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The Big Ten released its conference football schedules for the 2015 and 2016 seasons on Monday. Here’s a look at the Northwestern Wildcats' and Illinois Fighting Illini's schedules for both seasons.

Northwestern

2015
Oct. 3: at Iowa
Oct. 10: Minnesota
Oct. 17: at Nebraska
Oct. 31: Purdue
Nov. 7: at Indiana
Nov. 14: Michigan
Nov. 21: Michigan State
Nov. 28: at Illinois

2016
Oct. 1: Nebraska
Oct. 8: at Purdue
Oct. 15: at Michigan
Oct. 22: Iowa
Oct. 29: at Minnesota
Nov. 12: Indiana
Nov. 19:at Michigan State
Nov. 26: Illinois

Illinois

2015
Oct. 3: at Penn State
Oct. 10: at Indiana
Oct. 17: Wisconsin
Oct. 24: Michigan
Oct. 31: at Iowa
Nov. 14: Ohio State
Nov. 21: at Purdue
Nov. 28: Northwestern

2016
Oct. 1: Penn State
Oct. 8: Indiana
Oct. 15: at Wisconsin
Oct. 22: at Ohio State
Oct. 29: Iowa
Nov. 5: at Michigan
Nov. 19: Purdue
Nov. 26: at Northwestern

Minooka junior offensive lineman Blake King committed to Northwestern on Tuesday.

King, who is 6-5 and 270 pounds, received an offer from Northwestern earlier in the week. He also had offers from Toledo and Western Michigan.

“Blake King is a great character kid that is truly driven to get better in everything he does in the classroom, weight room and on the football field,” said Bert Kooi, who retired as Minooka’s coach after last season. “The sky is the limit with this kid. I guarantee you we will hear a lot more about Blake King.”

Northwestern now has two Class of 2013 commitments. King joins Maine South quarterback Matt Alviti in the recruiting class.

Junior defensive end Jarrod Clements and junior defensive tackle Merrick Jackson have committed to Illinois, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Clements, who is 6-2 and 270 pounds, attends Trotwood-Madison High School in Trotwood, Ohio. He also had offers from Louisville and North Carolina State.

Jackson, who is 6-2 and 320 pounds, attends Althoff Catholic in Belleville, Ill. Jackson also has offers from Indiana and Missouri.

Illinois now has seven commitments, including four in state, in its Class of 2013.

Illinois set a school record by having four players selected in the first two rounds of this year’s NFL draft.

Illinois senior offensive lineman Jeff Allen and senior safety Tavon Wilson became the third and fourth Illini players taken in the draft on Friday. Allen was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round as the No. 44 overall pick. Wilson was taken by the New England Patriots in the second round as the No. 48 pick.

In the first round on Thursday, defensive end Whitney Mercilus went to the Houston Texas as the No. 26 pick and wide receiver A.J. Jenkins was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the 30th pick.

Illinois hadn’t previously had more than two players selected in the first two rounds.

“It means a lot,” Allen said of the four draft picks. “We’ve always had talent. We’ve had great players taken in the draft. To have four players in the first two rounds is unbelievable. It’s something you can’t describe. I’m just so happy for all my teammates right now.”

Allen, who attended King High School in Chicago, will join former Illinois teammate Jon Asamoah on the Chiefs’ offensive line. Asamoah was drafted by the Chiefs in the third round in 2010 and started 16 games for them last season.

Wilson had 81 tackles, including 51 solo, and one interception last season for Illinois.

The Illini had four players taken in the draft last year. Three of those picks came in the first three rounds.

You already know about the first. It's Louisville forward Jared Swopshire, who transferred out of Rick Pitino's program this spring in search of more playing time -- a scarce quantity in a frontcourt that already includes Chane Behanan, Gorgui Dieng, Wayne Blackshear, and a mix of talented reserves.

Swopshire found that playing time at Northwestern, where he'll immediately raise the level of athleticism in the Wildcats' program. And his transfer comes at a perfect time, as coach Bill Carmody searches for frontcourt talent to replace leading scorer John Shurna.

