Big Ten Takes 4-2 Lead in Challenge, Led by NU's Thrashing of Georgia Tech

Whoo, what a ride! A couple of unexpected outcomes have pushed our conference ahead in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, with a score of 4 to 2. For those of you just tuning in, the conferences face off in 11 games which means that six wins will give the conference bragging rights for the remainder of the season (until, of course, Duke goes ahead and chops everyone down in the NCAA). I've been able to watch most of these games and have been excited and concerned about what I've seen -- excited because the Big Ten looks good, and concerned because the Big Ten looks good.

That said, NU's solid performance over Georgia Tech in the home tilt gives me a lot of optimism as the season progresses. Jump inside and I'll explain how we got to where we are:

Big Ten / ACC Challenge Predictions!

Tonight begins the greatest inter-conference rivalry in all of college sports, the Big Ten / ACC Challenge (somehow not sponsored by Rotel). This three-day orgy of college hoops sets the tone for the remainder of the season and provides bragging rights to the winning conference, as well as a couple of resume games. Last season saw the Big Ten finally win its first Challenge, aided by Wisconsin's upset against Duke on the road. And who can forget that ridiculous come-from-behind victory that Illinois had against Clemson? (As soon as they tied up the game, I knew they would win that one.) The Big Ten now boasts a 1-10 record in the Challenge, and I for one hope that they make it 2-10 this year.

This challenge is very important for the 'Cats, as a win by the conference solidifies its legitimacy as the best and deepest conference in the NCAA this year. A win for the 'Cats against Georgia Tech will certainly provide a minor boost to the ol' RPI, something that'll be suffering due to the lack of good non-conference games scheduled this season.

This post will take a look at each game individually, and I'll predict the winner of each one. Hop inside to take a look!

RPI Watch, November 29th: Or, Why the RPI Sucks This Early

The college basketball season has been underway the past few weeks, and I for one am happy to see its arrival. The football season for the Wildcats realistically ended with Dan Persa's demise after the Iowa game, and the Big Ten season is now officially over with only the bowl games in sight (and oh yeah, that one non-con that Illinois has against Fresno State). After drubbings against Illinois at Wrigley and in Camp Randall against Wisconsin, the 'Cats go limping into the bowl selection wait, presumably to punch a ticket to Dallas as part of the TicketCity Bowl.

That said, it's time to start talking men's basketball. The Wildcats came back from their turkey hangover by fighting to a 65-52 home victory over Creighton last night. The win puts the 'Cats at 4-0, a record that has not been matched by a men's team since the 1993-94 season, when it started the season 9-0. Unfortunately, that team from 17 seasons ago would go on to lose its next 7 games and finish the season 15-12.  We hope to be riding this wave of early success into the Big Ten season and, furthermore, into the NCAA Tournament for the very first time.

This regular series will take a look at the RPI rankings of each of the Big Ten teams. As much as people much prefer to use Pomeroy to judge a team's rank, the pundits at ESPN and the NCAA selection committee still use the RPI system as a resume tool for each basketball team. It sucks, but that's what I get to work with. I'll try to update this ranking every Monday, something akin to the Momentum Game (except I don't bother ranking the teams myself).

Jump inside to see how everyone's doing!

Men's Basketball Non-Conference Opponent Update: November 20

The basketball season is finally underway! Whoo! Northwestern has opened the season 3-0 with back-to-back ugly road wins against NIU and UT Pan-American. They continued that trek with a dominant performance against an outmanned Golden Lions squad from Arkansas-Pine Bluff. So far, so good. But there are still seven more games remaining in the non-conference schedule (not including a game against SIU-Edwardsville in late January) before we kick off Big Ten season, and we need every win possible.

Below, I've updated the status of every team that NU has faced/will be facing in November and December. We need these opponents to win as much as possible in order to bolster our RPI resume for the Big Dance. Of course, we don't want them to win against us, right?

Wrigleyville Classic Reduced to One-Directional Game

Big news on the day before the Wrigleyville Classic, as a last-second change suddenly makes the NU-Illinois game much tougher logistically. This article by Chicago Tribune beat writer Teddy Greenstein details the issues regarding the east end zone and its use. As a result, both teams will be going west when playing offense.

This change is brought upon due to the fact that the NCAA called and informed the Big Ten and the NU athletic department that the field dimensions were in violation of their Football Rules and Regulations. I've hunted down the handbook, and you can read the diagrams of the field here. Scroll down to the bottom of page FR-18 and you'll see a diagram outlining that the "limit lines" of the field are established 12 feet away from the boundaries of play. A wall within about two feet from the endzone lines is kind of in the way of the limit lines, isn't it?

Needless to say, season ticket holders and other fans are irate about this last-minute change, because most of the "exciting" play is tilted toward the west half of the field. Anyone on the east side will be straining their eyes more than they expected in order to watch the game. And there are a lot of people who shoulder the blame for this decision. The NU athletics department and the Cubs management are primarily at fault, because they were the ones in charge of working out the field logistics in order to make this game work. However, both the Big Ten and the NCAA are also at fault here. The Big Ten is there to make sure that all events are in compliance with NCAA rules, so if they missed this rule, shame on them.

