2017 Northwestern Football Season Preview: Northwestern will win the B1G West

Ho hum. Just an 8-4 season for Northwestern in 2017, predicts USA Today in its Big Ten (B1G) season preview.   A generation ago, the city of Evanston would have a parade for an 8-4 season, amid decades of one and two win seasons in the 70s and 80s. At first glance, this speaks to how much Pat Fitzgerald has elevated Northwestern football.

With perhaps the conference’s best quarterback and running back combo in QB Clayton Thorson and RB Justin Jackson, along with a talented defensive secondary, 8-4 seems like a baseline standard and it will be hard to call 2017 a success without winning the Big Ten West division. And why not? Thorson and Jackson are likely to go down as the premier duo in school history. A senior, Jackson has three seasons with 1,000 yard rushing, and with even a pedestrian season, he will walk away as only the ninth player in FBS history with four 1,000 yard rushing seasons and become Northwestern’s all-time leading rusher. And I believe that Thorson will follow former Wildcat Trevor Seimian in becoming a starting NFL QB.

Even after Thorson and Jackson leave, NU fans have to feel good about the direction of the program. Fitzgerald--just 41 and the winningest coach in school history-- is responsible for two of the school’s three ten-win seasons. Fitzgerald has overcome the naysayers questioning if he was the man for the job (admittedly, I wondered myself) during the challenging 2013 and 2014 seasons, and he is becoming an institution in Evanston. The 10-3 2015 team proved that the 2012 Gator Bowl team (first bowl win in school history was not a fluke). Last year, in spite of a terrible start, Northwestern won six of its last nine games, beating Pitt in the Pinstripe Bowl (Northwestern was the proverbial national champion in 2016, beating Pittsburgh, who handed national champion Clemson its only loss).

For the past few years, I have been cautiously optimistic about Northwestern football, but not this year. Northwestern will win the Big Ten West in 2017, beating Wisconsin, but falling to Penn State and Nebraska, finishing the regular season 10-2. With a loss in the Big Ten Championship game and a bowl win, Northwestern will finish 11-3, setting a school record for wins in a season.

CFP Poll #2 Preview

Like many college football fans, I was surprised to see Washington ranked fifth in last week’s College Football Playoff rankings, which were the first rankings of the season by the selection committee.  You would think that the only four undefeated, power conference schools (Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, and Washington) would occupy the top 4 spots, but instead of Washington, Texas A&M (then 7-1) jumped past the Huskies to grab the fourth and final spot.

In my view, the CFP committee is clearly trying to gain coverage and media attention by getting people to talk about the rankings, not unlike a reality TV show. It seems like the committee is being very inconsistent because in most observer’s minds, there is no way that the committee would leave out an undefeated conference champion during the sixth and final CFP Poll.  So why is Washington being left out of the top 4? By ranking Alabama, Clemson, and Michigan 1, 2, and 3, you are operating on the assumption that these schools are going to win their conference, so why isn’t the same true for Washington?

Look, things will play themselves out. Most schools have three games left, not to mention conference championships and one or more of the four teams will slip up along the way.

This evening (7pm ET, ESPN), the second set of rankings will be released and here are some of the things I am looking for:

Will Washington be ranked No. 4 or No.5 this week?  With Texas A&M losing to Mississippi State over the weekend, there will be a new No. 4. Washington should slot in, but will the committee given Ohio State perhaps a little extra credit for routing Nebraska 62-3. The OSU game against Nebraska was their most impressive showing of the season, but this has been a very up-and-down team all year and J.T. Barrett has lost so much talent over the past few years at receiver to the NFL, with little replacement.  Washington has been a much more consistent team, and combined with the undefeated record, they belong in my top 4. This will all work itself out when Ohio State hosts Michigan in the season finale.

Will USC enter the Top 25? USC was not in the inagural CFP poll, but the Trojans have made a complete transformation throughout the season, since they inserted QB Sam Darnold into the starting lineup. The Trojans are talented as aways, and my favorite player to watch is RB Ronald Jones. USC travels to Washington for what should be a great matchup (6:30pm, FOX). Hopefully they break into this week’s CFP poll.

