CHICAGO -- Pat Fitzgerald understands why outsiders have failed to rank his Northwestern Wildcats in various preseason top-25 polls. But he had to laugh Tuesday when asked if he agreed with the slight.
“Oh, hell no,” he said, smiling. “No. Not at all.”
Northwestern is coming off a 10-3 season that included wins over Stanford and Wisconsin. But it’s not getting much respect after losing three games -- to Michigan, Iowa and Tennessee -- by a combined score of 123-16.
Fitzgerald knows that’s the main reason why 11 different preseason polls all failed to include the Wildcats: They’re looking at those losses, not the wins.