my local AYH club and rode around a little as a freshman at NU.

I believe the only other sport that may approach cycling for endurance and burning calories is cross country skiing. Watching the Tour de France it’s amazing what these riders can do, esp. climbing and descending mountains. I’ve always enjoyed watching the Tour and the beautiful French countryside and historical ruins the cyclists pass by. Just a colorful event I’ve enjoyed watching for decades now. A real classic up there with any other major sporting event.

In that Brian James interview from the other thread, at about 25:35 he mentioned that Brooks Barnhizer will be the primary ballhandler this year. Not necessarily something that I would have expected. That's a pretty big revelation I think.

Bart Torvik released his 2025 projections. You can edit the NU roster to see how it affects the projections, too.

His current projections have Northwestern ranked 55th in the nation and 14th in the expanded B1G, but that doesn't account for Nicholson and Berry returning.

When you add Berry and Nicholson back to the roster the Cats move up to 27th overall. If you add Blackmon then they move up to 25th.

Fun tool to play around with, and good to see the models like this returning roster.

On a lighter note, I'll just leave this here.....

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