How about some love for Western Michigan? Western Michigan is 9-0 (they are actually playing their tenth game tonight as part of a mid-week MACtion showcase) for the first time in school history, but was only No. 23 in the first CFP poll. Yes, I know they are in the MAC, but with only five undefeated teams (Bama, Clemson, Michigan, and Washington, and Western Michigan), they deserve some credit for running the table so far. I’d love to see them come in at No. 16 tonight. I love that there is a playoff, but there is no doubt that it has marginalized some of the non-power 5 schools.

Week 2 AP Poll Rapid Reaction

With last night's conclusion of the first week of the college football season, the Associated Press just released its Week 2 Top 25 Poll.

The first thing that caught my eye was Wisconsin coming in at No. 10 after being unranked to start the season. Saturday's win vs. LSU at Lambeau Field was very nice, but time will tell if they are the 10th best team in the country. The Big Ten West is certainly wide open and the LSU win could springboard the Badgers into a trip to the Big Ten Championship. Will the Badgers be able to keep teams with legit offenses?

One of the inherent flaws of this week's poll (or any September college football poll) is that objectively it is difficult to rank teams based on the small sample size of one game. Do we really think that No. 10 Wisconsin would be able to keep up with No. 13 Louisville for example? Wisconsin has an absolutely brutal start of the Big Ten schedule.  After games versus Georgia State and Akron, they open up the Big Ten with: No. 12 Michigan State, No. 5 Michigan, No. 4. Ohio State, and No. 17 Iowa. The scheduling gods did not do any favors to the Badgers. They could easily be 3-4 near the end of October.

LSU conversely dropped to No. 21, but it is a long season and there is plenty to figure out along the way. They can still win 9+ games, but it seems like the SEC West is Alabama's to lose.

To the casual sports fan, it may be surprising to see Houston at No. 6, but they will continue to get a lot of attention after their big win against Oklahoma. I am also interested in seeing how No. 8 Washington will do throughout the season. The Huskies are this year's media darlings; they started out at No. 14, despite finishing 7-6 last year, and jumped out to No. 8 after beating lowly Rutgers. Their first test will come when they host No. 7 Stanford on September 30th.

Many fan bases are still trying to flush out the memories of Week 1. Speaking of Stanford, the best news is that it is only Week 2 and it is still possible to be this year's Stanford. Last year, the Cardinal lost to Northwestern to open the season, only to rebound and win the Pac 12 and nearly make the College Football Playoff (CFP).

At the end of the season, the only poll that "matters" is the CFP selection committee's Top 25. The CFP Pool typically does not come out until October, so I like to look at the AP poll as a barometer for the season. There is also a Coaches Poll, but I feel like it is kind of a joke since you'd think that the demands of being a college coach would preclude them from getting a good grasp of the national landscape.

New Blood in Old Peoria

One of the best aspects of college athletics is that when an athletic program is successful, it brings students, faculty, alums, and a community together in a way that almost no other cause can. This is perhaps no more evident than in Wichita, Kan., where their beloved Wichita State Shockers have brought great pride to a blue-collar town who turns every home-game into a passion-laden frenzy. The reason for such enthusiasm is their team’s disciplined game, which has catapulted the basketball program—and the school—into the living rooms of so many people around the country.

Meanwhile, in Peoria, the local team continues to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, losing winnable games and playing an embarrassing and undisciplined style of basketball. In turn, Bradley is lucky to fill half of a once-raucous, sold out Carver Arena.

Bradley basketball was once Wichita State. In the 50s and 60s, Bradley was a national basketball power, winning championships on a regular basis. Bradley games were the must-see event in town.

It is time for Bradley basketball to restore its winning tradition and the pride that so many once had for the basketball program, and the university as a whole.  For those who have had the misfortune of watching Bradley basketball over the past few years –argueably the worst in program history—two things are abundantly clear: Geno Ford is not the man for the job, and the team’s undisciplined approach is holding the program back.

Perhaps no one embodies discipline in college basketball quite like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, the winningist college basketball coach in Division I history.  While many established head coaches and rising assistant coaches would never consider the BU gig, I believe it would be the perfect fit for “Coach K’s” promising assistant coach Jon Scheyer, a winner at every level of basketball that he has been a part of.

