After BCS top dogs Missouri and West Virginia got bonked, I had a surge of hope for the Wildcat football team. Ohio State would now play in the national championship game, and the team responsible for burying NU’s bowl dreams, Illinois, would go to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the ’80s. With two teams in the top-tier bowls, the Big 10 might, just might, be able to sneak one more team into the bowl lineups. And maybe the ‘Cats could be that lucky, lucky squad.

Well, the dream is dead. Every bowl game was announced today, and Northwestern, as expected, is nowhere to be seen. Indiana, Purdue and Michigan State take the last three spots, all expected as they all finished a game better than NU. Iowa joins the Wildcats as late-season chokers, after a painful loss to Western Michigan. So, the 2007 season is officially done, and those losses to Duke and Iowa sting a whole lot more right now.