:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60736469/usa_today_10504737.0.jpg)
It’s time for our annual winnability rankings. Every year, our staff ranks Northwestern’s opponents from easiest to most difficult.
Here are this year’s results. As always, 1 means hardest and 12 means easiest.
Winnability 2018
| Week | Opponent | Davis Rich | Caleb Friedman | Martin Oppegaard | Lukas Stachtiaris | Avery Zimmerman | Noah Coffman | Talia Hendel | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | Opponent | Davis Rich | Caleb Friedman | Martin Oppegaard | Lukas Stachtiaris | Avery Zimmerman | Noah Coffman | Talia Hendel | Average |
| 1 | @Purdue | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | Duke | 7 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7.429 |
| 3 | Akron | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11.571 |
| 5 | Michigan | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2.857 |
| 6 | @Michigan State | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2.285 |
| 7 | Nebraska | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7.571 |
| 8 | @Rutgers | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9.714 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.286 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3.571 |
| 11 | @Iowa | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5.429 |
| 12 | @Minnesota | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8.857 |
| 13 | Illinois | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11.429 |
UPDATE:
Northwestern’s winnability rankings, from 12 to 1.
12: Akron
11: Illinois
10: Rutgers
9: Minnesota
8: Nebraska
7: Duke
6: Purdue
5: Iowa
4: Notre Dame
3: Michigan
2: Michigan State
1: Wisconsin
As you can see, there is plenty of disagreement at the top. We’ll hash it all out tomorrow with a commentary article on these rankings.