Reassessing Northwestern -- as a winner?

Part of the Doc's Big Ten Week. I did a guest spot on a Big Ten podcast not long ago, and the hosts asked what I thought of Northwestern's staying power after last year's nine-win campaign, which was one overtime away from becoming only the second ten-win campaign in school history. Will the Wildcats be able to compete at that clip on a consistent basis? I said, "No," and there was a long silence; I figured that's all there was to it. We are talking Northwestern. Staying power? That may not have been an entirely fair assumption to make on the spot, and I did go on to express some respect for coach Pat Fritzgerald and his ability to salvage a team reeling from Randy Walker's sudden death three years ago and turn it into one some people seem to think can consistently finish above .500. To put that in perspective, only once in Fitzgerald's lifetime (since 1974) has Northwestern been able to put together back-to-back winning seasons, when he was an All...