Northwestern football earning recognition

Posted September 29, 2008 11:00 pm

By Lindsey Willhite

Wondering just how good Northwestern might be?

According to two of the six computers used in the complex Bowl Championship Series formula, the 5-0 Wildcats rank among the nation's top four teams.

Kenneth Massey's ratings show Northwestern at No. 2, behind only Alabama. Wes Colley's calculations list NU fourth behind Alabama, Vanderbilt and Utah.

Those rankings are counterbalanced, though, by Northwestern's 49th-place showing in the Billingsley rankings.

When these computer rankings are weighted with the Wildcats' No. 26 showing in the coaches' poll and No. 27 spot in the Harris Interactive poll, Pat Fitzgerald's team seems on target to be in the BCS Top 25 when the first official poll comes out on Oct. 19.

But first, Northwestern must continue taking care of business.

The Wildcats are off this week, then they host Michigan State (4-1) at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 11 in an ESPN2 game. Then Northwestern hosts Purdue (2-2) for homecoming.

Senior quarterback C.J. Bacher earned the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Week honors after hitting 28 of 45 passes for 284 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in Northwestern's 22-17 win at Iowa.

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