Northwestern Football Predictions for 2024: Northwestern Wildcats Football Total Wins Picks, Best Bets & Games To Watch

Expert college football handicapper Ron Marmalefsky looks at Northwestern college football and its chances in 2024. Ron provides expert picks for betting on the Wildcats in 2024.

Ron also offers total win predictions for Northwestern in 2024 (a great betting NCAAF betting future), areas to watch, favorability of schedule, and offers best bets tips on the WIldcats.

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Grab the GoldSheet 2024-2025 Betting Guide

In a partnership with WagerTalk’s Ralph Michaels, the GoldSheet team has compiled a 60-page college football betting guide to help you prepare for the 2024-25 season.

Available free of charge, this preseason guide features our summer power ratings, projected point spreads and win probabilities for EVERY game of the upcoming season, plus coaching changes, quarterback transfers and much more. 

Northwestern College Football 2024 Preview: What’s the Situation?

Disaster?  As it turned out, ’23 was anything but.  The telling sign was that after Pat Fitzgerald was fired, the players were free to leave for thirty days.  To my knowledge, no one left.  Northwestern (NW) is built differently.  What’s in store for ’24? 
  

2024 Northwestern NCAAF AREAS TO WATCH:

The ’23 stat sheet looked nothing like a 7-5 team.  The Big Ten point ratio was 22-24.6.  The overall rush ratio was poor at 3.3-115 to 4.45-166. 

The overall pass D% was 64.6%.  It was more than just going 4-1 in games decided by six points or less.  The turnover ratio was +10, and +13 counting the bowl game.  Offensively, QB play was a big help.  Three guys are in a battle for the job this year, and overall, I think there is likely to be slight regression.  The RB’s who are still on the team have some potential, but all were lightly used and have to prove themselves. 

There’s both a new OL coach and a new coordinator, as David Braun now has that opportunity to carve out his own staff.  This looks like an upgrade, but my rush projection is still fairly low.  Defensively, the mantra is grow your own.  Eight starters return, and the three newcomers all played here and contributed in ’23. 

The new defensive coordinator is their longtime LB coach, so there’s full continuity on this side of the ball.  There’s also a new special team coordinator, who inherits a decent, but unspectacular PK, but an improving unit overall.  
  

 

Northwestern Football 2024 Predicted Total Wins Prediction

I (and everyone else) underestimated NW a year ago.  All the metrics say regression to 4-8 or below, but I like the coaching upgrades, and six of the seven home games are winnable. 

QB play has to be at least close to last year’s results to get them to 6-6.  I lean 5-7, with no bowl (early play UNDER 5.5), but the optimism here might just be contagious. 

College Football Week 0 Predictions & Picks

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2024 Northwestern Football Schedule and Games to Watch

Duke has the historical edge vs. NW, but now they have a new staff.  The goal is 3-0 early but Miami Ohio and Eastern Illinois both sported winning records a year ago.  All three are home games, so perhaps the magic continues. 

Games after their bye week are home to Indiana, at Maryland and home to Wisky.  Wisky has revenge, but it’s impressive that NW has a solid home record in this series, even when the Badgers had some really good teams. 

The goal is to split road games at Iowa and Purdue.  NW has a good history at Purdue.  NW closes with a game at Soldier Field vs. Illinois.  Turnovers were a big part of the Wildcat’s win a year ago.  

Northwestern 2024 Football Expert HANDICAPPING TIP

 I’m leaning vs. 9/14 (Eastern Illinois), but I may back them 10/19 hosting Wisconsin.  One more note: NW lost just one fumble in ’23.  I don’t think that will repeat, so I’ll be looking long and hard as to what the data tells me this year.  

Grab the GoldSheet 2024-2025 Betting Guide

In a partnership with WagerTalk’s Ralph Michaels, the GoldSheet team has compiled a 60-page college football betting guide to help you prepare for the 2024-25 season.

Available free of charge, this preseason guide features our summer power ratings, projected point spreads and win probabilities for EVERY game of the upcoming season, plus coaching changes, quarterback transfers and much more. 

WagerTalk Live Odds Screen CFB

WagerTalk’s live college football odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the run spreads, totals and betting percentages for all college football games.

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