Remember the book and movie "The NeverEnding Story"? If not, well, just think of it as a fantasy version of the Northwestern Wildcats who are on a never ending quest to make just one, yes ONE NCAA Tournament birth. 

2012-13 was the season - or so we thought could be possible if things went their way for a change - but instead they were nearly dead in the water as the season began with Jershonn Cobb suspended for the year for academic reasons and the devastating news that star forward Drew Crawford would be out the rest of the season thanks to a torn labrum after just 10 games played. 

From then on this team was completely different and their decent start to the year went down the tubes. It all ended with Bill Carmody being let go as the head coach of the Wildcats and the announcement of Chris Collins, the son of long-time NBA coach Doug Collins, as the next man to lead the Wildcats' quest for an NCAA tournament birth. 

That said, 2012-13 wasn't devoid of interesting news, notes, or trends for NU, so let's explore a season most want to forget in Evanston.

It'll be sweet home Chicago for one Chris Collins, as a report from CBSSports.com states that Northwestern is set to hire the Illinois native and Duke assistant to be their next head coach. Collins replaces Bill Carmody, who was let go two weeks ago after 13 years at the helm of the Wildcats program. 

To say Collins has strong ties to the Chicago area and the state of Illinois would be an understatement to say the least. He was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Illinois in 1992 and was also named a McDonald's All-American out of Glenbrook North High School. He went on to play for Duke, being named to the ACC All-Rookie team in 1993. 

While there has been no official announcement from Northwestern as of this writing, one is expected shortly and a press conference is expected for Wednesday as well. 

Collins was the main name linked with this job from the very beginning by those surrounding the Wildcats program and the man has a great background outside of being a Duke assistant, as he also served two years under Tommy Amaker and his dad is Doug Collins - the current 76er's and former Bulls coach. 

Goal number one for this team? Make an NCAA tournament appearance for the first time in school history. 

Change - it's the buzzword around the Northwestern program right now thanks to the firing of long time basketball head coach Bill Carmody yesterday and rightfully so. However, there is a bit of a disturbing trend to what some mean when they use the word "change." That's the beauty of the English language after all, one word can mean so many different things.

What do we mean by that? Well, to some change is a reference to a change in philosophy for the system used by the new head coach. That's all well and good and a distinct possibility as well. No worries there. To others change is a reference to changing up facilities for the program. Probably a good idea actually, so no worries there either. Yet still, to others change is a reference to loosening up their strict academic standards to allow for a bigger pool of players to get into the program. That reference.... That reference has us worried. 

Northwestern is a unique experience in the Big Ten to be sure, it's the only private institution in the conference and therefore sets it's own academic standards to be held by their student-athletes above and beyond what the NCAA mandates. Other schools in the conference do it to a lesser degree (looking at you Wisconsin and Michigan) and you don't hear anyone pissing and moaning that they can't win with higher academic standards at those schools. 

Sometimes the simplest of statements are the most profound and that's what we got out of the Northwestern Athletic Department as they announced the firing of Bill Carmody as their men's head basketball coach. 

Northwestern University Vice President for Athletics and Recreation Jim Phillips has announced that Bill Carmody will not return as the head coach of the Wildcats' men's basketball program.

And with that statement, gone is the 2nd longest tenured coach in he Big Ten. That honor will now belong to Bo Ryan of Wisconsin.

Carmody spent 13 years at the helm in Evanston, compiling a 192-210 record, but a disappointing 13-19 campaign this season (due to injuries and a lack of quality depth), sealed his fate. 

Northwestern uses the term "Chicago's Big Ten Team" and they've taken more and more steps to claim that territory for their own in recent years, including a historic football game played at venerable Wrigley Field in 2011. Well, on Tuesday the school and the Chicago Cubs announced an agreement to hold at least five future football games at the "Friendly Confines" of Wrigley Field. 

It's truly a match made in marketing heaven for the smallest school and the smallest fan base in the Big Ten. Games at places like Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, etc. all seem to draw not only the hardcore, but the casual fan and in a city that is so large and so diverse in terms of it's college football loyalties finding a way to stand out above the crowd has to be applauded. 

I'm not sure there's a bigger way to do that in the Windy City than by playing the games at Wrigley Field. Even more important is that this is more than just a football game agreement between the Cubs and Northwestern. Instead it's also about a business partnership and that is just a shrewd move by the Wildcats athletic administration. 

There have been a lot of rumors and reports, and heck even a BTN.com survey telling us that the Big Ten is really focused on updating it's division structure when they add Maryland and Rutgers in 2014. Proposals have included everything from splitting up the new guys into the divisions to creating an "inner/outer" divisional setup. However, nothing has been announced to date and it seems as if there's one university that holds the key to it all - Northwestern. 

Yes, the smallest school in the conference seems to be holding all the keys and it may be because of what one divisional lineup does to them financially versus another. 

For the first time since the 1949 Rose Bowl, the Northwestern Wildcats emerged victorious in a bowl game, downing Mississippi State 34-20 in the Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Wildcats nearly squandered an early 13-0 lead, but out-scored the Bulldogs 21-7 in the final 30 minutes of the game to come out as winners.

