Tag: Northwestern Wildcats

Wisconsin recruiting comparison: Northwestern

More on Wisconsin football recruiting in the Big Ten

National Signing Day has come and gone and the Wisconsin Badgers have put together a fairly decent class compared to the rest of the Big Ten. In the spirit of looking at recruiting classes compared to the rest of the conference, Badgers Wire is taking a look at Wisconsin’s class on a national level and a conference level. We’ll be including their national rankings and their conference rankings. Next up on our list is a program that has been rather steady under the stewardship of its longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald. We’ll be looking at Northwestern. 

The Northwestern Wildcats are coming off Fitzgerald’s worst season as a head coach since taking over the program. The Wildcats were 3-9 in 2019 with a 1-8 record against Big Ten opponents. The closest the Wildcats have come to this record under Fitz was in his first season, when Northwestern finished 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the conference. What is especially stunning about the 2019 disaster is the fact that the Wildcats were 9-5 in 2018 and 8-1 in B1G play, winning their first Big Ten West Division championship. The 2019 campaign was a jarring season all the way around, and it was the Cats’ first losing season since 2014.

The Wildcats have the nation’s 47th-ranked recruiting class in 2020. They finished with the Big Ten’s No. 11 recruiting class with a player average rating of .8650. Their best player is center Peter Skoronski. At 6-foot-4, 275 pounds, Skoronski (.9503) is the No. 3 player in Illinois and the 3rd-best center in the class of 2020. The Badgers (.8782) have a higher per-recruit average than the Wildcats (.8650). The Badgers’ best player in 247’s composite rankings is offensive tackle Trey Wedig (.9643). The 6-foot-8, 320-pound behemoth is ranked (.0140) higher than Skoronski for the Wildcats. 

The position where both classes compare: outside linebacker. The Badgers signed Cole Dakovich (.8755), a 6-foot-5, 220-pound player out of Catholic Memorial in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He’s the No. 34 player at his position in the nation and the third-best player coming out of Wisconsin. The Spartans signed Cullen Coleman. At 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, Coleman (.8756) is the nation’s 33rd-best outside linebacker, and he’s the 4th-best player in New York. Both players are likely to sit and learn with veteran players ahead of them, but Coleman plans to come in and compete for a starting position. 

Northwestern is a bad team, but it will affect the Big Ten race

Northwestern and the Big Ten race

Remember when Northwestern basketball was decent — not NCAA Tournament-level good, but NIT-level good? Merely being an NIT team would seem like paradise for Northwestern right now, given how far (and how quickly) the Wildcats have fallen since making their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2017. Northwestern is 1-15 in the Big Ten, 6-20 overall, and is immersed in an 11-game losing streak. The Wildcats and the Nebraska Cornhuskers have both been buried at the bottom of the Big Ten throughout the season. They have become the two teams everyone in the Big Ten wants to play… which leads us to the point of this article:

Northwestern, as bad as it is and as off-the-radar as it has been this season, will play a role in shaping the Big Ten race for three double byes at the conference tournament in a few weeks. The Wildcats might not win any of the games they play, but their remaining schedule is one of several plot points in the five-way race for the second, third, and fourth seeds at the Big Ten Tournament.

The five Big Ten teams tied for second place at 10-6 in the conference are Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Penn State, and Iowa. Of those five teams, none play Nebraska, so that’s an easy win opportunity none of those teams have in the next two weeks. This leaves Northwestern as the team everyone wants to have on the schedule.

As it turns out, three of the five Big Ten teams tied for second have the Wildcats on their remaining slate: Wisconsin is one, which is why the Badgers have to like their path to a double bye. Illinois and Penn State are the other teams which have Northwestern on their schedule. Iowa and Michigan State have the objectively harder paths to a double bye.

Northwestern will try to play spoiler in the coming weeks. Whether the Wildcats can do so in a meaningful way is another matter. Nevertheless, the fact that three of the Big Ten teams tied for second play Northwestern in the coming weeks — while two don’t — certainly stands out as a good reason to favor some teams over others in the race for a Big Ten Tournament double bye.

Ohio State wrestling wins season home finale against No. 8 Northwestern

The Ohio State wrestling team beat Northwestern 28-10 in a dual-meet to close out the home regular season and send the seniors out in style.

