Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern’s cupboard of backs and receivers is not full, but it rarely is. The defense must replace linebackers Paddy Fisher and Blake Gallagher, edge rusher Earnest Brown and Newsome. That’s a productive quartet. Couple those losses with a new defensive coordinator, and perhaps Northwestern doesn’t deserve to be a Big Ten West preseason favorite.
Until you look at the schedule — which includes a Nov. 20 game vs. Purdue at Wrigley Field — and blink in disbelief. The Wildcats’ three crossover games are Michigan State, Rutgers and Michigan. Their nonconference schedule — Indiana State, at Duke and Ohio — is the easiest of any Big Ten team. Athletic Director Bill Moos and Frost would dance over a schedule like this. It’s a steak schedule — as in, good for an Outback Bowl berth — any way you slice it.
