The Wiz of Odds

Illinois Cheap Shot

Illinois' Jonathan Brown (45) draws a flag after delivering a knee to the groin of Northwestern's Patrick Ward (70) during Saturday's game in Champaign.

Here is how Brown's actions are being described on an Illinois message board.

Update: Brown has been suspended by Ron Zook for Saturday's game against Indiana.

Army Surprises Northwestern in West Point

Wiz correspondent Greg Laughlin took in his second game of the weekend when he traveled to beautiful West Point, N.Y., for Saturday's matchup between Northwestern and Army.

The Black Knights, behind Trent Steelman's three touchdowns, beat the Wildcats, 21-14.

There are more photos after the jump, and you can view Greg's full gallery by clicking here.

A Wildcat Strike on Chestnut Hill

College football superfan and Wiz correspondent Greg Laughlin opened his 2011 season with a stop at Chestnut Hill for Saturday's Northwestern-Boston College game. The Wildcats prevailed, 24-17, behind quarterback Kain Colter, who started in place of Dan Persa. There are more photos after the jump and you can view Greg's full gallery by clicking here.

Northwestern

Pat Fitzgerald enters his sixth season as Northwestern coach and the Wildcats' hopes ride on the recovery of quarterback Dan Persa, who ruptured the Achilles tendon in his left foot in a Nov. 13 victory against Iowa. Northwestern was 7-3 at that point, but dropped its last three without Persa and finished 7-6.

Poster designed by Old Hat Creative. Click the image to enlarge.

Wiz Podcast: Stewart Mandel of SI.com

Stewart Mandel's timing was impeccable. Northwestern was wandering in college football's wasteland when he stepped on campus in 1995. The team entered its first game against No. 9 Notre Dame as a 28-point underdog. Three hours later, the Wildcats had stunned the Fighting Irish, 17-15. By season's end, Northwestern was headed to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl, a dramatic turnaround for a program that had a string of losing seasons dating to 1972.

"The thrill of that '95 Rose Bowl season energized the entire campus, and I quickly became aware of how the national media covered that story," he said. "I knew right then that I wanted to be one of those people, covering those type of stories."

Mandel joined SI.com in 1999 and has been covering college football since. He is the guest on our podcast, which you can listen to by clicking here or on the audio link below. Runtime is 14:46.

Stewart Mandel

Wiz podcasts are also available on iTunes. Click here to go to our iTunes link or search the iTunes store for "The Wiz of Odds." For a list of past podcasts, click here.

If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, send an email to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Northwestern

Pat Fitzgerald was a less-than-secure 10-14 as Wildcat coach two years ago. He was living in a modest three-bedroom, 1,752-square-foot Colonial-style house in northwest Evanston, and there were whispers that Fitzgerald, 35, one of the most celebrated of all Northwestern players, wasn't cut out to be the team's coach. Fitz then rattled off a 9-4 season, got a fat new contract and followed with an 8-5 record last season. He's feeling secure now, having plucked down $2.3 million for a newly built, six-bedroom mansion in Northfield that was first listed in May 2007 for $3.4 million. Yes, it pays to be a winner.

As a run-up to the start of the season, the Wiz will display one poster each day until our supply is exhausted.

Then we turn it over to readers, who will vote on the poster of the year. In the meantime, send your team's poster schedule to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Last year, the site displayed 69 posters. This is poster No. 54 for 2010. Thanks to Michael!