NORTHWESTERN STATE
LOCATION: Natchitoches, La. (an hour south of Shreveport)
ENROLLMENT: 10,505 (45% of students are men)
FOUNDED: 1884
COLORS: Purple and white (orange trim)
MASCOT: Demons
MASCOT NAME: Vic the Demon
CONFERENCE: Southland
NCAA CLASSIFICATION: Division I (I-AA in football)
NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES: 1, 2001 (1-1)
ALL-TIME BASKETBALL RECORD: 1,187-917
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NORTHWESTERN
LOCATION: Evanston, Ill. (a Chicago suburb)
ENROLLMENT: 7,700 (47% of students are men)
FOUNDED: 1851
COLORS: Purple and white
MASCOT: Wildcats
MASCOT NAME: Willie the Wildcat
CONFERENCE: Big 10
NCAA CLASSIFICATION: Division I (I-A in football)
NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES: 0
ALL-TIME BASKETBALL RECORD: 839-1,258-1
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Pogo, the cartoon possom, might be the perfect mascot for this matchup.
"We have met the enemy and he is us," was one of the timeless lines that cartoonist Walt Kelly developed for Pogo, his lead character.
At first glance, that quote seems to fit Saturday's college basketball contest at Welsh-Ryan Arena. It's Northwestern (State) at Northwestern (University).
It's the first meeting between the schools, save for a softball tournament game a couple of years ago at a neutral site. When the visiting Southland Conference Demons, a year removed from being the nation's youngest Division I basketball team, tip off against the host Wildcats of the Big 10 Conference at noon Saturday, there's another theme, this one musical, that could come to mind: "Purple Rain."
Along with sharing a common name, which has led to plenty of confusion through the years, the teams also share school colors of purple and white.
Name the national media outlet, whether it's a television network or a weekly magazine or a daily publication, and rest assured a representative has called the Natchitoches-based Demons looking for information about the "other Northwestern."
Sporadically, Northwestern State fields calls like this: "Hi, this is Isaac Intern, with ABC Sports. We're checking kickoff times for Saturday's games. What time does your game with Minnesota start?"
Meanwhile, up in Evanston, the inquiry could be: "Hi, I'm Frank Factchecker from ESPN. Can I confirm your kickoff time for Saturday's game against Stephen F. Austin?"
Sometimes, it's more involved. The confusion peaked in 1995 when the football Wildcats made their dramatic "Run for the Roses" surge to reach the Rose Bowl for the first time.
After an early upset at Notre Dame (by the Wildcats, not the Demons), Sports Illustrated's marketing department mistakenly faxed an advance copy of the magazine's story about the game to the NSU sports information office. It wasn't the last time, or the only prominent media outlet, to commit a similar gaffe.
As the Wildcats approached clinching a Big 10 title and the Rose Bowl berth, fans around the country called the Northwestern State athletic offices and bookstore wanting to buy souvenir items -- and place ticket orders for the New Year's Day bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The enthusiasm was understandable -- it was the first bowl berth of any type for the Wildcats in 47 years.
It didn't help that the Wildcats' football coach at the time was Gary Barnett, and the Demons' new basketball coach at the time was J.D. Barnett. One national sports talk show spent more than a week trying to set up a telephone interview with NU's Barnett but never being specific enough in its inquiry so that NSU didn't know it wasn't their coach who was wanted.
The folks in Evanston probably didn't have a similar experience when the Demons, led by future pro star Charlie Tolar, won a berth in the 1958 "Christmas Bowl." Not to mention NSU's Division I-AA playoff appearances in 1988, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002.
Or the basketball win on Dec. 7, 1989, at Kentucky (yes, another brand of Wildcat). Or the 2001 football team's triumph at TCU.
Perhaps the greatest mind-boggling misstep in the Northwestern/Northwestern communications gap came a few springs ago.
Included in the daily mail that hit my was a perfectly addressed envelope from the NCAA. Problem was, the address wasn't for me or NSU. It was, down to the nine-digit zip code, the exact address for my counterpart, Brad Hulburt, at NU in Illinois.
Collectors wanting souvenirs. Other SIDs wanting information. Fans wanting tickets. Even networks and media outlets requesting information or interviews. It's a stretch, but you can understand people getting confused, calling the 'other' Northwestern.
But the post office? With their scanners reading the zip codes?
There was only one solution to that situation. Federal Express.
After all, like Northwestern (State) and Northwestern, purple is one of their primary colors, too.
