[NU Sports] The .500 Club

[DPENDERG at aol.com]

I think all of the "what ifs" will be moot if we beat Illinois  -- as we 
should -- and finish at least 7-5.  Is the Iowa game an  announcement that the 
previously under-performing Cats have found themselves  and established 
momentum for the rest of the season?  Frankly, I don't  know.  The defense 
certainly stepped up along with the offensive line, a  clearly weak point until 
Saturday.  But a solid W in Champaign will  convince the naysayers that the 
win over Iowa was not a "fluke" but was the  emergence of a strong Big Ten 
team that merits recognition in post-season  play.  We do not want a 
lackluster, winnable game  like Indiana last year to shadow our bowl prospects.  Go 
Cats!   
 
 
In a message dated 11/8/2009 10:23:42 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
jleonard518 at yahoo.com writes:

Fellow  Wildcat Faithful,

It's a huge help to our bowl hopes that we are the  first to get the 6th 
win. Opening the Big Ten standings on ESPN.com and seeing  Northwestern in the 
upper half of the list NEVER gets old. Here's how the 6-6  logjam looks 
with two games to go:

Northwestern (6-4):     Lose @ Illinois, lose to Wisconsin 
-------------------- finish 6-6
Michigan  State (5-5): Lose @ Purdue, Beat Penn State --------------------- 
finish  6-6
Minnesota (5-5):        Beat South Dakota State,  lose @Iowa -------------- 
finish 6-6
Michigan (5-5):       Win @ Wisconsin, Lose to tOSU --------------------- 
finish  6-6
Purdue (4-6):             Beat MSU,  Win @ Indiana 
------------------------------- finish 6-6

Indiana (4-6):  Lose @ Penn State, Lose to Purdue --------------------- 
finish 4-8
Illinois  (3-6): Beat Northwestern, Lose @ Cincinnati, Lose to Fresno State 
 --------------------- finish 4-8

So, we could still have five 6-6  teams. 
- More realistically, I expect the Cats to beat Illinois and finish  at 
least 7-5. 
- I would also expect that either MSU or Purdue fails to  make it. I could 
see the Boiler Spoiler winning their last two, but MSU won't  beat Penn 
State.
- Michigan is in a really tough spot. They could well lose  the last two 
and finish 5-7. 

So next week, if MSU wins, Penn State  wins, and Michigan loses, we'll be 
95% certain to have Michigan, Purdue,  Illinois, and Indiana sitting home. 
That would lock a 6-6 NU team into  Detroit. But, we could easily play up to 
8-4. GO  CATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Victory &  Honor,
Jim





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