Very little was expected out of Northwestern coming into 2015.
The program's past two seasons had been marked by talk of labor unions and marred by injuries, as the Wildcats went 5-7 in back-to-back years. It didn't take long, however, for Pat Fitzgerald's team to prove that this was a new year with a new vibe.
Northwestern opened the season with a 16-6 upset of eventual Pac-12 champion Stanford, or at least it was considered an upset at the time. After the Wildcats finished 10-2 and No. 13 in the College Football Playoff rankings, we can safely say that win was merely a sign of good things to come.