Wildcats making some noise
Posted by admin in Big 10, Northwestern Wildcats, tags: 2009 Big Ten Basketall, 2010 Big Ten Basketball, Big Ten, Big Ten Basketball, Bill Carmody, NCAA basketball newsBig news from the Big Ten on Monday as one of it’s oft ignored members finally broke back in to the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in almost 40 years
This time we are talking about the Northwestern Wildcats , who have made it a third of the way through their season with a 10-1 record and were named the country’s 25th best team in the latest poll.
The Wildcats have been in fantastic form since an early loss to Butler, who ironically were one of the teams to drop out of the top 25 this week, although the real test of their mettle will come with divisional play which gets going on the road at Illinois on Wednesday night.
Wins over Notre Dame, Iowa State, NC State and Stanford all look good on the resume but that first divisional game against the Illini will probably be a statement one for Bill Carmody’s squad as they look to beat their opponents for the first time in 11 seasons.
“It’s nice recognition for what the guys have done so far,” Carmody told the school’s official website. “I think they feel good about that, just like any other team and players do.
“I hadn’t even thought about it, to tell you the truth. I think it’s good for the guys. You’re going along all this time and it’s someone saying, ‘you guys have done pretty well so far.’”
But there are some huge hurdles to overcome if the Wildcats are to end their run of being the only school from a BCS conference never to make the NCAA tournament not least of which is the fact that there will rarely be a gimme game, according to basketball betting, from now on.
The two most interesting games could come in the middle of January when the Wildcats host Wisconsin and then Purdue, most people’s idea of the Big Ten favourites, and currently ranked No 4.
If Michael Thompson, John Shurna and company get through those two games in a positive way, then dreams of rare stardom might just start to become reality in Evanston.
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