Northwestern needs to succeed in winning 1 out 3 (forget even about 1 out of 2) recruiting battles on a regular basis in head to head battles with Stanford (same or superior academics), Notre Dame (good academics although not at NU's level, Midwest and traditional powerhouse) and perhaps Michigan and Wisconsin (generally considered good academic schools...albeit with a lot more leeway in being able to accept mediocre students) to be able to reach/win a Big Ten championship game outside of a fluke occasion (i.e.,more than once every 8-10 years). By picking off a few recruits (2-4 or 5 annually) who have also been offered by big time programs, recognizing a few gems who were not heavily recruited and generally very good coaching has created a competitive above-average Big Ten team on a year to year basis. But, until NU can consistently obtain 6-10 recruits with the higher tier talent, I believe this is a realistic cap of what NU fans can (and should) realistically expect. Astronomically better and far more stable than when I was a student so I am thrilled anytime we can win 10+, let alone any year when we finally get to the BT championship. But, believing that we can overachieve beyond that level except with a tremendous number of flukes going our way is unrealistic.
