After weeks of slogging through non-conference opponents, the Wisconsin Badgers have finally graduated to the more competitive section of their 2017 schedule. That\u2019s right; it\u2019s Big Ten time, baby.<\/p>\n
On Saturday the Badgers take on the Northwestern Wildcats, from just down the road in the Chicago suburb of Evanston. Now, I know Northwestern fans have a reputation for being haughty, but trust me \u2014 I went to college in Chicago too, and spent many a night up at Northwestern, and these folks know how to party. (In fact, they\u2019re probably just making up for lost time. Evanston was dry until 1972.)<\/p>\n
Before the Badgers and Wildcats kick off, take an opportunity to familiarize yourself with our visitors from the south.<\/span>\n For the most part, the Big Ten is filled with enormous state schools. At just over 21,000, Northwestern University has the smallest enrollment of any school in the conference, and it\u2019s also the only private school. But this doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s unimportant; not only is NU one of the most prestigious universities in the country, but it\u2019s also pretty much the sole reason Evanston exists at all.<\/span>\n After John Evans and eight other Chicago businessmen founded Northwestern around 1850, the area around it began to grow, leading to the Town of Evanston \u2014 named for Evans \u2014 being incorporated in 1863. And I say town because Evanstonians declined to officially become a city until 1892, after the town had absorbed the smaller villages of North and South Evanston, ultimately leading to the formation of the City of Evanston as it\u2019s known today.<\/span>\nNorthwestern is the smallest school in the Big Ten<\/h3>\n
A brief history of Evanston, Illinois<\/h3>\n
The Unabomber\u2019s first targets were Northwesterners<\/h3>\n