What can we expect from the ‘Cats with the season just over a month away?
College football could not come sooner.
Big Ten Media Day has officially come and gone, and with it, a reminder to all Big Ten college football fans that the season is upon us once again. Representing Northwestern football out west in Las Vegas were head coach David Braun, quarterback Preston Stone, defensive end Anto Saka and running back Joseph Himon II.
Hearing from some of the biggest names on this fall’s roster provided us with plenty of clarity on what to expect from the ‘Cats heading into Week One, this season as a whole and Northwestern’s program in the long run. Here were our biggest takeaways:
Anto Saka and the defensive line will do some damage
Probably the biggest name on the defensive end of the ball for this Wildcats squad, Saka has been garnering first-round grades left and right ever since the earliest mock drafts arrived just hours after the 2025 NFL Draft officially ended. But as a result of Saka’s huge stock rise and sudden jump in looks, much of the rest of the defensive line group has been overlooked.
Coach Braun was quick to mention returners Aidan Hubbard, Michael Kilbane and Richie Haggarty as be major contributors alongside the 6’4”, 247-lb. Saka, not to mention fellow disruptors Najee Story and Carmine Bastone, who will both be going into fifth season with the program as redshirt seniors. For this group, the biggest reason for excitement is the unique blend of immense talent and garnered experience.
Coach Braun could not help but rave about Saka, predicting that he “truly will be one of the best defensive ends in the country next year.” Braun was confident that his creative pass rushing moves, leadership and overall well-rounded game — not to mention gaining an extras 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason — will turn him into one of the most impactful players not just in the Big Ten, but the entire nation as he goes into his third year with the program.
Saka, for his part, remained humble, giving credit to his position group: “I can’t do anything I do without the guys on the side of the ball with me.”
After a less-than-ideal 2024 season for a defensive unit that ranked in the bottom half of the 18-team conference in practically every notable category, a bounce-back year is of the essence.
When asked about what he would consider a “success” for this season, Coach Braun was most focused on playing football on a level “that is reflective of winning a Big Ten Championship.” For such high expectations to fulfill themselves, each and every group will need to play their part. But Saka and Co. will be among the most important, needing to generate pressure and stop the run in a conference filled with talent.
Nevertheless, a crew with this much top-end talent and level-headed leadership is something that is bound to do some damage on Saturdays.
It’s now (officially) the Preston Stone show
Braun finally abandoned all the paper-thin smokescreens to formally announce Preston Stone as the Week One starting quarterback. It’s the earliest he has named his QB1 in three years, and the first time he has done so before the morning of Week One
The third-year head coach said that the quarterback room had known since the end of the spring but implied that the rest of the team was finding out for the first time.
“There hasn’t been a formal announcement to our team,” he said. “I’m sure our entire team knows now.”
The announcement was largely a formality, and the biggest takeaways from Wednesday were the glowing praised that Stone received from his teammates. Saka called him a “gamer” and lauded his effort throughout team-workouts in the offseason.
“One of the things that he said that really stuck out to me,” said Saka, “is ‘These workouts, I feel I should be doing every workout with y’all. So if y’all squat, I should be squatting, if I’m benching, then y’all should be benching, and vice versa.’”
Braun echoed a similar sentiment after his announcement.
“Yes, I have been impressed with his football knowledge, his processing, his accuracy, his leadership,” he said. “But what I’ve been most excited about and most impressed with is his ability to quickly build relationships with his teammates.”
At Northwestern’s pro-day in the winter, offensive coordinator Zach Lujan told reporters that he was the player elected to lead one of 10 offseason workout group. That election was around two months after he first arrived on campus.
Braun also announced that Jack Lausch would no longer be with the football team in order to pursue professional baseball. The decision, while expected, affirmed what everyone has known since Stone committed to the ‘Cats on Christmas Eve. 2025 will be the Stone Age in Evanston.
Northwestern football is ready to compete in the NIL era
Whether you like it or not, the pay-to-play era of collegiate sports is upon us, and it is here to stay. Despite some pushback, mostly from coaches and fans of past generations of the game who worry that money will have a negative impact on the players and the sport, NIL has cemented itself square in the center of the college football world. Now, it’s just a question of who can adapt and thrive first.
