With Big Ten Media Days in the rearview mirror, the 2019 college football season is officially on the horizon. And in one of the most competitive major conference divisions in college football, Northwestern will have plenty of contenders to deal with as they attempt to repeat as Big Ten West champions.
The Wildcats will need to retool successfully to do so, having to overcome myriad important losses to graduation. As former SBNation (and current ESPN) college football writer Bill Connelly has detailed through the use of advanced metrics, loss of production is one of the most telltale signs as to whether a team will be able to continue or even improve their level of play across multiple seasons.