| Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are members of the Big Ten Conference. The Big 10 is actually the Big 11. The Penn State Nittany Lions were admitted in 1990, joining; The decision to favor the Big 10 brand over accuracy is understandable. Founded in 1896, the Big 10 is the oldest Division I college athletic conference in the United States. The conference as a whole provides nearly $100,000,000 annually in direct financial aid to over eight thousand male and female student-athletes. In addition to the conference’s athletic prowess, it also has a well deserved reputation for high academic standards. In the 1985 book Public Ivies, nine of the Big 10’s 10 public institutions (Northwestern is the only private university in the conference) were deemed to “provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price.” The Northwestern Wildcats finished the 2007-08 season in 11 th and last place in the Big 10 with an 8-22 record overall and a 1-17 conference record, 4 games behind tenth place Michigan Wolverines. Home court for the Wildcats is Welsh-Ryan Arena, an 8,117-seat facility located on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Illinois. Since the NCAA started an annual end-of-season basketball championship tournament in 1939, Northwestern has yet to make an appearance. 2008-09 is head coach Bill Carmody’s ninth. From the standpoint of total wins, Carmody’s best season was 2004-05, when the Wildcats almost reached .500 with a 15-16 record. From a standings standpoint, the team’s 5 th place finish the previous year was best, but a fluke – the finish was a four-way tie. Many have been surprised by Carmody’s willingness to stick with Northwestern for so long. Prior to accepting the Northwestern head coaching position Carmody enjoyed five seasons of unquestioned success as head coach of the Princeton men’s basketball program. In his four seasons with the Tigers (1996-2000) Carmody compiled a 92-25 record. His record in conference play those seasons was even more impressive. In the 1996-98 seasons the Ivy League Princeton Tigers went 28-0 in conference play and was invited to the NCAA Tournament both seasons. Over Carmody’s four seasons the Tigers went 50-6 in conference play. Reports are the 2008-09 Northwestern Wildcats team has a combination of hot young hands and returning starters that will either click early or won’t. Look for a fast start or another year in the Big 10 cellar for Northwestern. |