Northwestern also announced the signing of 7-foot center Alex Olah Wednesday. Olah originally hails from Romania, and though he isn't an ESPN top 100 talent by any stretch, his CV does come with some rather impressive notches: He averaged 18.5 points, 13.1 rebounds and 4.6 blocked shots per game as a senior at Traders Point Christian Academy in Zionsville, Ind., and he put up 16.7 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game in the 2011 FIBA U18 European Championships.

Those numbers are almost surely inflated by the competition -- you can watch (hilariously edited) YouTube videos and decide for yourself -- but there's at least an outside chance Olah can enter Evanston, Ill. and contribute immediately. At the very least, he has size. If there's any quality the Wildcats need, it's size. Northwestern was one of the worst rebounding teams in the country in 2012; per KenPom.com, they ranked No. 319 in offensive rebounding rate and No. 327 on the defensive end. Time and again, the Wildcats -- who started John Shurna at forward and the let's-be-polite-and-say-not-very-good Luka Mirkovic at center -- were manhandled in the paint by bigger, stronger, and just plain taller Big Ten foes.

Shurna was an excellent player, an efficient, lanky shooter perfect for Carmody's Princeton style. But he simply couldn't compete on the boards. Swopshire can. Olah is a mystery, but at least he stands 7-feet (and appears, judging by the videos, to have some ball skills to go with the size). And at least the Wildcats, forever in pursuit of that elusive first tournament berth, will bring something on the interior.

So: Is 2013 the year? In this Big Ten, probably not. But the Wildcats' chances look considerably better today than they did just a few weeks ago.

The 2012–13 Louisville frontcourt is pretty much set.

At center, there is ever-developing block specialist Gorgui Dieng. At power forward, there is Chane Behanan, an adept post scorer who could be the nation’s likeliest big-time breakout candidate. At small fowrard, there is sophomore Wayne Blackshear, a top 2011 recruit who missed much of the season thanks to shoulder surgeries, and backing this group up is forward Stephen Van Treese, a talent who likewise missed 2011 with injuries.

Where, you may ask, does forward Jared Swopshire fit into all this? Turns out, he doesn’t.

Per ESPN Chicago’s Scott Powers and Louisville Courier-Journal reporter C.L. Brown, Swopshire took a look at that Cardinals frontcourt, realized playing time would be scant and decided to transfer to Northwestern. Because Swopshire will be pursuing a graduate degree not offered at Louisville, he will be eligible to play immediately.

That is excellent news for both parties. Swopshire was stuck in a lurch at Louisville; he has a worthwhile outside-in skill set for a 6-foot–9 forward, but isn’t nearly good enough to warrant many minutes with Dieng, Behanan, Van Treese and Blackshear crowding the frontcourt. But he could be a very good fit at Northwestern, which not only has to replace the scoring chops of departing senior John Shurna, but which desperately needs a legitimate interior presence – something, anything– to keep pace in a bruising Big Ten. Swopshire offers the immediate promise of both.

And so the big Northwestern question looms large yet again: Is this the year Bill Carmody finally, mercifully gets the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament? The jury is still (obviously) very much out. But alongside returning guards like Drew Crawford, JerShon Cobb and Reggie Hearn, Swopshire will give the Wildcats a brand of athleticism they’ve rarely fielded in the Carmody era, and which they demonstrably lacked in crucial moments in 2012’s disappointing tourney-bereft finish.

At the very least, Swopshire’s transfer choice offers that promise. Win-win, this one.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Pat Fitzgerald doesn't deny the hard evidence, but he also feels there's more to Northwestern's case.

Yes, the Wildcats have seen their wins total drop in each of the past three seasons, from nine in 2008 to eight in 2009 to seven in 2010 to six last fall. After back-to-back 5-3 marks in Big Ten play in 2008 and 2009, Northwestern has seen its league record flip in each of the past two seasons.

It doesn't take a mathematics major at Northwestern to see where things are going and ask the question: Has the program lost momentum?