As an Illinois high school basketball legend and Duke All-American, Scheyer would bring instant credibility that few could match.  Undoubtedly, Scheyer would raise the regional and national recognition of the university and its basketball program. While some may believe Scheyer, 27, would be way too young and inexperienced for a Division I head coaching position, there are plenty of examples of young head coaches succeeding in college basketball. Consider that Bob Knight began his first coaching job at Army at the ripe old age of 24 (and took over Indiana at age 30). Krzyzewski himself became a head coach at 28 and took the Duke job at 33. Jeff Capel, another Duke assistant coach to Krzyzewski, became VCU’s head coach at 27. A year later, VCU earned a berth in its first NCAA tournament in eight years. Wouldn’t it be nice if Bradley could match that feat, much less, field a competitive team in that amount of time?

 The youthful Scheyer likely would be relate to his players and recruits more than an experienced coach, given that he was in their shoes not too long ago.  What Scheyer lacks in coaching experience can be found by veteran assistants who are willing to mentor a rising star and help lead a program back to its glory days. It is clear that Geno Ford is not going to lead Bradley to championships. It is time for some new—and young—blood on the Hilltop. 

Bradley Basketball 2012-13: season update

Last season (2011-2012)was unequivocally the worst season in Bradley men's basketball history. It was ugly, and at times, the Braves barely resembled a Division I basketball team. In Coach Geno Ford's first season, the Braves finished with a 7-25 record, which marked a program low. While the team had a few talented players, there was no one on the team that really scared opponents and the Braves especially struggled with their shooting and committed a lot of turnovers. Also, Bradley lacked depth, especially among their big men.

Going into this season, obviously, conventional wisdom says that there is no way the team could get worse. However, I think this season has going much better than most Bradley fans would have hoped for, myself included. Before the season started, I had told myself that I would have been happy with a 13-win season, which would have still been a significant improvement. With four regular season games to go, Bradley has an overall record of 15-12 and is in a tie for 5th place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 7-8 record. The Braves are simply one of the most improved teams in college basketball. Last year at this point (15 games into the 18-game MVC schedule), Bradley was already assured of a last place finish in the conference (7-20 overall, 2-13 in the Valley).

The season started out on a very good note for the Braves. The team sat at 5-1 when Michigan (#3 in the country at the time) came to Peoria for a rare non-conference road trip. The game was very close and Michigan was never really able to pull away, edging the Braves 74-66. Although they did not win, the Michigan game showcased some of the improvements that the team has made this season. Later in December, the Braves struggled in back-to-back games against Virginia Tech and Portland, which were part of the Las Vegas Classic. Although the team has improved, they still do not have the depth of Wichita State or Creighton, the top two teams in the MVC. For this reason, I find it hard to believe they could win three games in a row during the conference tournament and secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament (more on BU's post-season prospects later). With the lack of depth (Bradley plays primarily eight guys), it is hard to see Bradley pulling off this feat.

Moving on to the MVC schedule, Bradley has mostly shown an ability to compete with most of the teams in the league. However, when they are not shooting well in league games, they tend to come out flat both offensively and defensively. Bradley's lowest score in a winning outcome is 66 points, so it is unlikely that the team will be able to grind out games with scores in the 40s and 50s. They have struggled with Northern Iowa, where in both games, the team surrendered huge first half deficits and was unable to climb out in the second halves. Conference play has also showcased the improvement of Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Walt Lemon Jr. into all-conference caliber players. This pair is the leading scoring backcourt in the conference, but has also shined on the defensive end. Simms-Edwards ranks among the top 5 nationally in steals, and Lemon Jr. is second in the MVC in steals.

Going forward, Bradley has a road game at Drake tonight. This game is really important to win because unlike last season, Bradley's final position in the standings is still up in the air. Losing to Drake would leave the Braves in a tie for seventh place in the MVC. Because the top six teams receive a first round bye in the conference tournament, seventh place is a perilous spot to be in. A win would also be important because Bradley has struggled tremendously on the road over the past two seasons. In fact, Bradley has not won a Valley road game outside of a win at SIU since Feb. 6, 2010 (a 24-game skid). Drake is currently in ninth place (11-15, 5-10), so this isn't exactly the biggest challenge ever.


