Late season collapse nearly complete

so i guess all those fans who said NU could finish 9-1 in February and March were just a bit off. what's remarkable is that NU finished 2-4 against the bottom of the league. that's right: IU, PSU and Iowa combined to win 25% of their conference games. but against Northwestern, those teams won 67% of the time.

as for the elusive 20-win season, it may have inexplicably slipped away. as of February 10, all Northwestern had to do was finish with 4 of 7 wins from a schedule that included Iowa twice, Penn State twice, Indiana, Minnesota (at home) and Chicago State. as i mentioned last week, Indiana had lost eleven in a row in mostly blowouts, and i can't imagine it was all Roshown McCleod's fault. but clearly NU's defense is the perfect elixir for struggling teams. some missed layups by the guys in purple didn't help either. (Marcotullio's effort in the last minute stirred memories of the good ol' point shaving days.)

some continue to fall back on their own diminished expectations of the program to justify talk of how this is still a great season for Northwestern. i don't see it. hell, even last year had more of an upbeat feel than the last six weeks of this season. just yesterday, Lake the Posts referred to this season as "our most successful season in program history." LTP, allow me to introduce you to 1931.

the end of season record is about where i thought it would be, but it's the way this team has faltered down the stretch that's left such a bad taste in my mouth. i thought NU might only finish with one win in January; they got four. but i also assumed NU would finish above .500 against the worst teams in the league. and that downward momentum will not help their chances for the NIT. one prediction site still has NU in (as a 7 seed) but another site has them out. a loss Thursday would ensure that.