Wildcats still have bowl bid as their target
The bowl reps will be calling soon, and Mark Murphy hopes to answer his phone with a tone of confidence, not hesitation.
Northwestern can make things easier on its athletic director by upsetting Purdue on Saturday (11 a.m., Big Ten Network) and becoming bowl eligible. A sixth win hardly is a guarantee in a clogged conference, but it will be one step closer to Murphy's magic number.
"Seven wins will definitely get you in a bowl," Murphy said Thursday. "Six, it's not as certain."
The Wildcats (5-3, 2-2 Big Ten) need to split their final four games -- they visit Purdue and Illinois and host Iowa and Indiana -- to effectively clinch their third bowl berth in the last five seasons. Several teams are in similar spots, including Illinois (5-3, 3-2), Indiana (5-3, 2-3) and Michigan State (5-3, 1-3).
The league has seven bowl tie-ins and nine teams likely to become bowl eligible, making 7 wins more imperative. A 6-win team can only qualify for a tie-in bowl unless no other teams with winning records can fill at-large spots.
Murphy is confident every 7-win Big Ten team will find a bowl even if all the tie-in spots are taken. Some leagues, namely the Pac-10 and Conference USA, are in danger of not filling their tie-ins.
"That's where the Big Ten's reputation will really be helpful," Murphy said.
Indiana has the league's longest bowl drought (1993 Independence), and Illinois last reached the postseason as the 2001 Big Ten champion (Sugar). Asked if such lulls would hurt NU, which reached a bowl in 2005, Murphy said, "It could."
"On the other side, they don't have a track record," he continued. "It's not like we've been in a bowl every single year, so there's still excitement in terms of our fan base."
Murphy estimates at least 9,000-10,000 NU fans attended the 2005 Sun Bowl. Home attendance has dipped this season -- NU has averaged only 24,297 through five games -- but bowl travel history is a greater factor, Murphy said.
The league's two newest postseason destinations, the Insight Bowl in Phoenix and Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., are easy sells for fans.
"When we made the switch from El Paso (Sun Bowl) and Nashville (Music City) to Phoenix and Orlando, one of the things, not just for Northwestern but for all the schools was, 'It's a lot easier to get there, and we have large alumni bases,' " Murphy said. "The Champs and the Insight, as well as the Motor City (Bowl), certainly are good possibilities, assuming we get to 7 or more wins."
Senior center Trevor Rees has experienced both sides of the postseason push. As a freshman in 2003, he helped NU win four of its final six games to qualify for a bowl.
The next year he saw the team fall short after a 1-3 nonconference performance that included a season-ending loss at Hawaii.
"It's just one of those things you can't really take for granted," Rees said. "Six (wins), you're eligible, 7, you're getting pretty close to for sure being in a bowl. We need to take that into our minds and keep the pedal down, keep moving forward and go somewhere warm."