"You can nitpick everything you want, but there has never been more positive momentum in the history of our program," Fitzgerald told ESPN.com. "If you're going to choose one thing to make it be whether or not you have momentum, that's unrealistic. But we've got to win football games and we've got to finish games better than we did a year ago.

"The program's definitely getting better. You can analyze that one area of wins and losses, which obviously I understand is critically important, but the difference between one or two games is not very much. We could have easily had six wins when we won nine. There's such a fine line."

It's Fitzgerald's job to look at the entire picture, and he notes some of Northwestern's recent accomplishments: four consecutive bowl appearances for the first time in program history; the winningest departing senior class in the program's history; a team GPA of 3.14; a 2012 recruiting class rated by many as the best in Fitzgerald's tenure. The school is also working on a facilities plan that could be a game-changer for the football program, which lags behind most of its Big Ten brethren.

Still, college football is a bottom-line business, and if Northwestern can't reverse the won-loss trend, its bowl appearances streak will end this season.

"Have we achieved our goals? Absolutely not," Fitzgerald said. "Are we hungry to do that? Absolutely. Are we working diligently to tweak the areas we need to improve? Absolutely."

Northwestern will try to make upgrades with a younger roster -- only 11 total starters return on offense and defense -- but quite possibly a more talented one. The team must fill several gaps, none more significant than Dan Persa's at quarterback, and hopes to do so by having what it believes to be stronger recruiting classes begin to pay dividends.

It's no secret the defense needs help after backsliding sharply in the past year and a half. Since a 6-2 start in 2010, Northwestern has surrendered 30 points or more 11 times. Last fall, the defense couldn't get off of the field (114th nationally in third-down defense at 50 percent conversions), fell victim to explosion plays and generated barely any pressure (106th in sacks, 104th in tackles for loss).

"You've got to make 'em earn everything," defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz said. "If they make great throws and great catches, you can live with those things. But we had some situations last year where we busted a coverage because of communication or we didn't have anybody back there. They didn't have to make the perfect throw or the perfect catch.

"We can execute better, no question."

The challenge is to improve communication and execution with a group heavy on youth. Although Northwestern returns all three starting linebackers, it will use young players in all three sections of the defense, including redshirt freshman cornerback Nick VanHoose, sophomore linebacker Chi Chi Ariguzo and redshirt freshman defensive end Deonte Gibson.

Consider that Ibraheim Campbell, a redshirt sophomore safety who led the team with 100 tackles in 2011, is viewed as the clear leader of the secondary.

Communication has been a focal point this spring, as players are taking extra measures to ensure they're on the same page.

"When I yell out a call to the D-line, the only way I know they got it is if they tap their hip," linebacker David Nwabuisi said. "We started forgetting about little stuff like that [in 2011]. Now when I make a call, if the D-lineman doesn't tap his hip, I keep on yelling at him until he does. Same thing with DBs to linebackers."

Communication shouldn't be an issue for Kain Colter, who started three games at quarterback in place of the injured Persa last season and evolved into arguably the Big Ten's most versatile offensive weapon (654 rush yards, 673 pass yards, 466 receiving yards, 18 total touchdowns). Colter is the best athlete to call signals at Northwestern since the team implemented the spread offense in 2000, but to maintain the program's recent run of top-shelf quarterbacks, he needs to become a more polished passer.

The junior emphasized velocity and arm strength during the winter -- he tore the labrum and the biceps in his throwing arm as a high school senior -- and expects to execute the high-percentage passes that drive the Wildcats' offense this fall. He'll have plenty of weapons as Northwestern boasts most likely its deepest receiving corps ever, even if USC transfer Kyle Prater can't play right away.

"My timing's getting a lot better, my arm strength's a lot better," Colter said. "I feel like I can make all the throws on the field. That hasn't been a problem this spring."

Northwestern loses four-year starters on both sides of the ball, an NCAA record holder in Persa, two-time All-Big Ten honoree Jeremy Ebert and Drake Dunsmore, the inaugural winner of the Kwalick-Clark Award as the Big Ten's top tight end. Fitzgerald likened the personnel turnover to a shift change at a factory and acknowledges the team dynamic is different.

