Well, boys, there’s no place to go but up. After going 1-17 in the conference last year, Bill Carmody didn’t look at the situation as something of dire need, but rather is building upon the experience level to give him a better team. If there’s something to be said about the Northwestern Wildcats this year, is that they will not lack for experience or depth on the team.

With Kevin Coble back in the fold, the Wildcats have a legitimate baller who can shoot very well. Coble also should help on the defensive end, where Northwestern was deplorable last year. As far as starters go, the Wildcats have three players who averaged in double figures last year, and with some assistance coming in terms of freshmen that are bigger (see seven footer Kevin Rowley), and the offensive side of things should not be an issue this year.

There are potentially two X factors which can make this team go from an improved team to one of the surprises of the country. Yes, I understand that there is a cavernous amount of space in between those two comparisons, but when you take into consideration the gamesmanship of Craig Moore and Michael Thompson, you’ve got an intriguing situation. Moore struggled immensely at the beginning of last year, yet in closing he lit up the scoreboard and led the Big Ten in three pointers made. Thompson was thrusted into a leadership role as a freshman and while he didn’t fail, he didn’t exactly tear it up either–but even with that in mind, he had a good shooting percentage from the arc–over 43 percent–and he also gave the offense a different look than what many teams had seen defensively, being able to create off the dribble, something that NU hasn’t had…well, ever.

If these two guys can continue their improvement and Moore can simply pick up from last year’s finish, this will be a solid team that should make some noise and maybe even sneak into the NIT. (Come on, they went 1-17 last year, don’t hope for miracles) But this will all hinge on their defensive abilities–if they can stop teams to the tune of 5-10 points less than last year, you will see a greatly different Northwestern team this year.