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The Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball programs have shown flashes of strong play in recent seasons but not the consistency needed to compete for Big Ten and national championships.

Last season, fellow Big Ten program the Indiana Hoosiers won the national championship, proving that virtually any major conference program can rise from the ashes to the top of the college football mountain with the right financial support, players, and leadership.

On Monday, Northwestern athletic director Mark Jackson spoke with College Sports on Sirius XM radio during which he outlined his program's growing standards of excellence.

Jackson laid out in no uncertain terms that the Wildcats have everything it takes to up the ante and perform better in the Big Ten Conference, a goal they will chase after starting next month as the 2026 football season gets underway. 

Thriving Over Surviving

Jackson spoke about the addition of new university president Mung Chiang, who is familiar with the Big Ten landscape and who he says is helping the school get back into "alignment" as the new college football season prepares to kick off in September.

"We talk a lot about alignment, right, and you guys know this, without alignment, you don't have a chance," Jackson said.

"And a month and a half ago we got a new president in Mung Chiang, who comes to us from Purdue, understands the Big Ten, understands the landscape, it starts at the top with him, with a commitment to not just survive in the Big Ten; we want to thrive in it," Jackson said on SiriusXM. 

Chiang's goal is to help the Wildcats to succeed at a high level, a goal that sounded attainable in Jackson's voice. 

Northwestern is behaving like a major college football program, and Jackson is hoping success will follow throughout the athletic program in the coming days, weeks, months and years. 

Facilities, University Among Selling Points

Northwestern is morphing into a destination for recruits throughout the country with new facilities going up and a focus on academics that have become selling points for coaches, recruits and administrators.  

"When you think about Northwestern, right, it's the number seven institution in the world, you know playing in a Power Two athletic conference, arguably the best athletic conference in the country, I'd put out facilities up against anybody, we're going to open up $875 million new football stadium.

"And the product on the field, it just over the last couple weeks I've been around this with coach Braun's leadership, evolving into a true CEO of the program…We've got really good momentum," Jackson said.

The Northwestern AD acknowledged his program has a lot of work ahead of it but has been impressed with the coaches Braun brought in including offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and offensive line coach Tim Drevno, both of whom have worked for major college football programs including Ohio State and Michigan. 

A large financial contribution to the Wildcats' program also was cited as a reason for excitement by Jackson in the interview. 

"Also landed a major gift from the Uihlein family a week ago dedicated purely to football, $35 million commitment from them to invest in the program, and others are falling in line," Jackson said.

"So we're really, really excited." 

Oct. 2, 2026 is a date to remember as the Wildcats will welcome Penn State to the new Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill., in a game nationally televised by Fox. 

A win in that game would go a long way toward continuing the positive momentum the Wildcats have built, and further cement Jackson's program as one to watch going forward. 

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