THIS IS AN ARTICLE, by Luke Maiers who is a member of Team Joey Freshwater.
The History
There are 351 schools in NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball, and there are only a hand full of teams that have never made the NCAA Tournament. Most of those schools are teams that no one has ever heard of like the Denver Pioneers, but arguably the most recognizable team is the Northwestern Wildcats. Northwestern started playing basketball in 1904-1905 but they only played in four games that season. A few years later, the Wildcats joined what was known as the Western Conference and stuck there for 45 years. In that time, under Arthur Lonborg, Northwestern was first in the conference only two times.
After spending that time in the Western Conference, this conference made a name change to the Big Ten, but things did not get better for the Wildcats. There first four years in the newly named Big Ten, they stunk it up and finished towards the bottom of the conference. As the years went by, Northwestern would miss the NCAA Tournament time and time again. And the only thing they could accomplish was scraping their way into the NIT, but even that birth didn’t come until 1982-83. Since then, the Wildcats have made it to a combined total, seven NITs.
Who is putting the wild in the Wildcats?
If there were two words to say what changed the way this program was going, those two words would be Chris Collins. Collins came to Evanston in 2013 and he has drastically changed this program for the better. Since joining the Big Ten in 1953, no Northwestern coach has finished his time there with a winning record… but Collins could be the first. He currently sits with a 49-47 record and it only looks to go up from here. Collins is making a strong case for National Coach of the Year.
The players are doing their part as well this season too. They have three players averaging double figure points, but everyone on their roster contributes in some way. A different person leads points, rebounds, and assists, plus they have seven people averaging more than five points per game. Throwing those offensive numbers together with a top 30 defense and you get a 16-4, Northwestern team.
Is this the year?
This season, the Wildcat fans are not dwelling on the past. This could be the first season it happens; they can cross their name off that list and make the NCAA Tournament. Let’s take the role of the Selection Committee if they were deciding on if they should put the Wildcats in or not.
“Let’s take a look at Northwestern’s resume. They have wins over Texas, Dayton, Iowa, and Ohio State. They almost beat Notre Dame and Butler. And they do not have one bad loss. Plus they are a top three team in the Big Ten right now with a top 25 RPI.”
With a resume like that, there is no way they could miss out. If Northwestern can finish the season strong, they could be onto something special. Considering this team has never made the big dance, I would absolutely expect the city of Evanston to dance the night away. Northwestern is really good. Keep an eye out on the Wildcats.