With four games remaining, I still feel good about Bradley reaching the postseason, even if it is not the NCAA Tournament. I think it is realistic that the Braves can take three of their last four games or at least a split, which would leave them at 18-13 or 17-14. With a win the MVC tournament, I think Bradley could make it into the NIT and even with a loss, Bradley would still be eligible for the CIT or CBI, two newer, lower-tier tournaments, which would provide Bradley's younger players with more practice time and game experience. Not too shabby for a team picked to finish second to last in the Missouri Valley.

As a fan, I have been very pleased (and presently surprised) with Geno Ford as the head coach. People tend to forget that other than a few weeks in March 2006, the Jim Les tenure was very mediocre. Les (154-150 in nine seasons) never led Bradley to higher than a fourth place finish in the conference. With a fifth place finish in the MVC this year, something still very possible, Geno Ford isn't too far off of Les' peak in just his second season with the Braves. As a fan, I have been very pleased (and presently surprised) with Geno Ford as the head coach. People tend to forget that other than a few weeks in March 2006, the Jim Les tenure was very mediocre. Les (154-150 in nine seasons) never led Bradley to higher than a fourth place finish in the conference. With a fifth place finish in the MVC this year, something still very possible, Geno Ford isn't to far off of Les' peak in just his second season with the Braves.

On Paying College Athletes

Whether or not to pay college athletes is a debate that never goes out of style. Even ESPN.com jumped on board this summer with "Pay For Play" , a week-long feature on this very topic.

The debate is fascinating to me, as college football and basketball generate huge amounts of revenue for individual schools yet the student-athletes do not get a cut of the revenues, a la the NFL. Of all the sports followed by a large amount of American sports fans, college football and basketball remain on the last frontiers of amateurism. Yes, technically NCAA student-athletes are amateurs, but improper benefits, especially in big-revenue sports have been given to select athletes for decades.

I have found that when "Pay for Play" is discussed in the media, it almost exclusively revolves around college football and basketball programs, their athletes, and the multi-billion dollar contracts that these sports generate. Less often discussed is the fact that most athletic departments actually lose money due to operational costs of the entire department. Also drawing less mention is the fact that if you are going to pay the star quarterback, due to Title IX, you also have to pay the female swimmer as well (This is not an indictment of Title IX, which protects both men's and women's sports. Most men's sports too, do not make revenue for their schools).

In one of the "Pay For Play" articles, Michael Wilbon writes that
that some college athletes deserve to be paid. However, he fails to outline a plan for even the limited number of athletes to be paid. With the expense of running a college athletic program and the revenues where they are at, how could there ever be an effective solution for paying all college athletes. Even in a fantasy world, where all college athletes were just paid a small amount of money per week (say, $120/week), this wouldn't stop the high profile athletes from obtaining or being offered improper benefits.

I don't think the current "compensation" system should be changed. I also don't think its perfect either, specifically, there are hardship cases where it seems like reasonable amounts of money can be provided. A lot of focus goes to the "1 and done" athletes in college basketball and select football players who don't make the most of their education. Behind the scenes, many college athletes are making the most of their education and definitely making do with what they are provided with. College sports are incredibly time consuming and difficult, but in exchange college athletes receive many benefits not offered to other college students.

For its impracticality, the ineffectiveness it would have at cutting off improper benefits, and the benefits afforded to student-athletes, college athletes should not be further compensated.

Check out Pre-Snap Read

If your looking for some in-depth coverage in to college football, I would reccomend visiting Pre-Snap Read , an independent blog dedicated to college football. The blog is edited by Paul Myerberg who can be followed on Twitter @PreSnapRead. My favorite thing on the blog is their on-going Season Countdown where they preview all 120 teams in FBS football, descending in rank from the worse team at No. 120 to No. 1. Every team report is remarkably in-depth, even for some of the lower-level Sun Belt and Conference USA teams. At the end of each report, Paul gives a clue about who the next team is; for some readers, guessing the next team is their favorite part of the blog. Today, Pre Snap Read is on No. 86,Wyoming. I check this blog pretty regularly, so the longer "Northwestern" doesn't show up on the Countdown, the better.