NW about to win in Columbus for the first time in 40 years. 
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NW about to win in Columbus for the first time in 40 years.
Which was before the announcers were born, as they repeatedly reminded us. :tsk::tsk:
Not sure about the majority of Illini fans, but I am enjoying Northwestern's success. It's been far too long since an Illinois school made the NCAA tournament. To be quite honest, I enjoy watching Northwestern's brand of basketball. They have quite a few athletic players(Law, Lindsey, Isiah Brown) and they have 1 gutsy PG in Bryant McIntosh, that I'd love for Illinois to have. I am not a fan of NU football but I have been rooting for NU basketball for a while now. It is a feel good story.
I've never considered Illinois/Northwestern to be a bitter rivalry. More of a friendly rivalry between neighbors. Now, if you ask me about Indiana, I hate'em, that's our true rival.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
Disdain of Northwestern athletics is a constant in my life. Northwestern sucks, and if they start to not suck I want to fly up there and meddle with something so that they suck again.
I just feel vindicated for all my years of telling people what a loser Bill Carmody was.
In the modern era of conference TV money and such it has not been as hard to win at Northwestern as they've made it look.
In the modern era of conference TV money and such it has not been as hard to win at Northwestern as they've made it look.
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
Bonnick, is that you?
Agreed. I've never really understood the strong hatred for NW that some people here seem to have. I dislike IU and Wisconsin much more. NW is a much smaller school so it doesn't feel like a true rivalry, and everyone I've met who went there are nice people. I won't go as far as to root for them like I do for other Illinois schools (ISU, Loyola, Depaul), but I don't really mind if they do well.
My reasons for being frustrated with Northwestern's rise are essentially pragmatic. They're in the same state as us, right next to Chicago, also in the B1G (which makes them a much more direct threat than ISU or Loyola when it comes to recruiting), and a slightly better academic school than UIUC (which is saying something, since we're a world class university). Essentially, my thought process is that I don't want top-100 kids from Chicago, Lincolnshire, and Maywood giving NW and UIUC equal weight when they think about staying in state. If Illinois was vintage top-15 Illinois, I'd be all for Northwestern and DePaul making the tourney every 2-3 years. Since we're in a nightmare of hopeless mediocrity, I'd rather see them suck. It's mostly not petty - it's practical.
Man, these next 5-8 years are going to be very hard to watch. You've seen the decade+ fall of a "giant" and a 4 year rise of another program that is gaining momentum with every practice. Chris Collins can coach and recruits the right players-- not necessarily the "best" or "highest rated".
The only player that would start for NU on our current roster is Malcolm. He'd play the 2-guard while Law would play the slashing-3. I think Kipper Nichols can be a Vic Law-type of player once he gets a little seasoning. Has a good combination of skills, scrappyness, and the desire to compete and get better.
The only player that would start for NU on our current roster is Malcolm. He'd play the 2-guard while Law would play the slashing-3. I think Kipper Nichols can be a Vic Law-type of player once he gets a little seasoning. Has a good combination of skills, scrappyness, and the desire to compete and get better.
This is rather telling.
Imagine if we had the player development they did. That is the glaring difference that keeps shining through. Only one of their main pieces was a 4* recruit coming out of high school. (Law)
Could you imagine what that staff would do with seven(!) players that were either 4* or borderline 4* recruits?
I disagree with the bolded part. We have easily our best recruiting class in awhile coming in next year. I'm not saying they'll immediately lead us to a Big Ten title, but I think in two years we have the potential to be a very good team. Definitely something we can build off of at least.
This team--and the 2017 recruiting class--will look drastically different than what it looks like now when all is said and done. I'm telling you, we're pissed about the thunderstorm over the program right now, but what happens when the storm produces a tornado that sweeps through it?
Guys, this may get a lot (I'd bold "a lot" if my technological-skills allowed) worse before it gets better. I'm telling you.
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