3 Thumbs up:

-Northwestern was very efficient on third down conversions early in the first half. They finished the game 10-19 on third down, a respectable mark.

-The Wildcats did a nice job getting ahead early. There were some concerns, as their always are, that rust would be an issue at the onset of the game, but that did not appear to be the case as NU scooped up an early 13-0 lead.

...more after jump...

The Wildcats of Northwestern, coming off one of the more successful seasons in recent memory, get the pleasure of opening up a barrage of New Year’s Day bowl games that feature Big Ten squads. NU will square off with Mississippi State in the Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl. The game will air on ESPN at noon E.T.

Here is how our staff sees things shaking out:

Andy Coppens (Co-managing editor):

Thoughts: Who's playing in this one? ( I kid.) However I'm not a fan of this matchup if I'm a Bulldogs fan. Why? Simply because Northwestern has two things we don't do well against - a mobile QB and a speed burner at RB - and I'm predicting a great game by Kain Colter and Venric Mark because of it. Problem is MSU's offense is decent enough to torch the Wildcats too. Give me the Wildcats to break their bowl game losing streak, which is now nine in a row.

Prediction: Northwestern 41, Mississippi State 37

...more after the jump...

Stop me if you've heard this one before - This is the year for Northwestern to make the NCAA tournament. It sure seems like we've heard it over and over again for the better half of the last decade or so, yet here we sit in 2012 and the Wildcats are still the only Big Ten team to have never made an NCAA basketball tournament, EVER!

Gone from this team is heart and soul of four straight NIT teams, John Shurna, and his 20 plus points per game too. However, Bill Carmody sees room for optimism and if a few things fall into place there is a belief this team could be the one to make it's run to the tourney for the first time.

Why's that? Well, they bring in 6 freshman and 2 transfers to go with a pretty good nucleus that was around last season. That 5 man recruiting class is one of the best in school history and there is no doubting that this is make or break for Carmody.

Falling short of the NCAA tournament again could end up costing him his job as it's clear this athletic department is looking to up it's game all around and they've given Carmody ample time and patience already. However, there is no doubting this is the deepest roster Northwestern has probably ever put together so maybe there's a bit of leash still left.

So, what does this team's make up look like? Let's explore the 2012-13 Northwestern Wildcats!

As Spring football season is in full swing around the Big 10, we're going to go around to each team in the conference and check in to see where the programs are at in the offseason.  For each team, we'll provide a Spring Football primer that contains some of the pertinent information for each team including looking back at 2010 and looking forward to the the 2011 season.  Today we check in with the Northwestern Widcats.  Can Northwestern and Dan Persa match their impressive performances more consistently in 2011?  Let's check Northwestern's Starting 11...

Northwestern WIldcats

1) 2010 Record: 7-6, (3-5, T-7 Big Ten)

2) Bowl Result: Loss 45-38 vs Texas Tech in TicketCity Bowl.  Northwestern fought gamely without Dan Persa, but fell just short in the Cotton Bowl, the stadium not the bowl game, that's being played in Cowboys Stadium.  Makes sense, right?  Anyways, it was NU's 8th straight bowl defeat, continuing their winless streak that dates back to 1949.

3) 4 Year Average: 7.5 Wins, 5.25 Losses overall.  4 Wins, 4 Losses in Big Ten play

4) Best Win: Nov 13, 21-13 Win vs #13 Iowa

5) Worst Loss: Nov 20, 48-27 Loss vs Illinois at Wrigley Field

6) 2010 Season Headline: A season ending achilles injury to star QB Dan Persa dampered what was a bright season for Northwestern.  Even with Persa's injury late in the year, the Cardiac Cats made it to their second straight New Year's Day bowl game under Pat Fitzgerald. 

7) 2010 MVP: Dan Persa, QB - Persa was named First Team B1G by the coaches even though he missed the last three games of the season, suffering a torn achilles late in the upset win over Iowa.  NU was 7-3 with Persa and 0-3 without him.  Persa's 75.3% completion percentage was best in the nation and best in Big Ten history.  Perhaps no player outside Denard Robinson was more valuable to his team's success than Persa.

8) Key Losses: WR Sidney Stewart, DT Corbin Bryant, LB Nate Williams, not much else - NU returns 16 of 22 starters on both sides of the ball and may barely sneak a player into the NFL Draft

9) Key Returners: Persa, RB Mike Trumpy, TE Drake Dunsmore, DB Brian Peters

10) 2011 Recruiting Rankings: Rivals - #11 Big Ten, 17 commits, 2.88 stars average score.

11) Big Question For 2011: How far can Dan Persa take Northwestern?
-Assuming Persa completely recovers from his achilles injury, Northwestern will go as far as his talented arm and feet can take them.  When healthy, he accounted for over 75% of the total offense for the Wildcats!  There are questions with every team in the Legends Division this year, so why not the Wildcats?  Northwestern can contend for a division title in the first year of the B1G's realignment, but they have to travel on the road to Iowa and Nebraska.  Persa has a special leadership quality about him and can seemingly will Northwestern to victory at times.  If NU can stabilize on defense and provide a little offensive balance in the running game, they have a great chance to be the first ever Legends division champs.