It appears Coach Braun and the Northwestern athletic department are jumping on that opportunity. Following the House v. NCAA settlement, which most notably allows schools to directly share revenue with their players, the Wildcats have made significant strides towards developing their recruitment process around that revenue-sharing eye candy, starting with the elimination of TrueNU, a third-party collective which indirectly paid players.
“We are all in on revenue share,” Coach Braun said. “We’re really proud of our Class of 2026 and revenue share is a part of the Class of 2026.”
Not only does the new era of college football mean changes for this 2025 Northwestern roster, but could completely change the way in which the ‘Cats are able to recruit top players in the region and nationally. Naturally, they’ll be up against a slew of other big-time programs with their fair share of money to spend, but being in such a lucrative conference will be important for NU in not just continuing to remain competitive, but even taking a step forward into a consistent bowl team, and even Big Ten championship contender.
Of course, it will be a long and taxing process to get from where NU currently stands into what it hopes to become. But the potential is absolutely there. Braun was extremely confident in his Wildcats, less so in the immediate short-term but more in the longer-term future he envisions for NU in turning itself into a serious contender and not just a fringe bowl team.
“I’m not saying, ‘Turn it around in 12 months and snap your fingers and make it happen.’ But going into the future, long-term, building a model of sustainability on a rock-solid foundation, we can state that, ‘Why can’t we do it better than we’ve ever done it before under this new model?,’” he said on Wednesday.
Coach Braun was still quick to admit there is quite a ways to go before getting to the place he ideally wants his program to be. But there is a lot for ‘Cats fans to be excited about amidst a time where, as Braun explained, “college football has been flipped on its head.” Where many programs are bound to tumble, Northwestern has an opportunity to rise out of the madness.
By no means is Northwestern going to suddenly be a playoff contender. Building from the bottom up, though, is something it has already begun to buy into, and could lead to more sustained success down the road as Northwestern benefits from being a part of one of the two biggest conferences in the country today.
“It’s a long process, right? You can’t snap your fingers and do it overnight, but I’m excited about the growth that we’re having,” Braun explained. “This December and January provided an opportunity for us to evaluate everything… how we’re going to leverage this revenue-share model and do it the Northwestern way. I’m really excited about where we’re at.”
The Big Ten and SEC don’t get along
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti was first to the podium this week, and his comments on conference scheduling and the playoff format showed a continuing divide between the two most important conferences in the country on the future of the sport.
Petitti first pitched his proposal for an expanded 16-team postseason. The former COO of Major League Baseball’s vision draws inspiration from professional sports (“There are things you can learn from leagues that are extremely successful, and how they keep teams alive”), and his dream format sees playoff berths determined by conference standings.
His 16-team playoff included automatic bids for the top-four teams in the Big Ten and SEC, two automatic bids for the top finishers in the ACC and Big 12, one to the highest ranked Group of Six champion (I think that’s what we’re calling it now) and three additional at-large bids. In contrast, the SEC proposal for expansion would more-or-less keep the existing format in place (5 automatic bids for conference champions) with the addition of four more at-large spots.
I’m not so sure that the Petitti-way would be beneficial for the sport, but it would be huge for schools like Northwestern. He foresees play-in games during conference championship weekend; the No. 3 and No. 6 finishers in conference will play for one spot, the No. 4 and No. 5 finishers will play for another. Shooting for that No. 6 spot is a more more attainable goal than No. 2.
The SEC — and the broader college football world — seem opposed to this more professionalized model, and the existing 12-team format will continue if no agreement is reached. Yet the Big Ten and SEC have full control over what a new format looks like — they just have to engage in “good faith” discussions with conferences outside of the new Power Two. I wouldn’t count it out.
Hand-in-hand with expansion conversations comes the issue of scheduling. The Big Ten has railed against the SEC over scheduling just eight yearly conference games to the Big Ten’s nine. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, whose Hoosiers recently canceled two non-conference series against Power Four opponents, told reporters, “We figured we would just adopt an SEC scheduling philosophy.”
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz had a more even-keeled argument; his Hawkeyes play nine Big Ten opponents and Iowa State. Most SEC schedules include just one non-conference Power Four opponent (only Alabama and Georgia have two). 12 of the Big Ten’s 18 teams play a non-conference game against a Power Four opponent, not including Northwestern against Tulane and Washington against Washington State. I expect that to be sorted in any new agreement.