 Northwestern was ranked in the Top 25 in the College Football Playoff rankings, the AP and the Coaches polls.The 'Cats were rolling, and dominated their next three opponents – Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois – winning their last two games by a combined score of 81–7 to finish 9–3 on the regular season and 7–2 in the Big Ten.Senior running back Justin Jackson became only the second back in Big Ten history to run for over 1,000 yards in four consecutive season.