The Ohio State wrestling team finished up the home dual-meet slate on Sunday in winning fashion, beating No. 8 Northwestern 28-10. The Buckeyes took seven of ten matches and were really in no danger of dropping the matchup with the Wildcats.

Being that it was the last home meet, it was also senior day for captains Kollin Moore and Luke Pletcher. They did not disappoint and won both of their matchups to help send themselves out with a win to cap their careers in Columbus.

OSU got bonus points from Fritz Schierl (pin) at 174 lbs., Rocky Jordan (major decision) at 184 lbs., Gary Trabu (major decision) at heavyweight, Jordan Decatur (major decision) at 133 lbs., and Luke Pletcher (major decision) at 141 lbs. All three of Ohio State’s No. 1 ranked wrestlers were victorious.

Ohio State will now head to Happy Valley to take on the No. 2 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions to close out the dual-meet season. From there, it’s on to the Big Ten Championships and NCAAs.

 

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WATCH: Ohio State guard D.J. Carton throws down ridiculous alley-oop

Ohio State guard D.J. Carton knows how to get off the ground. Watch a ridiculous alley-oop he got to go against Northwestern Sunday.

If you’ve watched Ohio State basketball this year, you’ve no doubt seen flashes of the high-flying athleticism of freshman guard D.J. Carton. He’s only 6-2, 185 lbs., but he can fly above the rim like a guy 6-7 or taller. He was blessed with fast-twitch ability some of us can only dream about.

That skill set was on full display in the second half against on the road against Northwestern Sunday night. With the game still in doubt, the Buckeyes grabbed a rebound, threw an outlet pass to Duane Washington and raced down the floor. Washington lobbed a pass up to Carton but appeared to sail it too high.

That’s when Carton reached back, cradled the basketball, and with his body and head behind the rim, found a way to get the basket to go down. In case you missed it, you too can appreciate the beauty of it all by clicking on the below highlight from the Twitter feed of Ohio State on BTN.

[lawrence-related id=22135]

Mighty impressive. Man if this kid ever completely figures things out, he’s going to be a handful for opposing teams.

 

Ohio State with much needed win over Northwestern. Three things we learned.

Ohio State battled through a back and forth game against Northwestern for its first Big Ten road win of the year.

Ohio State finally got a road win in the Big Ten, and it’s a big one. Heck, at this point, any win is big when you’re mired in a slump of losing six of seven.

The Buckeyes got a slow start to the game but began to turn up the pressure in the first half and went into the break with a three-point lead. Unlike last time out at home against Minnesota though, Ohio State was able to play a full forty minutes and finish this one with a solid 71-59 win.

Who knows? Maybe this will act as a catalyst towards a turnaround on the season.

We always like to take stock in these sorts of things, and so as normal, here’s three things we learned after the victory.

Next … Andre Wesson kept Ohio State in the game early

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Ohio State starts slow, finishes half with 3-point lead at Northwestern

Ohio State shook off a slow start to go on a run and took a 3-point lead into halftime against Northwestern.

The first half in Evanston looked a lot like some of the other games we’ve seen recently from Ohio State early on. But then, the Buckeyes came out of a timeout with more energy on defense and an attacking style on offense to take a little control in the game. After going up by as many as ten midway through the first half, Ohio State went into the locker room up 38-35.

There was a lid on the basket early on, as Ohio State fell down early 9-2. The offense struggled finding a way to score against a Northwestern defense that sagged all five guys close to the lane to limit the effectiveness of Kaleb Wesson.

But then, the defense clamped down and led to some runouts, some outside shots hit the bottom of the net, and the offense began to find a little more rhythm. Not everything is rosy though. Northwestern finished the half on a run that gave it some momentum headed to the break.

Forward Andre Wesson led Ohio State with eleven points. He also nabbed four rebounds and went 1 of 3 from beyond the arc. He’s brother Kaleb has been held to just four points. The Buckeyes also got contributions from their bench with Justin Ahrens pouring in six points, and both Duane Washington and D.J. Carton adding five each.

It’s a better showing on the road by Ohio State, but this one is far from over. Things went south last week against Minnesota in the second half, so there needs to be more of what we saw in the first twenty as the teams head out for the last twenty minutes.

