The 'Cats are simultaneously playing for very little and also quite a bit on Wednesday.
Tomorrow is Senior Night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, and it will be a notable evening for many reasons.
Most importantly, it's the last time Nick Martinelli will ever play at the Welsh. Nick is already a program legend -- he's on pace for his second straight season leading the Big Ten in scoring. He's probably the main reason why the game is sold out tomorrow despite Northwestern's poor record.
The other reason is that the 'Cats are, fittingly, playing Purdue in their captain's final home game. Martinelli was a part of both teams that beat the No. 1 Boilermakers in back to back seasons in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Those wins were surely core memories for the players themselves, on a level that no fan can even comprehend. But they also represent the happiest days of college for a senior class that became obsessed with Wildcat basketball from the beginning of its time here. I should know -- I'm one of them.
Like many reporters, before I started covering sports consistently, I was just a fan. I was there when Chase Audige made that dagger three to beat Purdue the first time. I was there for the overtime period in year two when Blake Preston poked the ball away from Zach Edey to secure the win. And yes, I was on the court both times.
Those teams created a real basketball culture at this school. During those years, nobody was missing a home Big Ten game. Nobody.
Yes, I'll admit, in the following two less successful seasons, attendance has declined. Even some of my friends who are true die-hards have scoffed at trudging to Welsh-Ryan in the cold to watch a bad Wildcat team play Washington. Meanwhile, three years ago, some of those same people drove multiple hours to watch the 'Cats play Chicago State (gulp).
But Chris Collins says it best in press conferences from time to time. Welsh-Ryan Arena can always be a great atmosphere in any given season for any given game. Post-Buie era, that's all-the-more true.
Martinelli represents the end of that era. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- this is how college sports works and the hope is that a fresh crop of young talent will propel this program to even higher heights. But it is a sentimental thing.
It's okay to be sentimental about Buie hitting floaters in the lane. It's okay to yearn for the days when Brooks Barnhizer was diving all over the court for loose balls. And yes, it's surely okay to be nervous about the concept of watching a flipper-less basketball game in the near future.
None of that means you are a bad fan. Those feelings don't preclude you from rooting for new players or believing in the future of this team. They just mean Collins and this group of players have brought a heck of a lot of great memories to fans these past few years, especially to this group of senior students.
Tomorrow night will feel like the end of an era. Sure, the 'Cats still play Minnesota on the road to wrap up the regular season, and maybe a miracle will happen in the Big Ten Tournament (you never know). But Martinelli's last home game is a big deal. Anyone who's frequented the stadium in the past four years knows that, and that's why this game is sold out.
He has time to create one last memory here, one he desperately deserves. Martinelli got a signature moment in Northwestern's last game with a last second shot to beat Oregon. I don't want to diminish that, but if you've watched his love affair with this school over the past few years, it somehow feels like he should get an even bigger moment.
One last court storm would do the trick, I think.
Purdue isn't No. 1 this season, and Zach Edey won't be patrolling the paint, but let's be clear: NU winning would be a massive upset. Nobody's going to pick the home team to win, and the spread is already 8.5.
But I don't know. I've had this one circled all year as a potential upset opportunity for the 'Cats. Maybe that's delusional. Maybe they'll lose by thirty..... But they're playing a ranked Purdue team! At Welsh Ryan! Nick Martinelli is playing! Sorry if I've been conditioned to watch a Wildcat win under those circumstances.
Covering this team more often, I've learned to dial back my fandom. I'm a reporter first, and I have been and will continue to be critical of this team when that is what's called for. There's no readable expression on my face in the press box, and that's how you do the job.
But I'll never forget those moments that this team gave my classmates and me. Do you realize the first Purdue win was on our first Super Bowl Sunday in college? I can feign total and complete objectivity, or I can be straight with my readers -- that was awesome.
So this is all to say -- the 'Cats might be out of contention this year, but this singular game has stakes. Sending Martinelli off into the sunset the right way matters. Coming in on a three game win streak, don't be shocked if these 'Cats pull off another one.
There's an entire freshman class that has a thirst for basketball. They might not all know it yet, but they could really use a storm.