The must-see team in Chicago right now is the Blackhawks. But for those of us looking for another thing to cheer about, especially as the Blackhawks just started their 8-game Disney-On-Ice road trip and won't be in town until Feb. 3rd, I offer an alternative. There are five (not including University of Chicago) major college programs around Chicago, and if you stretch it a little you can talk about: NIU, Illinois State, Purdue, Notre Dame, Valpo, Bradley, Marquette, UW-Milwaukee...etc. In short, there's no shortage of plurality amongst nearby college hoops, but there is only one team which has the potential to take the city by storm this week. Northwestern University has been whispered about by college basketball experts since their 10-1 start to the season. They even cracked the AP top 25 for the first time since 1969 going into the Big 10 season. NU is the only major conference team to never have made the NCAA Tournament and that was evidenced as the 'monkey on the back' of the Wildcats when they stumbled into the Big 10 season and lost two straight (Illinois and Michigan State) and have gone 3-2 overall in conference. However, the two wins were significant (Michigan in Ann Arbor and #6 Purdue in Evanston) and most of the faithful believe they should have pulled out a win against #16 Wisconsin in Evanston. Coming off the big win against Purdue last Saturday they now play Ohio State away and Illinois @ home this week before the schedule gets a little easier. As I watched the Cats scratch out a win against Purdue I noticed something I've never seen before in Welsh-Ryan Arena, pride. So watch this team, watch them because no other college team mentioned in this article is worth watching. Watch them because they can and want to make history. Watch them because they are exciting. Let them know this city is Purple Nation.
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