This guy on Reddit does a compilation countdown for each team. NU clocks in at #54...but in his analysis, he personally seems pessimistic, saying we might lose 9-10 games. Sigh, getting tired if offseason:
Preseason Rankings Countdown. 54 days to the start of the 2026 Season. At #54 – Northwestern
The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found [here]( )
A day that at least one redditor has been dreading has finally arrived – we’ve reached Northwestern (high = 49, low = 101 – did Paul Myerberg get dumped by a Northwestern coed or something?). If you’re pre Gen-Z, you probably remember that Northwestern won at least a share of 3 Big Ten titles right around the turn of the century (including an outright title in 1995), though I think there’s been a bit of revisionist history about how much of the credit for that is owed to Pat Fitzgerald, who coached the team for 16 years. The truth is that some definitely does – but that was on the field as a linebacker for the first two of those titles, including the outright one. It was Gary Barnett and his replacement Randy Walker who coached those championship teams. Barnett was poached to Colorado, and Walker tragically died of a sudden heart attack less than 2 months before the 2006 season, leading Northwestern to promote Fitzgerald to head coach. What seems to be largely forgotten is that Walker had led the Wildcats to 3 consecutive seasons where they qualified for bowls before his death, so it’s not like Fitzgerald inherited a completely barren team. To his credit, he recovered from some first year jitters to lead the Wildcats to a sustained level of quality with 9 winning seasons and 10 bowl appearances from 2006 through the COVID year, reaching 2 B1G title games. But whether it was COVID or something else, the tide turned after 2020, and the Wildcats went 4-20 in his last two seasons. Following some salacious allegations of hazing and abuse, Northwestern fired their alumnus and brought on his newly hired DC David Braun to serve first as the interim head coach before giving him the full time gig. In his 3 seasons at the helm, Braun has 2 winning seasons (and 2 bowl wins) coupled with a 15th place finish. Last year’s 7-6 campaign included a win in Happy Valley that ended James Franklin’s tenure at Penn State, one of 3 wins by 3 points or less. Will the Wildcats build on that as they move into their new version of Ryan Field? And will new OC Chip Kelly be able to recapture the magic on his third return to college football?
**Roster Outlook**
For Kelly to succeed, the Wildcats clearly needed an upgrade at QB. Last season’s signal caller, Preston Stone, managed only 2,400 yards and had 13 turnovers (Sonny Dykes is *not* impressed). The Wildcats, who didn’t exactly set the world on fire from either a recruiting (13th in the B1G) or portal (11th in the conference) perspective, did manage to bring in former Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles, who may have been on his way out of East Lansing anyway after getting benched after starting the Spartans first 8 games of the season. Still, Northwestern ranks 44th in returning production, and prominent in that is RB Caleb Komolafe, who accumulated > 1,000 total yards and 12 TDs. All 3 of the Wildcats starting WRs (Griffin Wilde, Hayden Eligon and Drew Wagner) also return, and the only other skill player to be replaced is TE Hunter Welcing (portaled to Ohio State), which will be done by UConn transfer Alex Honig. In all, 9 P4 players transferred in, but a total of 9 total players portaled out, 6 of whom landed in P4 locations.
**Schedule and outlook**
9/5 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
9/12 BYE
9/19 COLORADO
9/25 at Indiana
10/2 PENN STATE
10/10 BALL STATE
10/17 at Michigan State
10/24 RUTGERS
10/31 at Oregon
11/7 IOWA
11/14 at Ohio State
11/21 at Minnesota
11/28 ILLINOIS
Hmm… road trips to Indiana, Oregon AND Ohio State? That’s going to leave a mark! Unless you feel confident the Wildcats can pull off a major upset, they’d have to go better than 6-3 in their other games to qualify for a bowl. Opening the new stadium in prime time on a Friday night is sure to create a charged atmosphere, but I think beating Penn State will be a tall ask. Throw in that they’ll likely be home dogs to Iowa and the Land of Lincoln trophy season finale, and bowl eligibility looks like an aspirational stretch goal for 2026. Winning at Minnesota shouldn’t be assumed, and you have to figure that game at Michigan State against Fitzgerald (and the Aidan Chiles return game factor) will get funky as well. Even the FCS game against perennial powerhouse South Dakota State shouldn’t be viewed as a gimme. Could be a long season in Evanston.
www.cbssports.com
