Northwestern is the first team in the Big Ten to open spring practice, hitting the fields on Tuesday morning.
Coming off a 10-win season and an appearance in the Outback Bowl, the Wildcats should have plenty of optimism for 2016. A very manageable nonconference schedule that includes home games against Western Michigan, Illinois State and Duke could help get Northwestern off to another good start this fall.
But that's still several months away. Let's take a closer look at what's in store for this spring in Evanston:
Spring schedule: Pat Fitzgerald likes two things when it comes to spring schedules: practicing in the morning and eschewing an actual spring game.