Why do we keep ignoring the Northwestern Wildcats?

The Northwestern Wildcats are 3-3 today. While that sounds like something hardly anyone would rave about, recent events argue otherwise.

As of today, the Northwestern Wildcats have six of their 12 games behind them. With them having their bye this weekend, that makes now the perfect time to evaluate them in what I will call a “halfway checkpoint.” In fact, when approaching things from a congratulatory standpoint, I can’t think of many teams who deserve one more than they do.

Now this is a concept that I feel would pique the interest of many college football fans at face value, especially when talking about bigger and/or better teams, but I may have lost some when using it to single out the 3-3 Wildcats. What have they done to earn any exclusive spotlight? Well, it’s not solely about what they’ve done. Rather, it’s about the comparison between what they’ve done and what they did last year.

By the end of 2022, the Northwestern Wildcats were a name met with winces and shudders, as they were one of just two Power 5 squads to go 1-11, losing out after getting a thrilling comeback win over a less-sorry-but-still-sorry Nebraska in their opener. To go from that to currently being on pace to make a bowl in one offseason (which included a late change at head coach, but more on that later) is quite a commendable turn of events.

Okay, so they’re on a rise of at least some proportions. Good for them. However, 3-3 is still an unimpressive record by objective standards, as it means you’re losing as much as you’re winning. In other words: Not very newsworthy. That goes without even mentioning that Northwestern already has what is far from the biggest CFB brand, throwing the claim that they deserve extensive coverage into even more questionability. Or does it?

I hate to be that guy, but there appears to be a blatant inconsistency with this kind of criteria, and proof of that can be found simply by taking a look at the hugs and kisses engulfing 2022’s other 1-11 Power 5 team: The Colorado Buffaloes.

The Northwestern Wildcats share more in common with CU than the media implies

Now before I go any further, let’s get one thing straight—I have no issue with those who love hearing about the Buffs, nor do I with those who hate hearing about them. I am also aware of the fact that, for whatever reason, they have become a sensitive topic for some people, with the social media arguments that break out over them being far deeper than they need to be.

With all of that said, let’s just stick to the facts: Colorado is not a very good football team today and, at least historically, is far from the top in brand relevance, so why are the Buffaloes getting constant love while the Northwestern Wildcats (who, as previously established, strike those same chords) aren’t getting any?

And keep in mind that I don’t ask this from a business standpoint; ESPN and FOX Sports are obviously going to milk every last cent out of the Buffs as long as boosted ratings and social media traffic are there. Instead, I ask from the perspective of a fan who sees how countless individuals try to justify Colorado’s recent struggles.

Think about it: Despite needing to narrowly escape visibly flawed teams early, no one could get off of the CU hype train, talking about how electric the then-unbeaten team was and how high its potential reached going forward. However, upon getting dismantled by Oregon, having to claw back to make things look competitive against USC, squeaking by an awful Arizona State, and blowing a 29-0 halftime lead in a home loss to the also-awful Stanford Cardinal, the narrative changed.

Suddenly, social media talk surrounding the Buffaloes was no longer about hyping them up and gauging the distance they could go, but making excuses as to why they shouldn’t be held accountable for their failures. We’d hear comments along the lines of: “Oh, well c’mon! The Buffs just went 1-11, have a new coach and a roster riddled with HBCU transfers! How are they supposed to turn things around overnight? All things considered, this can already be chalked up as a successful season for CU.”

Now I’m not saying that’s an unreasonable stance on its own, but what I am saying is that we should not only have been looking at them that way from the jump, but also looking at Northwestern that way as well. While the Wildcats can’t ride on the part about HBCU transfers so much, they can still say that they’ve already tripled their 2022 win count in spite of having a new face at head coach—who, by the way, is defensive coordinator David Braun, an interim with far less experience at the HC position than Colorado’s Deion Sanders.

Is Colorado the better team of the two? Perhaps. And again, I know it’s getting more sugar by sports media giants because of ulterior motives (*cough cough* financial capitalization). But, when putting aside those greed-fueled advantages, the Northwestern Wildcats clearly deserve similar praise. At least now they can say that they finally got a taste of it from someone.