Moar!
- Thread starter StreamCat
- Start date
I'm the same. It's bordering on obsession. I'm of the opinion - now - that this is the most important game in Evanston for NU since the Ohio State game in 2013. Yes, the Big Ten is still on the table win or lose, but if NU loses tomorrow, they will be considered a "weak" opponent in a potential Big Ten Championship against Ohio State or Michigan. It will be considered a down year in the Big Ten, etc., etc. I am tired of NU being good being evidence of the Big Ten being bad. Tomorrow is the night that NU begins to change that perception, once and for all.
Sure, NU can beat Iowa next week and win the Big Ten West, but everyone will just continue to say, "who have they beaten?" It's possible that because of our current or future wins, teams like Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Iowa won't even be ranked at the end of the year. THIS is the game. This one.
It's hard to explain my mindset. There is a part of me that doesn't want my son and son-in-law to be disappointed, but that part of me can't overcome my lust for victory. Once again, a game against ND can redefine the national perception of Northwestern football.
However, once I get back to our tailgate party after the victory - if indeed we achieve victory - I will have to hold in my unbridled joy for the sake of my boy. It's a weird dynamic.
I'll be wearing purple sneakers. Make you a deal. If you can get Wrassler off his couch, come to the game and we win, I'll give them to you. If we lose, I'll give you an autographed picture of them.
That perception will never change, once and for all. We could win the national championship and it would be said to be a down year for all of college football. Still, I hope we win a national championship, in my lifetime.
The opposite occurs in the SEC. If a team loses it is because the conference is so strong. After all, they lost to a team capable of beating an SEC team!
Speaking of shoes, I remember years ago sitting by Tim Weigel at one of the coldest games I've been to and he's wearing sandals with no socks! This is the most random reply I can come up with.
Little known fact (if you're not a Bells fan). Bell's Oberon used to be called Solsun until Sol tapped them on the shoulder (or their lawyer did) and said knock it off.
I'm hoping we'll be able to prove you wrong some day, but you're probably not wrong. Still, if NU wins the next seven games, they'd have an 11-game winning streak including wins over possibly three top 10 teams, as well as Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan State, and Stanford. If that somehow happens, maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to toast how wrong you are.
You bring up fair points as to why this is an important game even if the overall stakes are low in terms of outcomes (i.e. this ND game doesn't affect our chances at the Big Ten division/conference championship or Rose Bowl).
I've been treating this game like a no lose situation in terms of testing our team with an opponent that's a top team like we would see in the Big Ten championship game.
But it's undoubtedly true that there would be some large positives (perception wise and rankings) if we won.
I think you'll end up right someday, but I don't think it's anything that can be changed with one win or one season.
25+ years ago, we were at the very bottom of college football..., basically where programs like Kansas or Indiana are now.
We've crawled out of the basement and are now perceived as a program that goes regularly to bowl games. The overall perception of us from the outside world is that we overachieve our talent rankings; we play smart, well-disciplined, and can be a threat to good teams.
To lift that perception to the next step, we have to get to where programs like Wisconsin and Michigan State have gotten. We need to regularly challenge for the division and conference while also winning big games against big name opponents.
Sidenote: Iowa's in a weird place, they haven't really done much more than us in the conference in the past decade plus (if we win the division, we'll have matched Iowa's conference trophies over the past 3 decades - not sure Iowa fans would have expected that). Of course, Iowa's been more consistent at getting to bowl games, but overall, they really only have an Orange Bowl win that we don't.
In any case, you need an extended period of playing like a top team as Wisconsin or Stanford or Michigan State has experienced over the past decade.
The good news? Stanford and Michigan State were where we are now in 2009. These things can change very quickly.
My libation proclivity tends towards lager and pilsner. Not really an ale or IPA guy.
I’m with you Stream. Word for word my exact same lot in life this week. Including my inability to stay off this board in anticipation of tomorrow night. At least you’ll be there. My only live connection will be through this phone.
GOUNUII