Quick Hits: Bracketology Edition

Hey all, with about five weeks of basketball play in the books, a lot of NCAA Tournament brackets are being updated, and I've been very interested to see what everyone's projecting for the Wildcats as of right now:

• ESPN's Joe Lunardi updated his bracket yesterday (12/14), and in both his preseason bracket and this bracket, he has us listed as a #12 seed. This is interesting news, to say the least-- when the media started hyping the prospect of us making last year's tournament, Lunardi continued leaving us off of his bracket. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come? Also noteworthy: he has the 'Cats automatically in the field of 64 instead of running a play-in game.

• Fellow blogger Bracketology 101 is even a little more optimistic. His Dec. 13 bracket has us as an 11th seed, along with the likes of UCF, Cleveland State and Virginia (who has a resume win against Minnesota). Also of note: We would play That School in South Bend in the opening round.

• The home of Wildcat blogger Sippin on Purple, SBNation also has NU placed as an 11 seed. What's troubling, though, is the dropping of Michigan State to a 6 seed(!) and Purdue to an 8 seed.

• Although not in the form of a bracket, Bleacher Report places the 'Cats as an 11 seed. North Carolina State also makes an appearance here as an 11, despite the fact that they got absolutely crushed by Wisconsin in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

• The Hoops Report puts a slight on the 'Cats, leaving them off the bracket altogether. Moreover, we're not even in the First Four Out. This bracket is very interesting, as it's one of the few brackets that features only 6 Big Ten teams in the tournament.

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.

Quick Hit: Additional Wildcat Food!

Hey guys,

I'll readily admit that I am not all that aware of the Northwestern sports blogs out there, but I try to look for some when I get the chance. Today I happened upon Black N Purple, another site devoted to NU football and all things Fitz. I've posted it up in my "Wildcat Food" column, and go ahead and show blog writer Bob a little love here.

Quick Hit: BR's Quarterback Rankings

Just picked up this nice little tidbit from The Bleacher Report on where they rate the Big Ten's starting quarterbacks after the nonconference season ended this past weekend. Check to see where our man Dan Persa ended up...

Quick Hit: A Tackling Clinic

I'm getting geared up for kickoff here! In browsing for any last-minute Wildcat updates, I found myself at the MGoBlog, one of Michigan's most analytical football blogs out there. The share-worthy post is an analysis of Rufus, Ohio's mascot, and his technique in tackling Brutus Buckeye in last weekend's game. Hilarious.