Buck(Eyes) On The 2025 Northwestern Wildcats

Indiana, Iowa, Maryland,  Michigan State, and Nebraska have all been the previous article entries about the 2025 Big Ten teams that Ohio State will not be seeing. Now we are going to take a look at the 2025 Northwestern Wildcats.

2024 Results: Oof. All of the good will David Braun and his staff generated from the surprising 8-5 season of 2023 evaporated in 2024, as the Wildcats tumbled to 4-8, with a 2-7 record that placed them 15th in the newly-configured 18-team conference. Offensively, it reminded one of the old Goldie Hawn movie “Wildcats,” as the team struggled to gain yards and put points on the board.

Next Scheduled Regular Season Game Versus Ohio State:  Northwestern is scheduled to come to Ohio Stadium in 2026 to face the Buckeyes. No date or kickoff time has yet been established.

Biggest Personnel Losses From 2024:  This next little item speaks volumes. Northwestern had no players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, which always provides some idea as to what the level of talent, or lack thereof, is at a school.

Northwestern had its share of departures via the transfer portal. Among the biggest losses were CB Theran Johnson, who is now at Oregon, S Devin Turner, who is now at Baylor, and OL Josh Thompson, who is now at LSU.

Biggest Personnel Gains For 2025: How about some good news for the Wildcats? Northwestern was active in the transfer portal, adding QB Preston Stone (SMU), LB Yanni Karlaftis (Purdue), WR Griffin Wilde (South Dakota State), among others. The 14 players added will be expected to come in and contribute right away for the Wildcats.

Most Challenging Portion Of The 2025 Schedule: It is a challenging schedule throughout the 2025 season, but November looks particularly grueling. At USC on a Friday night on November 7th (9pm ET kickoff time on Fox), a Wrigley Field rendezvous with the Michigan Wolverines on November 15th, another Wrigley Field game with Minnesota on November 22nd, then the Wildcats will be on the road at Memorial Stadium in Champaign to face Illinois.

Possibility Of A Big Ten Championship Game Appearance In 2025? The 2023 season results awarded David Braun with deserved Big Ten Coach Of The Year honors. If Braun were to get this team to Indianapolis in December, the Big Ten media would need to come up with some new category for that miraculous accomplishment.

This is a team that has struggled to be effective on offense for the past several seasons, and that includes the previous tenure of Pat Fitzgerald. The high hopes placed upon the arrival of Preston Stone are substantial, and the schedule has its share of challenging games versus Oregon (September 13th) and at Penn State (October 11th), as well as the aforementioned November slate. The 2023 exploits of David Braun may be a fond but seemingly distant memory for Northwestern fans, as this team looks to be among the worst within The Big Ten in 2025.

Next week, we will continue our series by looking at the Oregon Ducks. As always, thank you for reading, and let me know what you think.