The NCAA is also to blame here, because they are the authority for field dimensions. As the governing body of major college sports, they establish the rules for how the game is played, and more importantly, what variations are allowed. I can't imagine that the NCAA didn't have to sign off on the field logistics a while ago when the NU-Wrigley agreement was being hammered out. If they simply missed this field rule until the very last second, then they need to shoulder the blame for not providing ample oversight of the rules they created. Now, if they signed off on a variance for the field for this game, saying that the close proximity to the wall is admissible, there is a much bigger issue at hand. It's not alright to say something's OK, and then come back the day before the event and suddenly say it's not OK.

My point is, there is a lot of blame going around the Northwestern blogosphere regarding this major logistical SNAFU, and most of it is pointed at the NU Athletics Office. I think that we need to remember that there are quite a few parties involved in making this game happen, and they all have responsibility for this problem.

NU Week 12 Rooting Interests: The Bowl Selection Day Cometh

I'm sure that there were a few people who were wondering, before last weekend, if Northwestern was going to be damned to the Little Caesar's Bowl in Detroit. Pessimists within the fan base suggested after the collapse at Penn State that the 'Cats would finish 6-6 and get passed by the likes of the Illini and the Nittany Lions. Luckily, we got two very nice gifts. The obvious one is that we won our 7th game of the season by upsetting Iowa, taking us off the track from the "Pizza! Pizza!" Bowl and somewhere a little bit... warmer. The other is the unexpected demise of Illinois at the hands of Minnesota this past weekend. A win against the Illini on Saturday guarantees that they will not jump us in the bowl standings, as they could only have a 6-6 record at best.

Big Ten blog Off-Tackle Empire now projects NU to attend the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas, to face Texas Tech. However, blog author Bama Hawkeye says this under the guise that Northwestern loses their last two games and gets jumped by Penn State and Illinois. (They predict Michigan to finish 8-4.)

Mark Schlabach and Andrea Adelson from ESPN are divided this week. Schlabach has us going up against Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. Andrea's hopes are more muted, however, as she agrees with Off-Tackle Empire and the TicketCity Bowl. Both sports pundits assume the Big Ten lands two BCS bids.

Northwestern blog Hail to Purple takes more of the middle ground regarding the 'Cats bowl prospects. In its projection, we have just about an even likelihood of being in either the TicketCity Bowl (named here as the Dallas Football Classic) or the Texas Bowl.

Because of the three-way tie at the top of the Big Ten standings, there is no statistical possibility that we could make the Capital One bowl this year. However, with a lot of help and some logistical pandering, we could see the Outback Bowl for a second straight season. That said, winning out would realistically give us the Gator Bowl at best. So who do we root for this week? We want...

The Momentum Game, Week 12: Finding the Home Stretch

With the excitement of NU's win over Io_a still resonating in the hearts and minds of Wildcat fans, we start to take a look at bowl positions and what we need to do in order to get there. In the next day or so I'll post my next round of Rooting Interests, tying it into what our bowl prospects are heading into Selection Sunday.

I once again took a week off from posting, due to impending projects and midterms I needed to get finished. Luckily, with a full week of break time, I don't think I'll be swamped with work for the rest of the football season. Now watch as I end up eating those words two weeks from now. For those of you who need reminders, the rules I follow for this "ranking" list can be found here.

Accompanied by a roundhouse kick to the face, here are this week's participants in The Momentum Game:

NU 21, Io_a 17: Wildcats Steal W, Secure 3rd-Straight Bowl Berth

WOW. That's about all I can say at this point. After showing little life in the second halves of recent games, I was grateful for the ending that Dan Persa and the 'Cat defense gave us to end the "home" season at Ryan Field. I tip my hat to all of the seniors, most of whom have made the journey for 4-5 years with Coach Fitz and have helped make this such a solid and exciting football team to watch every week (well, almost every week).

Unfortunately, as many of you know, Persa is officially out for the remainder of the season after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon on the go-ahead TD play. It was a spectacular way to go out, for sure, but we will certainly miss him for our last three(!) games in the season. For now, the offense rests on the rather large shoulders of backup QB Evan Watkins, whom I'm sure is salivating at this opportunity to make his first collegiate start at Wrigley Field. At least, that's how it is according to his Twitter feed.

Team	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	Final
IOWA	0	3	14	0	17
NU	7	0	0	14	21

My High-Fives and Scratches, coming up after the jump:

Northwestern Men's Basketball Non-Conference Preview

Today marks another important day in the annals of Northwestern Athletics. Today begins our run for our first-ever NCAA Tournament berth under the newly-"expanded" 68-team bracket. Those of you that have watched over recent years know that this team, under Coach Bill Carmody, has finally obtained the talent to make the Big Dance. Unfortunately, injuries and other issues (such as playing something that resembles defense) have prevented us from qualifying the last two years. Many of you might remember the lickings we took against Iowa and Penn State, the two teams that most likely cost us our tournament berth last year.

