Not much movement in this week’s power rankings, mostly due to the fact that most Winter sports have not gotten into the swing of things yet. Plus, the teams doing well continue to shine, while the less-than-stellar squads….well, same old same old. There is a new number one, a certain fuzzy cat redeemed himself and the bottom also sees a slight shake-up, though not in a good way.
1. Women’s Tennis - Northwestern hosted the Wildcat Invitational this weekend and NU’s tennis squad played perfectly throughout. The ‘Cats won all their singles matches and also captured 18 doubles victories. Sure, the #7 Northwestern team may have had home-court advantage, but a flawless weekend still warrants some much-deserved attention.
2. Men’s Swimming - Last year, the Wildcats finished first at The Classic at Southern Methodist University. A third-place finish this year may be a drop-off, but it’s still a big accomplishment for the team. Junior Eric Nilsson shined the brightest, with a second place finish in the 500 free and 200 fly.
3. Men’s Tennis - The ‘Cats crushed visiting University of Illinois-Chicago Sunday, sweeping the Flames 4-0 at Combe Tennis Center.
4. Fencing - I don’t know the results of the Temple Invitational at time of publishing. But here’s hoping to that they did well!
5. Wrestling - NU finished eighth at National Duals, picking up impressive victories over University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and Missouri. The squad fell to powerhouse Iowa State, and also had to forefeit a match, which hurt them drastically in the final standings.
6. Willie the Wildcat - Willlie looks sharp in an NU basketball jersey and shorts, but the headband he sported during the Michigan-Northwestern game sealed the deal. The new Willie’s more muscular build lends itself well to basketball clothes. Not that I’m fawning over a mascot or anything.
7. Women’s Swimming - Idle for the past week, not doing anything was still better than anything the bottom two did.
8. Women’s Basketball - Another week, another set of Big Ten losses for the ‘Cats. Penn State muscled past NU Thursday night 72-53 and the Ohio State Buckeyes clobbered the ‘Cats at Welsh-Ryan 77-55 Sunday afternoon. Think the situation couldn’t get any worse? NU senior Sara Stutz suffered a partial ACL tear during the Penn State loss.
9. Men’s Basketball - Undeniably the worst team in the Big Ten right now. NU got smashed by Minnesota 82-63 and against, then fellow Big Ten losers, Michigan fell 78-68. What makes everything so bad for the team is they are being humiliated by the lower-rung teams in the conference (especially Michigan) and haven’t even played a powerhouse yet. Brace yourself, basketball fans.