How Important Is This Season?

[MU82]

I went to MU as an undergrad and NU as a grad student. While grad school is a different animal than being an undergrad in terms of having a pulse with the student body, it seemed that most NU students could care less about the athletics programs. NU has plenty of money and Fitz being an NU alum may be in it for the long haul.

Also, every season for MU is important, but this season we have the opportunity to take the Big East and make a statement to the Big East.

As a guy who lived in Chicago for 16 years and who went to many Northwestern football and basketball games as a paid observer, I always felt Northwestern was a borderline non-entity on the Chicago sports scene.

It was Bears, Cubs, Bulls, White Sox, Notre Dame football, Blackhawks, Illinois basketball, DePaul (when they were good), golf, and then maybe Northwestern ... if there wasn't a great prep story like Garnett or Rose.

There were a couple of years there, under Barnett, where Northwestern football got some great headlines and hype -- and they certainly were higher on that list during those couple of years. But even then I felt they were more of a nice, national story -- Long Downtrodden NU Wildcats Burst Onto National Scene! -- than a team that dominated Chicago sports conversation. I felt there were thousands (probably tens of thousands, and maybe hundreds of thousands) more avid Notre Dame football fans than Northwestern fans, even when ND was struggling and NW was going to bowl games under the purple liar, Barnett. There were even empty seats at NW's quaint field for many years there.

I just have a hard time thinking Northwestern ever will challenge the Big 14 heavyweights for serious, long-term football dominance. But I don't blame NW fans for hoping otherwise.

[Herman Cain]

As a guy who lived in Chicago for 16 years and who went to many Northwestern football and basketball games as a paid observer, I always felt Northwestern was a borderline non-entity on the Chicago sports scene.

It was Bears, Cubs, Bulls, White Sox, Notre Dame football, Blackhawks, Illinois basketball, DePaul (when they were good), golf, and then maybe Northwestern ... if there wasn't a great prep story like Garnett or Rose.

There were a couple of years there, under Barnett, where Northwestern football got some great headlines and hype -- and they certainly were higher on that list during those couple of years. But even then I felt they were more of a nice, national story -- Long Downtrodden NU Wildcats Burst Onto National Scene! -- than a team that dominated Chicago sports conversation. I felt there were thousands (probably tens of thousands, and maybe hundreds of thousands) more avid Notre Dame football fans than Northwestern fans, even when ND was struggling and NW was going to bowl games under the purple liar, Barnett. There were even empty seats at NW's quaint field for many years there.

I just have a hard time thinking Northwestern ever will challenge the Big 14 heavyweights for serious, long-term football dominance. But I don't blame NW fans for hoping otherwise.

In your day everything you described was true. Things are steadily changing in Evanston for the better in all sports and there is starting to be a pulse.

 Fitzgerald has the football program consistently in bowls, top half of the Big Ten  and in the top 25.  Basketball  has found its way out of the wilderness and has some positive vibes and a refurbished arena. In order for NU to challenge OSU  and Michigan  in football they have to move their program to be as highly regarded by recruits as Stanford ( mid size private school with high academics). I think that requires another 10 years or so of steady results. At that point there will be a 30 year history of a competitive program and the old image of NW will have faded away.
 
Basketball may have a harder road to travel . Big Ten Basketball is much more competitive than Big Ten Football so on a relative basis to the conference recruiting for NU basketball  is much more difficult. Then there are all the Big East schools which are the same size etc and can essentially sell the same story about playing time to recruits .I think the investment and commitment to athletics NW is making will help that program fight through.

Long Term I would like to see MU and NW have some kind of basketball series in place . I think it would be beneficial for  MU. Play the game during the week before conference season starts, instead of some random cupcake..   

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Does Arby’s have a football team?

With that weird Gumby-like oven mitt thing roaming the sidelines as the mascot?

[GooooMarquette]

No, it is the opposite ...

NU has more resources than all of them.  They have the largest endowment in the Big 10 and they spent $200 MILLION to built a full indoor 100 yard practice facility on the lakefront.  It is the best practice facility in college football.

So the rest of them are worried that the sleeping giant in now awake and can, and is, outspending them. Add they have an established young coach that consistently has his teams finish higher than their recruiting classes.

FYI - this is the third year in a row NU was ranked, and they won their bowl game last year.  No, they are not going to compete for the NC ... but the losers are Nebraska and especially Wisconsin, they should get used to not being in Indy the first Saturday in December.

It may have the largest endowment, but that doesn't necessarily translate into the largest football budget. According to this relatively recent article (https://www.jconline.com/story/sports/blogs/mike-carmin/2017/04/07/where-purdue-ranks-big-ten-football-revenue-expenses/100172108/), Northwestern spends far less than the traditional power schools in the conference on football. There's a reason why tOSU and Michigan are the traditional top two, and Penn State, UW@Madison, and Michigan State are typically in the running...and the reason is one the list.

A one-time capital expenditure like a practice facility is certainly an asset, but it takes consistent ongoing expenditures like coaches' salaries, recruiting budgets and the like to compete season after season. If NU climbs into the top five or so on this list regularly, then they might have a shot at top-tier status.