The Northwestern Wildcats have reached bowl eligibility. It took until the season's final game for Northwestern to grab its sixth win after falling to the likes of Illinois State early in the season. With just that exception, though, the Wildcats defeated the teams they should have and fell to everyone better than them, except Iowa. They played six teams ranked in the top 50 in FPI this year and went 1-5 in those contests. Now awaits the No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers, ranked 24th in FPI.
Even in some victories, NU struggled to defend opposing passing games.