Given the declining wins total, though, some new blood might not be a bad thing, and the coaches feel the team's overall talent level is on the uptick.

"There's better talent than people think," offensive coordinator Mick McCall said. "The cupboard's not bare. We've got guys who can play football. They just haven't had the experience yet.

"It's just their time. Let's go play."

CHICAGO -- As John Groce's hiring at Illinois was imminent, and the topic of recruiting Chicago came up, someone with close knowledge of the coach said to me, "Just get him in the living room and it's over."

When it comes to recruiting teenagers, that's the general idea.

Groce is supposedly a great "living room guy", which is to say he's a good salesman. That's how you come up in college basketball, by convincing teenagers you're their friend. Some head coaches can't do that and actually coach on a big-time level.

That's the difference between, say, a Tom Thibodeau and a Tom Izzo. By necessity, college coaches are half-Harold Hill and half-Hank Iba. Groce, a spry 40, looks like he could march half the city's guards from Englewood to Champaign.

Can he? Well, that's why he was hired. If he can't recruit Chicago, not to mention the rest of the state, he'll be looking for a new job in a few years and we'll be talking about some other would-be savior in a blue-and-orange tie.

Read the entire column.

Bruce Weber had quite a week, easily the richest in his life and possibly the most hectic.

How many people can say they got to keep $3.9 million from their previous job (Illinois) and then were hired for a new gig (Kansas State) for $8.5 million over five years?

Well, probably only a handful of coaches in sports and Hollywood actors, among a few select professions.

"I had a good week last week," Weber said.

Weber was fired last month from Illinois. He said he was shocked over the way the season ended. But the Illini had floundered down the stretch and a blowout loss at Nebraska in February seemed to spell doom.

A season ago, he decided against pursuing openings at Oklahoma and Missouri. He wanted to stay as coach of the Illini and Meyers Leonard. His wife, Megan, didn't want to leave Champaign. Daughter Emily was finishing her freshman year at Illinois.

But the season spiraled out of control after a strong start that included wins over Gonzaga and Ohio State. Illinois lost 12 of its last 14 games.

Read the entire story.

Illinois sophomore center Meyers Leonard has declared for the NBA draft and will forego his final two collegiate seasons, the school announced on Monday.

Read the entire story.

Adam Rittenberg talks with the versatile Wildcat about playing quarterback full-time in the spring, and the outlook for the offense.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Ever since Northwestern captured a share of the 2000 Big Ten title thanks to several dramatic come-from-behind victories, the program has been known as the "Cardiac Cats."

Close and chaotic games became the norm for Northwestern, and the program built its rep on winning many of them. In fact, Northwestern is 30-11 in its past 41 games decided by seven points or fewer, and 20-10 in coach Pat Fitzgerald's tenure as coach. Players and coaches welcome the "Cardiac Cats" label and seem to expect white-knuckle games every time they take the field.

Perhaps until now.

"Our fans love 'Cardiac Cats,' but I'm good with not being the 'Cardiac Cats' any more," senior linebacker David Nwabuisi told ESPN.com.

The alternative? "Just step on teams' throats every game," Nwabuisi said.

As good as the Wildcats have been at winning close games, they've repeatedly struggled to put away opponents, even in their best seasons. While they've been on the wrong end of lopsided contests, they've rarely delivered beat-downs, despite being in position to do so. Of Northwestern's 19 Big Ten wins between 2007-11, just four came by more than seven points.

Clutch play might be a hallmark of Northwestern's program. Killer instinct certainly is not. That's what Nwabuisi wants to see change.

"To a point, it's OK to be comfortable being the 'Cardiac Cats.' That means we're composed in those situations," Nwabuisi said. "We're used to being here. But that's something that was happening when we were improving as a program. We were working on being in the game at that point. But our standards are rising every year. We know we're talented now. When we're better than a team, we've got to show everyone else we're better.

