Northwestern Football: Wildcats clinch spot in Big Ten Championship Game

The Big Ten West has a new champion. For the first time in program history, the Northwestern Wildcats will head to Indianapolis to play in the Big Ten Championship game.

Heading into the first game of October, the Northwestern Wildcats were in a bleak spot. They had lost three of their first four games including a disappointing 39-34 loss to the Akron Zips of the MAC and headed into East Lansing to face off against No. 20 Michigan State in their homecoming game. It was do or die for the Cats.

It was the beginning of the beginning for the Cats, who would go on to defeat the Spartans and currently sit at 6-1 in the Big Ten. Their only Big Ten loss came against No. 14 Michigan at Ryan Field in a game in which the Wildcats jumped out to a 17-0 lead before ultimately losing 20-17.

My, how things have changed. After defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 14-10 on Saturday in Iowa City, Northwestern will head to Indianapolis on Dec. 1 to compete in the Big Ten Championship for the first time in program history. With their win, the Cats clinched at least a share of the Big Ten West. The Cats will face off against either Michigan or Ohio State.

Despite winning 10 games in 2017, the Wildcats were far from favored to win the Big Ten West in 2018. Okay, that’s actually the understatement of the year. Take this article proclaiming Wisconsin as the unanimous Big Ten West champion for example. Or that piece where Northwestern finished 5-7 on the year and 4-5 in the Big Ten. Or…okay, you get the point. Apologies and congratulations to Northwestern fans.

It’s just that…well, the odds were against Northwestern. NU entered the season with the toughest strength of schedule in the Big Ten West. They also began the year 1-3 and went 0-3 in non-conference play, losing to Duke, Akron and Notre Dame (all three of which were played at home).

Realistically, we could be looking at a season in which the Big Ten West finishes at 6-8 on the year (if the Cats lose the Big Ten Championship and their bowl game). However, the odds are in their favor to head into the Big Ten Championship with an 8-4 record. The Cats will face Minnesota and Illinois to end the season, both of which find themselves at a dismal 2-5 record.

Regardless of any possibility, a berth in the Big Ten Championship is historic for the Wildcats, who haven’t won the Big Ten since 1995. That year, the Cats went 8-0 in the Big Ten and ultimately lost in the Rose Bowl to USC. Current head coach Pat Fitzgerald was a linebacker on that team, although he was unable to play in the Rose Bowl due to a broken leg suffered in the team’s victory of Iowa.

The Wildcats also became bowl-eligible for the ninth time in 11 years with their win on Saturday. Whether their bowl will be played in December or January remains to be seen, but the Wildcats very much control their destiny for the remainder of the season.

It’s certainly a great time to be a Northwestern fan. The men’s basketball team reached March Madness for the first time in program history in 2017 and just finished a massive renovation to Welsh-Ryan Arena. A Big Ten Championship game berth and possible Big Ten Championship makes it even sweeter to those in purple and white.

While the Cats will celebrate hard this weekend, it will be back to business as the team heads to frigid Minneapolis to face off against the Golden Gophers before ending the season against in-state rival Illinois on Senior Night in Evanston.