Call me a Northwestern homer

The Big Ten released its basketball schedule (and TV slate) for the 2009-10 season, which reminded me of a few long-held pet peeves when it comes to Northwestern hoops.

Peeve No. 1:
I get tired of people telling me Northwestern's style of play is boring. Sure, during the years when the Wildcats haven't had enough good players, they struggle to get open shots...the scores go down...it's not an aesthetically pleasing game. I understand that viewpoint.

But when the Wildcats have good players -- as they did last year and will this year as well as for the foreseeable future -- I think the Princeton offense is beautiful to watch. By now, it's too late to give it a better name, but I think it should be known as SkillBall. It's about who can shoot, pass, dribble with either hand, understand angles and set up their defender.

It's not about who has a 42-inch vertical leap and can catch an alley-oop or who has more muscleheads to shove their play into position for offensive rebounds -- though better athletes can make SkillBall look even better provided they have the necessary skill sets.

Which leads me to...

Peeve No. 2:
By my count, the Big Ten gets 27 regular-season conference games on ESPN/ESPN2 and eight more on CBS this year. That's a total of 70 open game-slots on these networks, which means each Big Ten team (on the average) should get 6.36 national opportunities.

Northwestern gets exactly one national game: The Feb. 25 trip to Iowa.

Every year, I picture the ESPN powers poring over the schedule and going, 'Oh, crap. We're required to do each team once. Let's cut our losses and get the Wildcats and Hawkeyes out of the way at the same time." It's no coincidence that this serves as the Hawkeyes' lone ESPN appearance as well. It's what they've done in years past with Northwestern/Penn State matchups.

Here's the thing: I realize TV calls the shots. And I understand Michigan State and Illinois and Purdue deserve more national appearances. They're better programs with bigger reputations and higher expectations. But the Big Ten should stand its ground during the next renegotiation and demand more guaranteed ESPN appearances for each team.

(And, yes, I know the Big Ten Network is technically a national network and the Wildcats will have their other 17 Big Ten games on there. But ask any player or coach or fan whether he'd appear on the BTN or ESPN. It's a measure of respect).

Here's the other thing: One of these years -- maybe this one -- Northwestern basketball is going to have its Rose Bowl epiphany. The Wildcats never have been to the NCAA Tournament, but they were in the ballpark down the stretch last year and I believe they're going to get closer and closer as time goes on.

The networks are going to wish they had a chance to do one of these late-season games when Northwestern is on the NCAA bubble. Or maybe not. They probably have a bunch of numbers to prove otherwise.

I still think the "have-nots" like Northwestern and Iowa and Penn State deserve a bigger piece of the national-exposure pie. This, by the way, is not a double entendre referencing former PSU shooting guard Stanley Pringle.

LW