"It's not good enough to just be in the game. We should be killing this team right now. It's not good enough to be down one touchdown against this team. We should be ahead two touchdowns."

Like other Northwestern players in the past 12 years, Nwabuisi acknowledges that the team is most comfortable in tightly contested games and those that require dramatic comebacks. But holding leads and playing complete games has been a problem as of late.

Northwestern blew double-digit leads in losses to Michigan State and Penn State in 2010. Last season, the Wildcats blew halftime leads against Illinois, Michigan and Penn State, dropping all three contests. And this is the program that ended up on the wrong end of the biggest comeback in FBS history, squandering a 38-3 lead against Michigan State in 2006 and going on to lose 41-38.

While Northwestern is usually good for one significant upset per season -- last year's win at Nebraska, for example -- the team also has a letdown against a seemingly inferior team, like last year's 21-14 setback at Army, which finished the season 3-9.

"A lot of those games, we let slip away," Nwabuisi said. "We're disappointed in the last couple years."

During Northwestern's five-game losing streak in 2011, Fitzgerald discussed how the "law of averages" might be catching up to his team. Some considered Northwestern extremely fortunate in 2009, when it won eight games, six by seven points or fewer.

Last year, the script flipped, as Northwestern was just 2-4 in games decided by 10 points or fewer.

"We're definitely playing with fire," Nwabuisi said.

Asked about Nwabuisi's comments, Fitzgerald smiled and said, "I just want to win."

"Trust me, I'd much rather be eating hotdogs and hanging out in the fourth quarter," he continued. "It just doesn't seem to go that way at times."

Fitzgerald said the nature of college football, particularly within the Big Ten, calls for a lot of close games. He'd rather have a team comfortable with being under pressure, but he also knows why Northwestern couldn't hold leads or close out games in 2011.

"Offensively, turning the ball over," he said. "Defensively, giving up explosive plays. And then the kicking game not being consistent enough when it mattered. Other years, we had been. Those things fell the right way. A ball that got tipped and picked last year, we caught it for a touchdown maybe the year before."

Like his coach, Nwabuisi wants to win any way possible. But he feels the program can win in more convincing fashion.

"We've got to get that mentality," he said, "to put teams out of their misery."

ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich said Monday he believed Butler coach Brad Stevens and VCU coach Shaka Smart declined Illinois' job offers largely due to the recent resignation of the school's president.

Michael Hogan resigned as Illinois' president on Thursday. Robert Easter, a faculty member for 36 years, will become the school's president on July 1 and will have a two-year contract.

"One thing going on at Illinois is the president situation," Dakich said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "As a coach, that's unsettling, particularly when you have a great job. For someone who doesn't have a great job, you go to Illinois and don't care about the president situation.

"But the whole president situation is really, really big for coaches. You have to have two things in place when you're a coach -- you have to have a great AD that you trust and you have to have a president you trust. You want the president and AD to be the guys who hired you. What exactly is going on there, I would imagine both Brad and Shaka looked at that, and that was probably as big of a factor as anything else."

(Read full post)

Butler coach Brad Stevens released a statement Sunday confirming he would remain at Butler amidst speculation he was being pursued by Illinois for its vacancy.

“I am happy and extremely grateful to be the head coach at Butler University, and I am already looking forward to next season and the start of our postseason workouts in April,” Stevens said in a statement.

Read the entire story.

Northwestern senior forward John Shurna will compete in the 3-point shooting contest in the State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships in New Orleans on March 29.

This year’s competition will be held at Tulane’s Fogelman Arena at 8 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ESPN.

Shurna was among the country’s top 3-point shooters this season. He was 95 of 216 (.440) from 3-point range. His 274 career 3-pointers made rank third in Northwestern history.

Craig Moore was the last Northwestern player to compete in the 3-point contest. He competed in 2009.

Shurna will also participate in the Reese’s College All-Star Game at the Louisiana Superdome on March 30. The game is at 3:35 p.m. and will air on March 31 on truTV.