 

Ohio State vs. Northwestern 2019 basketball preview and prediction

Ohio State is once again looking to turn its season back around when it travels to Northwestern. We’ve got a preview and prediction.

Here we go again. It’s well-chronicled the issues the Ohio State basketball team has had as of late. It’s a downward spiral that it just can’s seem to suck itself out of. So much so that the Buckeyes are in the basement of the Big Ten standings and are getting dangerously close to being on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Now they must travel to Evanston to take on a Northwestern and attempt to wrestle away their first Big Ten road win of the season.  At least OSU still has a shot at the postseason. Northwestern’s season is in much worse shape. Barring a miraculous run through the Big Ten Tournament, the Wildcats will be sitting home after the regular season.

This one is bigger for Ohio State. It desperately needs this win.

Records

Ohio State 12-7 (2-6),  Northwestern 6-12 (1-7)

All-time series record

96-23 Ohio State leads

Last meeting

Northwestern won 68-50 on March 6 last season

Broadcast, TV, Game Time

Date: Thursday, January 23
Game Time: 6:30 PM
Venue: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, IL
Network: BTN

Next … The Ohio State Game Plan

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Wisconsin decade in review: Badgers vs Northwestern

Wisconsin vs Northwestern

As the 2019 season brings to a close another decade of college football, BadgersWire has been engaged in a series of reflective pieces. “Record Review” is another series examining how the Badgers have fared against the rest of the Big Ten Conference in the 2010s. Next up is an examination of the Badgers’ record against one of the conference’s more pesky teams, Northwestern. This is one of the few series that Wisconsin has struggled to win with great regularity in its own division. Let’s take a look at the numbers and margins. 

Using Stassen, Badgers Wire pulled up every result against Northwestern in the past decade. Wisconsin gained a 5-4 series advantage (a win for the decade) after its victory this year. That puts the Badgers at 4-1 at home, but they were 1-3 on the road. At home, Wisconsin’s average margin of victory was 36-16. On the road, that dropped down to 22-20 in favor of Northwestern. The two programs tend to win in pairs before losing in pairs. This year marked the first time since 2009, interestingly enough, that Northwestern or Wisconsin didn’t win two in a row. 

The series isn’t one of the bigger ones for either team. Minnesota, Iowa, and even the recently added Nebraska have bigger rivalries. Yet, Northwestern is a game that Wisconsin should win. Northwestern has good years and bad years, and struggles to stack together several great seasons due to the grade requirements at the school, but the Wildcats don’t have the talent to consistently compete with the Badgers. They have to rely on fundamentals, scheme, and matchups to win this game. 

That said, Wisconsin needs to improve its record in this series if it wants to take the next step in the 2020s. Losses to Northwestern will prevent voters from taking UW seriously come playoff selection time, in any close call with upper-tier teams from other conferences. If programs lose four times in a decade to Northwestern, they’re probably not beating Ohio State, certainly not on a regular basis. The Badgers aren’t challenged often in their own division, but Northwestern is one of the teams that give them all they can handle. They’ll need to up their game in this contest when the next decade begins.

Big Ten, big ’20s: Northwestern football

Northwestern football in the 2020s

For insights on Northwestern football in the coming decade, I turned to Philip Rossman-Reich, who has blogged about Northwestern sports at multiple sites over several years. You can find him at @RiseNU. Philip produces an excellent Orlando Magic blog if you’re into NBA basketball. The site is Orlando Magic Daily, with Philip offering commentary at @philiprr_omd.

Here is Philip Rossman-Reich on Northwestern football in the 2020s:

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Northwestern’s history is not something anyone should celebrate. The “Dark Ages” still leave an imprint on the national perception of the Wildcats and are a constant reminder of how close the team is always to doom. The difficulties of recruiting to an academic-minded school in a power conference are always evident. Winning is the most difficult thing Northwestern has ever had to do.

Somehow, in the last 10 years, Pat Fitzgerald has turned Northwestern into a fairly consistent winner. Nine bowl games since he took over in 2006. Four bowl games wins (including their last three). A Big Ten West championship in 2018. He is the team’s all-time winningest coach. Not to mention helping build the “Fitz Mahal” on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Northwestern is far from the “Dark Ages.” They expect to win. They expect to be in a bowl game. They expect to win bowl games. They expect to win championships.

