Northwestern builds a winner: How big can it get?

George Schroeder | USA TODAY Sports

EVANSTON, Ill. – Late summer, or early autumn – whatever the designation, it didn't matter – had concocted something nearing afternoon perfection. Classes had begun, which is why, never mind the stunning view southward of the Chicago skyline, so many of the students hanging out on the shores of Lake Michigan had their heads buried in books.

On days like this one, the Northwestern campus is a little slice of academic heaven, even with the noise of construction breaking up the solitude. The machines were working on the first phase of a $220 million project that will include a multi-use facility for all students and headquarters for the football team. The hope is to create "an unbelievable integration," according to Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips, "of athletics and the campus."

But the real foundation for that challenging goal is being laid a mile west, at Ryan Field, where the Wildcats currently practice – and where they're preparing this week for a home game with No. 3 Ohio State. ESPN's College GameDay will broadcast live Saturday morning from campus, a few feet from Lake Michigan and just south of the ongoing construction project. Saturday night, ABC will air the game. And no one at Northwestern is denying the magnitude of the occasion.

"We're not gonna try to downplay it," said senior quarterback Kain Colter, who is one-half of an unusual rotation with Trevor Siemian. "It's definitely a big game on a big stage. It's a game we all look forward to. College GameDay, ABC – it's something we all dreamed about as kids.

"We haven't really had this opportunity before."

And Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald added: "It's a terrific opportunity, but an unbelievable challenge."

He meant the Wildcats' shot at Ohio State, and the chance to perform on a big stage, with the accompanying priceless exposure both for the football program and the school. "It really is about shining an awfully bright light on an institution in a way that's hard to replicate in any other fashion," Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips said.

But beyond the game, the Wildcats have a terrific opportunity, and at the same time an unbelievable challenge, to build a big-time football program at a premier academic institution – and somehow, to achieve seamless integration. It's the reason the new facility is being built in the heart of campus, and why it will be shared by football and other varsity sports – but also, by the student body in general, which will use it for everything from convocations and dance marathons, Phillips said, to intramurals and club sports.

"It's for everybody," Phillips said. "Sometimes you may see on college campuses where there's a separation between athletics and campus. Ours has gone in a completely opposite direction. In our view, it represents the way we want to grow with athletics and campus and the whole entire culture."

Northwestern is consistently ranked among the top American universities. For much of its history, its football team was consistently found near the bottom of the Big Ten standings. But under Fitzgerald, who as an All-America linebacker helped lead the Wildcats to the Rose Bowl after the 1995 season, the program has gradually developed into a consistent winner.

At 4-0, the Wildcats are ranked No. 15 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. Dating back to last season, Northwestern has won seven consecutive games, which is fairly important to the narrative because it includes a victory in the Gator Bowl against Mississippi State – the Wildcats' first bowl victory since 1949. The goal is to win the Big Ten, and maybe even more. It might have seemed farfetched, except for the recent successful example of Stanford, which has played in three consecutive BCS bowls, won the Pac-12 championship last season and is a legitimate contender for the BCS championship.

"They're a testament to show it can be done, but we've felt that way for a long time," Colter said. "We're putting the pieces of the puzzle together and starting to put the program on the map."

Northwestern has played in five consecutive bowl games, a school record (the previous streak was two). In 2012, the Wildcats won 10 games for only the third time in history. More important, they won that bowl game – and immediately set their sights higher. What's a realistic ceiling? Who knows?

"We don't want to win just a bowl game," Colter said. "We want to go win the Big Ten championship."

But the goal is even bigger. Northwestern ranked No. 1 among FBS football programs in the two Academic Progress Rate reports released by the NCAA, and tied for No. 1 with Notre Dame in the NCAA's most recent Graduation Success Rate report. In the 2012-13 academic year, the football team's GPA was 3.04.

"At Northwestern, we resemble everything that's good about college football," Colter said.

There's certainly no false modesty operating there, but he's correct. Northwestern players actually fit the NCAA-preferred term of "student-athletes," and in that order.

"Everybody is excited about where we're at," Phillips said, "but we all believe there's an even better place without compromising what we're doing in the classroom and what academics mean at a place like Northwestern. At the heart of it is, we have a world-class academic institution, but we can also be excellent in athletics, just like in arts and science and medicine."

It's a lofty goal. And at Northwestern, it represents a radical departure from the past. Although the Wildcats were once very good in football – in the 1920s and 1930s, they won four Big Ten championships, and in 1962, coached by future Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian, the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 – they endured woeful futility for years. An oft-repeated phrase around campus – "I think having a bad football team can help academic standards" – was first uttered by the school's president in 1981, in the midst of a 34-game losing streak.

In 1995, under coach Gary Barnett, the Wildcats surprised, well, everyone by winning the Big Ten and playing in the Rose Bowl. A year later, they won another conference title. Those teams were led by Fitzgerald – he twice won the Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker.

At 38, Fitzgerald, a native of Chicago's south side, is in his eighth season as head coach (he was promoted in July 2006, after Randy Walker's death of a heart attack). During his tenure, Northwestern has had its greatest period of sustained success. It's why Fitzgerald is a staple of many candidates' lists for the newly vacant USC job. If Texas opens, it'll be the same there.

According to figures obtained by USA TODAY Sports, Fitzgerald made more than $2.2 million in 2011, the most recent data available. It was an increase of almost $1 million than 2010, and came after Michigan made overtures about hiring him. Northwestern responded with a 10-year contract extension through 2020, and with the promise to build the lakefront athletic facility.

"I think we made a pretty significant statement as a university and a coaching staff, a commitment to building our program to become a championship program," Fitzgerald said. "We're down that road on a journey. That's where my focus is."

Part of that statement, according to Phillips and Fitzgerald, was the lakefront athletic facility. The school announced the project a year ago, contingent upon funding, and raised $55 million in about three months. Phillips said the school plans another update this month. "I would even say we're ahead of where we thought it was gonna be," he said.

The construction – and the ultimate goal – mirrors the progress of and plan for the football program.

"One brick at a time," Fitzgerald said. "We're not the finished product. But it's building."

George Schroeder, a national college football reporter for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @GeorgeSchroeder.