This summer, as I prepare for the upcoming football season, to keep me from making everyone in my family crazy I am visiting some of our fellow Big Ten schools’ hometowns. Our first stop is Evanston, Illinois, home of the Northwestern Wildcats, a charter member of the conference.
My first question: Is Northwestern the Vanderbilt of the Big Ten, or is Vanderbilt the Northwestern of the SEC? I’ve seen them discussed both ways in various articles over the years. The bottom line is that both of them are considered the “egghead” schools of their respective conference. However, to their credit, Northwestern has in recent years demonstrated themselves to be able to field more than competent programs in both football and basketball.