The only problem is the consistency. They went 3-9 following their Big Ten West Championship season, proving they are both on the verge of competing for championships and hitting rock bottom. For the first time in more than a decade, the Wildcats have hired a new offensive coordinator and have a new voice guiding the team.

Fitzgerald has remade the team in his image. They are strong defensively and can run the ball far better than a team with its size and recruiting limitations probably should. Fitzgerald has always found to get the most of his teams, squeezing out close games to turn six-win seasons into 10-win seasons regularly.

Of course, that is not the life Northwestern wants to live. The Wildcats do not want to go year to year wondering if this is the year they scramble to make a bowl game or the year they win the Big Ten championship.

Where the Wildcats want to be is somewhere different. Somewhere consistent. And so the biggest question for the 2020s for Northwestern is how the Wildcats get their piece of the pie and settle into a place where a bowl game is not only the expectation, but a virtual given and competing for the Big Ten title is more than  a rare thing.

That is the part of the program building Fitzgerald will have to figure out. It started with recognizing (perhaps a few years too late) that the offensive schemes he was running with Mick McCall were not working. Northwestern will have to adjust to a new offense and offensive coordinator for the first time. All the while trying to get themselves back into bowl contention.

From there, the Wildcats have to build. They have to continue building upon the defensive foundation they have built for the last few seasons and turn that into consistent winning. And yes, it means changing the perceptions of the program and stepping up on the big stage with marquee wins over the big schools — namely, Ohio State and Michigan when they come on the schedule.

Northwestern is no longer in the “Dark Ages.” The Wildcats have not been a doormat in the league for the entirety of Fitzgerald’s tenure and really since Randy Walker took the team to a Big Ten title in 2000. They have reached a level where they are competitive every year.

Now the Wildcats need to reach a championship level. A level where they are competing for the title in the division every year and those days of Northwestern being a joke of any kind are long in the past.

— Philip Rossman-Reich

10 for 20: Northwestern basketball

Northwestern basketball in the 2020s

No one thought that when Northwestern basketball made its first-ever NCAA Tournament and then won its first NCAA tourney game in 2017, the Wildcats would become a colossus. No one thought that. This is still Northwestern. One season does not a transformation make. This was not going to become a powerhouse program which would snag high seeds in March most years. However, it was certainly reasonable to think that once Chris Collins finally ended an NCAA Tournament drought of nearly 80 years, this program — not too far from Chicago — would capture some of the big city’s high-school talent and significantly raise its floor. No, Northwestern was not in position to become an annual NCAA Tournament team (unlike, say, Wisconsin), but it was definitely in position to bring in quality players who could make the Wildcats regular contenders for NCAA berths.

Northwestern, after 2017, figured to be a program which would be in the mix for NCAA appearances and succeed once every two or three years. Unrelenting annual consistency might have been an overly optimistic expectation, but becoming a program which could reasonably expect to go Dancing every three or four years? That seemed reasonable.

Northwestern’s Big Ten Conference record (not including Big Ten Tournament games) since 2017? 10-30. The Wildcats won only six league games in 2018, four in 2019. They are 0-2 in the conference this season. They are going nowhere quickly. Earlier this season, Northwestern lost to Merrimack College, a brand-new Division I program, at home. The Wildcats are a mess.

The question for Northwestern basketball in the 2020s is not so much when the Wildcats will make their second NCAA Tournament. The question is bigger than that: Will Northwestern have a second act?

It is as though Northwestern spent all this energy and emotion getting to the NCAAs that one time… and then had nothing left for future seasons. The 2017-2018 season was one prolonged hangover. Every Big Ten team treated Northwestern very seriously, much more seriously than before, and the Wildcats were plainly not ready to take everyone’s best punch. It was a new experience for the program. Playing a season one year after making the Big Dance had literally never happened before. Yet, it remained odd that Northwestern had so little emotional fuel and didn’t come especially close to the NCAAs in 2018, with some roster holdovers from the 2017 team.

Right now, Northwestern looks like a program which is out of steam, under a coach who is out of ideas. This might not rate as “stunning,” given that Northwestern basketball lacks a sustained history of winning, but it’s also not what many people imagined at the end of the 2017 season. It was supposed to be better than this. We will see if Northwestern finds its second act in the 2020s, whether under Collins or someone else.