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With Northwestern football less than three weeks out, our staffers each game on NU’s shortened 2020 schedule from easiest to hardest. 1 means hardest, 8 means easiest.
As many would expect, Wisconsin and Minnesota led the pack as the Wildcats’ toughest matchups with Maryland and Illinois ranked as the easiest games on the schedule.
2020 Winnability
| Team | Composite | Average | Lia Assimakopoulos | Eli Karp | Colin Kruse | Daniel Olinger | Mac Stone | Noah Coffman | Claire Kuwana | Will Karmin | Lucio Vainesman | Jackson Boolbol | Jacob Brown | Didi Jin | Ben Chasen | Sydney Supple | Noah Jones | Evan Bergen-Epstein | Josh Miller | Sarah Effress | Jack Izzo | Liam Warin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Composite | Average | Lia Assimakopoulos | Eli Karp | Colin Kruse | Daniel Olinger | Mac Stone | Noah Coffman | Claire Kuwana | Will Karmin | Lucio Vainesman | Jackson Boolbol | Jacob Brown | Didi Jin | Ben Chasen | Sydney Supple | Noah Jones | Evan Bergen-Epstein | Josh Miller | Sarah Effress | Jack Izzo | Liam Warin |
| Maryland 10/24 | 8 | 7.65 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| @Iowa 10/31 | 3 | 2.75 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Nebraska 11/7 | 6 | 5.3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
| @Purdue 11/14 | 4 | 4.9 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Wisconsin 11/21 | 1 | 1.45 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| @Michigan State 11/28 | 5 | 4.95 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| @Minnesota 12/5 | 2 | 1.8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Illinois 12/12 | 7 | 7.2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
The composite list:
8: Maryland
7: Illinois
6: Nebraska
5: @Michigan State
4: Purdue
3: Iowa
2: Minnesota
1: Wisconsin
Check back with us in a few days to see each writer’s justification of their picks, and let us know your rankings in the comments below!