This year, however, we hope to change that trend. The team had an opportunity to travel and play European basketball (slightly different rules) overseas, and we all hope that that practice time will transfer to the hardwood for this season. We'll possibly get a glimpse of that as the season kicks off tonight on the road against Northern Illinois. For a preview on the team itself, check out Loretta8's post at fellow Northwestern blog Sippin' on Purple.

Northwestern's nonconference schedule this season is, well, soft. In a tough and very deep Big Ten, we are not doing ourselves any favors to the RPI by scheduling such easy games. A more detailed look after the jump:

Quick Hits: Review of PSU-NU Game, Looking Ahead

Some thoughts from the past week:

• First things first: Congratulations to JoePa for getting career victory #400. I hate the fact that it had to come against us, but it's a testament to both his longevity and his ability to put a quality team on the field, year-in and year-out. The Nittany Lions will really miss you when you decide to leave.

• In the abbreviated poll from last week on QB Evan Watkins' playing time, we saw a 50-50 split. Half of the voters believed he would get no playing time while the other half thought he would spell Dan Persa for a series or two. As it turned out, Watkins ended up warming the bench, although perhaps he could have contributed to warming up an ice-cold offense in the second half.

NU Week 10 Rooting Interests

Friends, it's the time of year when we start looking at bowl placements in the Big Ten conference. While our Wildcats still have a shot at winning a share of the Big Ten title, the odds are getting quite slim at this point and we're going to need some help in order to make the Rose Bowl. Judging from our record and remaining schedule, we're currently being placed in a low-tier bowl. Let's not settle for that, mmkay?

Big Ten blog Off-Tackle Empire has NU going to the Texas Bowl, which is fine and dandy, except they assume that Michigan will be stuck behind us (true, if we go 7-5 and Michigan goes 6-6) and that two Big Ten teams will make the BCS bowls (less likely).
ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Andrea Adelson both have us going to the Texas Bowl.
Fellow Northwestern blogger Hail to Purple has the 'Cats most likely to enter the Dallas Football Classic. The second most like destination is --once again-- the Texas Bowl.

From what I can tell, most of these projections assume a 7-5 record (more or less). We obviously have control over these last four games, but how can the other Big Ten teams help us this week? Let's take a closer look after the jump. We want...

The Momentum Game, Week 10: Bowl Watching Begins

Last week I conjectured about if Oregon would be upset at USC last weekend. As it turned out, that was far from being the case. I think Chip Kelly has really hit on something with his super-high-tempo offense that gets defenses completely winded by the 2nd quarter. With their schedule, I bet they win out and lock their position at the top of the BCS. Now, no slight to Auburn, but I just don't see them beating Alabama at the end of the year, which means someone will supplant them at #2. Toss-up among Alabama, Boise State and the winner of the TCU-Utah game this weekend -- pick one and you'll probably be right.

I've looked at the slate for this week's games, and I must say it's sad that the Northwestern-Penn State battle this weekend is the most interesting game in the Big Ten, BY FAR. I fully expect Michigan to drop yet another game (this time to Illinois) on the heels of their defense, currently being played by 11 replicas of Venus De Milo. But now I'm just wasting comment space that could  go into The Momentum Game. Silly me!

While fighting football indigestion, here are this week's participants in The Momentum Game:

Weekly Poll: Evan Watkins' Playing Time

While it's been openly said by Coach Fitz that Dan Persa will be starting on Saturday, I'm not one to take concussions lightly. Persa still needs to be cleared by doctors sometime tomorrow -- otherwise he will have to sit out the entire game and backup Evan Watkins will be the starter. My understanding is that first-team snaps have been split closer to 50/50 than most weeks, which begs the question:

How many series will Evan Watkins see this week?

As a reminder, a series is defined as a possession where the QB is able to take a snap. So if a possession ends in a turnover or touchdown by the defense or special teams, it's not a series.

As mentioned in my last post, I fully expect Persa to clear the doc's exam and start on Saturday. But will we really have him running the offense the entire game? My guess is... probably not. I foresee that Watkins will get at least a few snaps (and perhaps an extended drive) against Penn State on Saturday. Let me hear what you think at the poll on the upper-left side of the blog! Will Watkins play at all? Will he be allowed to throw the ball? Do you think he'll have a touchdown drive? Let me hear about it in the Comments section below!

'Cats Hobble to 6-2 and Bowl Eligibility, Persa Considered OK for Penn State

In a much more tightly contested game than expected, our Wildcats managed to eke out a close win and get away from Bloomington as fast as possible. We survived a scare early in the 4th quarter as QB Dan Persa was knocked out with an apparent head injury. On Monday it was deemed a concussion, but thankfully, he should be going full speed against Penn State and the Nittany Lions this upcoming Saturday. IMHO, I do think Evan Watkins will spell him for a couple of drives, just to be on the safe side.

Team	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	Final
NU	0	10	7	3	20
IND	3	7	0	7	17

Quick thoughts about the game after the jump: